artifact

Lombard 1
Jess Lombard
James R. Hepworth
English 101: Describe a Personal Artifact
28 January 2008
My Old Worn Fiddle
It is now close to one hundred years old, light brown and sun kissed, but that fiddle still serves me well. To others it might not look so valuable, but the looks really mean anything. As soon as you pick up the fiddle and play it, you start to hear the value. It really doesn’t matter what my fiddle looks like, it’s all about the sound.
I would think that to many people their personal artifacts would be something handed down to them from generation to generation, or something that they would have won. Well for me, my mom purchased my fiddle at a garage sale. Actually, all she thought she had purchased was a old black hard-shell case for only five dollars. It wasn’t until she got home that she noticed she had really gotten a deal. Inside that case was an old worn fiddle, with no strings, bridge, not playable at all. We took it to our music store and had it all repaired, just so that it was in shape to play. The next stop was to have it appraised. It didn’t take long for the man to tell us what a deal we had got. Although it has chips and scratches all over it, it’s worth a lot plus all that stuff just gives it character. What makes it so unique is the fact that it has a full back and on the back is a huge heart. Really, it is one of a kind.
I do not think that it would be hard for many people after seeing my artifact to classify me as a musician. And in fact they wouldn’t be wrong at all. The only thing that they could go wrong with is, do I play fiddle music, or do I play classical? I don’t think that you could tell that from my fiddle.
I have now had my fiddle for eight years. At the beginning I really didn’t like it and by all means was not proud. It was forth grade when I got my first fiddle, it had dark wood, not chips or scratches but instead very beautiful to the eye. But as I have already started the looks mean nothing. Over the years I have grown in love with my not so good looking fiddle.
My fiddle might not look so well to people who base everything on looks. For it doesn’t score high in that category, but rather in uniqueness. I have never found another person who has a fiddle that looks anything like mine with its one of a kind scratches and chips. I could never replace my old worn fiddle. It’s one of a kind, not any other has the sound, marks or story that mine does.