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Work Songs

Work Songs. One More Round. List and discuss some of the purposes of singing. Why music is traditionally wrapped into these various experiences. What Are Work Songs?.

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Work Songs

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  1. Work Songs One More Round

  2. List and discuss some of the purposes of singing. • Why music is traditionally wrapped into these various experiences.

  3. What Are Work Songs? • Slave work gangs used these kinds of call-and-response work songs to regulate the pace of their work. These songs also became an opportunity for slaves to talk about their masters, their overseers, and their condition. Of course, slaves had to be careful about expressing their own opinions so they often "coded" their improvised lyrics • Poets and writers sometimes draw on traditional songs, stories, or themes in their work. By doing so, they can explore the ways the present is similar to or different from the past. • For example, the poem “One More Round” is based on work songs historically sung by enslaved African Americans.

  4. Work songs were popular during the slavery and the early 1900’s. • “One More Round” was written during the Civil Rights Movement. • Jot down some key information from the clip (it will help you with the next assignment

  5. Characteristics of a Work Song • A call and response pattern, in which a leader sings a verse and other workers respond with a chorus • A strong rhythm, to help workers pace themselves • Lyrics that often express feelings or frustrations • As you read “One More Round,” notice how Maya Angelou uses these traditional elements to create something new.

  6. Example of a work song

  7. Writer’s Notebook – 12/12/13 • When do you feel the most free to express yourself?

  8. “Long John” • Folklorists began collecting (and eventually recording) traditional southern music. John and Alan Lomax recorded southern musicians (African-American, white, and Mexican-American) for the Library of Congress. • They recorded “Long John,” a work song, sung by a man identified as “Lightning” and a group of his fellow black convicts at Darrington State Prison Farm in Texas in 1934. • Black prisoners working in gangs to break rocks and clear swamps relied on the repeated rhythms and chants of work songs (originating in the forced gang labor of slavery) to set the pace for their collective labor. • “Long John” mixed religious and secular concerns, including the notion of successful escape from bondage, a deeply felt desire of both slaves and prisoners.

  9. Read “One More Round” page 646 three times. • First time: What lines catch your attention and why? • Second time: What do you think this poem is about? How do you know? • Third time: What is the mood and theme? How do you know?

  10. Individually • Complete graphic organizer to analyze poem's connection to the past • Read and complete independently • Share responses with your group -- build on each other’s ideas! • When people share things you hadn’t thought of, add it to your graphic organizer. • When people build on each other’s ideas, add that to your graphic organizer.

  11. With Your Group • As a group, write a response to the questions below. Your response must be a paragraph (5-7 sentences). You must all contribute to the paragraph • In “One More Round”, Maya Angelou uses a form of writing from the past (the work-song) to express a contemporary message about life. • Why do you think she chose the form of a work-song to express her message? • Was she successful? Does the form fit her message? • Why or why not? Did she successfully update the work-song form to her own time? Why or why not?

  12. Create a list of types of (non-dancing) physical activity. • For example; • walking to class • seeing a friend in the crowd and getting his/her attention • showing off for the teacher/for friends • catching the bus • Then pick a rhythm that suits the intended purpose and create your work song: • submit the words • perform the finished product for the class.

  13. Democracy will not comeToday, this yearNor everThrough compromise and fear.I have as much rightAs the other fellow hasTo standOn my two feetAnd own the land.I tire so of hearing people say,Let things take their course.Tomorrow is another day.I do not need my freedom when I'm dead.I cannot live on tomorrow's bread.FreedomIs a strong seedPlantedIn a great need.I live here, too.I want freedomJust as you. • Langston Hughes

  14. Mini Project • – Scholars will brainstorm about how people are defined in society today. • Is physical appearance everything? • Or, are people also defined by their accomplishments, character, and other qualities? • Scholars will design a poster that conveys how they think people should be identified. They may wish to include lines from the poems that support their views. • Scholars will think of a list of a people in history, fiction, or their own lives who refused to be defined by his or her appearance and was instead identified by something else: accomplishments, intelligence, wealth, leadership qualities, etc. Write a character analysis about that person.

  15. Activities • In small groups, think of some ways portray the original applications of the work song music: • planting/harvesting crops • tree clearing • rowing • driving the team • rail tamping • general communication

  16. Pass to Leave • How does setting an activity to music influence a person’s attitude to the task? • What are some of the advantages to group/communal singing during work?

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