Mastreo

Essay topics

2009 exam

* “Maestro suggests that it is more important to develop and maintain relationships than it is to achieve success”. Discuss.

* “First impressions? Misleading, of course”.

In what ways does Paul’s narration influence the reader’s understanding of Keller?

2008 exam

* “Everything grew larger than life in the steamy hothouse of Darwin, and the people were no exception”.

How important is place in the novel?

* “Neither Paul or Keller get the life he expects”.

Is Maestro primarily a study of disappointment and loss?

1. “The text suggests that music is more important than family and friends to the Crabbe family”. Do you agree?

2. “Maestro demonstrates the destructive force of self-centred ambition”. Discuss.

3. “The cultural barriers between Eduard Keller and the Crabbe family are too great to be bridged”. Do you agree?

4. “Maestro is a novel about survival”. Discuss.

5. “Paul Crabbe’s path to maturity is hindered by his stubborn personality”. Discuss.

6. “Eduard Keller’s guilt makes it impossible for him to be happy”. Discuss.

7. “Paul Crabbe and Eduard Keller demonstrate good and bad personality traits”. Discuss.

8. “John and Nancy Crabbe are responsible for Paul’s inability to recognise his limitations”. Do you agree?

9. “Because Paul and Keller’s stories are so intertwined, the painful relationship between them becomes the focus of the novel”. Discuss.

10. “Paul maintains his ambivalent attitude towards Keller throughout the novel”. Discuss.

11. In Maestro, neither Paul or Keller are admirable characters”. Do you agree?

12. “Vienna and Darwin, worlds apart in musical taste and history, are both vitally relevant to our understanding of Paul and Keller”. Discuss.

13. “And thus, while I listened, the future became the present, unchallenged, and all too soon, the regretted past”. Discuss the role of the past in Maestro.

14. “The best music...