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Navigating this Course
In the summer of 1997 I visited Europe, driving some 2500 miles through Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, France and Switzerland. While I had anticipated some culture shock, the greatest shock was, not the language, not the culture, but driving the German autobahns! Good maps (plus guts and a sense of humor) were essential. I noticed, particularly in Italy and France, that people don't give directions like in the USA. Here we say "drive north five miles" but over there they say "go up" or "go down." This was very confusing until I realized that "up" meant up the hill--which was just as often south as north.
One of my most pleasant memories was driving the tree-lined country lanes in Provence and Garde of southern France. Many of these highways were lined with poplars, and it is picturesque scenes like these that inspired Monet's paintings. I remember stopping by one of these lanes to ask directions and the gentleman replied "drive through Nime to Anduze to Alles and on to Lyon." This statement struck me as odd because it presumed I knew where all those cities were. So I was introduced to another cultural idiom, in the USA we would say "take I-40 to I-17" (i.e. we describe the route), but over there they describe a series of destinations.
It is this French model I propose to use in this course. You will notice, toward the left of every page, that there is a compass followed by some arrows. Clicking on the compass will always take you to the Table of Contents. So, if you get lost, just remember to click on the compass. The links below the compass show the "cities" you had to pass through to get from the homepage to where you are at any given time. So, you can find your way back by clicking the links in reverse. The upward-pointing arrows down the left margin will take you to the top of the page. Clicking on the "Mus 303 Form & Analysis" title bar (top left of each page) will always take you home.
The most important navigational aid is the "Next" link at the end of each page. You probably already used it to get here. Going to the "Next" page will insure two things: that you never get lost, and that the essential material of each unit will be encountered in a logical order.
Be aware that I will be directing you to other sites on the Internet. These pages will not supply the navigational landmarks of this course. When you find yourself in unfamiliar territory, use the "back" button on your browser to retrace your steps to the familiar tree-lined pathways of this course. Bon voyage!