As a lawyer, Key took great care crafting his word choice for the lyrics to the Star-Spangled Banner. There is an inherent difficulty and artistry in composing lyrics to a predetermined tune. Specific to this case, a historical account of events had to be set to the sophisticated meter of “The Anacreontic Song.” Close examination of Key’s original manuscript [available at the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, MD] reveals areas in which Key painstakingly reworked his lyrics to fit the meter of the tune. Most notably the conclusion of the fourth verse “Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And let this be our motto – “In God is our Trust” appears crossed-out and rewritten several times.
Much attention has been drawn to the lyrics of the lesser known, and rarely performed third verse of the Star-Spangled Banner. Here Key cites: “No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,” The use of the word “slave” provokes a specific imagery in twenty-first century America. Historians, however, disagree on the implied meaning of Key’s text. Some feel the verse is a direct reference to the Corps of Colonial Marines, a group of black American slaves fighting for the British in exchange for their freedom, while others project more sinister intention in the utilization of the term “slave.” It is well documented that Key was a slave owner, protested the abolition of slavery, and as a lawyer persecuted several high-profile
The fleeting thoughts of freedom can strike at odd times, and the narrator implies that the slave represses these thoughts for fear of their possible deadly ramifications. Whitehead’s frequent employment of “s” words throughout the passage for alliteration like “sometimes,” “sway,” “sudden,” “song,” and “Sunday,” draws the reader’s attention and effectuates a lulling, tranquil atmosphere, as if the reader himself dolefully contemplates how wonderful the feeling of liberation must be for a
Ira Berlin (author of many thousands gone) starts this book off (in the prologue) by recalling a dispute some years ago over “who freed the slaves?” in the Civil War South. He was interviewed on Washington's public radio station about the meaning of “The Emancipation Proclamation”. He also addressed other familiar themes of the great document origin’s nature of the Civil War changing, the growing Black labor and the union's army’s dependence on it, the Evermore intensifying opposition to slavery in the North, and the interaction of military necessity an abolitionist idealism. He rehearsed the long established debate over the role of Abraham Lincoln, the radicals in Congress, abolitionists in the North, the Union army in the field, and slaves on the slaves on the plantations of the South in the destruction of slavery and in the authorship of legal freedom. During this debate he restated his position that “slaves played a critical role in securing their own freedom”.
He has shown that the “blessings in which you, this day rejoice, are not enjoyed in common” (124). With the purpose of his speech firmly defined, he now has the liberty to expound upon the true evil of slavery that lurks in the shadow of hypocrisy. He employs the satirical technique of ridicule to expose the ugly nature of enslavement with equally ugly diction. Douglass’ disapproval ranges from “hideous” to “revolting” to “an outrage”, and culminates in the assertion that slavery is the “greatest sin and shame of America” (125). A far cry from the almost reverent tone of his opening statements, Douglass led his audience from the throes of a Fourth of July celebration to an intense degradation of the freedom they so
Covey underscores how slaveowners’ defense of slavery with religion was something said and not done. In fact, Douglass even asserts that slaves have a solid faith and the “help” of their white masters is not needed and even detrimental. As opposed to Mr. Covey’s false Christianity, Douglass attributes slaves to having true Christianity, evidencing this by his own great ability to sing versus his master’s poor singing. Mr. Covey was “a very poor singer himself, the duty of raising the hymn generally came upon [Douglass]” (82). Douglass’ ability to sing the hymnals represent his strong grasp on Christianity, whereas Mr. Covey’s poor singing portrays his hypocrisy and distance from the faith. Contrary to the plantation myth, Mr. Covey, the slaveowner is dependent on Douglass, his slave. This role reversal emphasizes the how the South’s claim to be carrying out a Christian duty was flawed.
During the 1840s, America saw increasingly attractive settlements forming between the North and the South. The government tried to keep the industrial north and the agricultural south happy, but eventually the issue of slavery became too big to handle, no matter how many treaties or compromises were formed. Slavery was a huge issue that unraveled throughout many years of American history and was one of the biggest contributors leading up to the Civil War (notes, Fall 2015). Many books have been written over the years about slavery and the brutality of the life that many people endured. In “A Slave No More”, David Blight tells the story about two men, John M. Washington (1838-1918) and Wallace Turnage (1846-1916), struggling during American slavery. Their escape to freedom happened during America’s bloodiest war among many political conflicts, which had been splitting the country apart for many decades. As Blight (2007) describes, “Throughout the Civil War, in thousands of different circumstances, under changing policies and redefinitions of their status, and in the face of social chaos…four million slaves helped to decide what time it would be in American History” (p. 5). Whether it was freedom from a master or overseer, freedom from living as both property and the object of another person’s will, or even freedom to make their own decisions and control their own life, slaves wanted a sense of independence. According to Blight (2007), “The war and the presence of Union armies
Throughout the colonial period and the time leading up to the American civil war, one of the most important and controversial topics facing Americans was the idea of slavery. The notion of slavery is an odd and incredibly horrifying concept, that one man can own another man, or two men, or an entire family, just because of the color of their skin. No doubt the idea was racist and repulsive, but to many Men and Women in history, across the country and across the world, slavery was just a part of everyday life: they knew no different. So when those people who were being stripped from their homeland and brought over on ships to be sold at auction to the highest white bidder, began to question the sacredness of this terrible
In his 1852 speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July”, Frederick Douglass passionately argued that to the slave and all other Americans, the Fourth of July is nothing more than a mockery of the grossest kind; that the United States stood by hypocrisy to the values they ultimately swore by. In his speech, Douglass made four clear points: (1) “This holiday is to rejoice for the sake of freedom and liberty”; (2) “My people have no freedom, have no liberty”; (3) “You rejoice, my people mourn” (4); “This holiday is a mockery to us”. In making these points Douglass exposed the hypocrisy and ignorance of the nation. Douglass produced his argument with the use of several rhetorical strategies. Douglass used rhetorical questions that created a distinct separation between the slaves and freemen of the United States; the use of repetition of important phrases left a clear and concise impression on the listener, while using the logic and credibility of the Bible to communicate claims.
Many people hail “The Star Spangled Banner” as the greatest piece of American music. The audiences of America’s national anthem seem, instinctively, eager to express their respect by embracing the notion to remove their hats and stand up. However, not many people ponder over the question of what “The Star Spangled Banner” truly means. What does it mean? Why does it deserve so much reverence and honor? What exceptional difference allows it to prevail over the masterpieces of prominent composers like Mozart and Beethoven? The answer is fairly simple. “The Star Spangled Banner” symbolizes America’s perseverance, its set of moral laws and ethics, and its history that constitutes what America truly means.
Synopsis In The Star-Spangled Banner, Francis Scott Key creates the setting of the middle of a battle. In this poem, Key speaks of the beauty and perseverance of the flag of his newly created country. Key uses imagery when he says “broad stripes and bright stars” and “were so gallantly streaming”. He uses imagery to give detail to the flag that he cherishes.
Felix Mendelssohn composed “Songs Without Words, Op. 19, No. 3” during the Romantic Period. It is known as a hunting song. The form of this song can be categorized as a rondo. This can be argued because the A theme that begins at measure 5 reappears throughout the song about two times. It comes back at measures 50 and 83. In between these A sections are a B section and a C section. The B section starts in measure 29 and the C section starts at measure 67.
"Amnesia" By 5 Seconds of Summer I chose Amnesia because the song talks about losing someone you love and wanting to forget it ever happened so you don’t have to go through the pain. There is a lot of pain in this story but the one situation applies really well to this song. One of the Will Grayson’s, also known as o.w.g.(other Will Grayson), had this online relationship with a boy named Isaac; he went to meet him at a store named “Frenchy’s”. When he got there he realized that he was not real and Maura, his friend, was really Isaac. This crushed Will because “Isaac” was the only person he could talk to and told him everything.
The song I chose is a song sung by Martina McBride, a country singer, called Concrete Angel. The song was written by Rob Crosby and Stephanie Bentley, later released on November 18, 2002. The song is about a young girl, Angela Carter, who doesn’t have the most stable and safest home. At home she is domestically abused by her drugged mother, neglected and forced to take care of herself; she packs her own school lunch, walks to school by herself, and is wearing the same dress showing her mom does not care to give her new clothes. When watching the music video, in the beginning children are laughing at her, which shows she is bullied, another main theme tackled in the song. The bruises are seen by her teacher and the neighbors hear her
The song “Out of Exile” by Audioslave is a free verse with a very small amount of lines that rhyme. This song has a depressing theme and acts as somewhat of a narrative of Chris Cornell’s (the lead singer of the band) life. The island that Chris refers to can be seen as his isolation/depression and the quote, “The ocean sent her waves in the figure of a woman,” relates to his second wife, Vicky Karayiannis. Being in love with Vicky took Chris out of his isolation that he felt enclosed in. Chris then states that because of this woman, he is saved and can start over again.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave details the progression of a slave to a man, and thus, the formation of his identity. The narrative functions as a persuasive essay, written in the hopes that it would successfully lead to “hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of [his] brethren in bonds” (Douglass 331). As an institution, slavery endeavored to reduce the men, women, and children “in bonds” to a state less than human. The slave identity, according to the institution of slavery, was not to be that of a rational, self forming, equal human being, but rather, a human animal whose purpose is to work and obey the whims of their “master.” For these reasons, Douglass articulates a distinction
Morning Song, by Sylvia Plath, was written in February 1961, the same month she suffered a miscarriage.