Station A - Cheat Sheet
Tasks 1+2: Anwers mainly can be found in ll. 14-27. Lines have only been added for other instances in which these groups are mentioned.
poor White people (workers, farmers): fooled, pushed apart, sold to the machine
= slave to factory job, bondsman to the soil
= slave to tirelessly working the field, bartered
Black people: bearing slavery's scars
, servant to you all
, torn from Black Africa's strand
(l. 38) --> not there by choice
Native Americans: driven from the land
Immigrants: hopeful, but desperate
All of them: made America
through their hard work (l.55-57), but still NOT FREE
Task 3:
- opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breath
(l. 8f.)
- basic dream
(l. 28), so strong, so brave, so true
(l. 30)
- The dream has made America the land it has become
(l. 33)
- almost dead today
(l. 50) --> Must bring back our mighty dream again
(l. 58)
Main task: A contrast is created between the different disadvantaged people and the American dream, as these people are presented as unfree slaves with little agency, opportunity or power, working hard, but getting no benefit. Meanwhile the American Dream promises freedom, opportunity and equality, all things the disadvantaged groups of people lack.
However, there is not only a contrast, as the American Dream is presented as almost dead and can only be brought back to life by the disadvantaged people rising up, meaning that they are also closely linked.
Station B - Cheat Sheet
Here are some of the key stylistic devices used. You might have found different ones, they can also be correct.
Stylistic device used
Effect
Anaphora (Repetition of I am
)
creates a collective voice representing the disadvantaged groups in a universal struggle
Metaphors bondsman to the soil,
sold to the machine
presents workers and farmers as exploited, unfree, slaves
Antithesis hungry yet today - despite the dream
presents dream as false hope
Climax humble, hungry, mean
expresses how the dire situation leads to frustration and anger
Rhetorical Question The free? Who said the free? Not me?
challenges idea of freedom in America
Anaphora + Enumeration And all the dreams ..., and all the songs, ...
Emphasises hard work and struggle
Repetition millions
emphasises how many people are struggling
Station C - Cheat Sheet
Rhyme pattern: Alternating rhymes in the first two stanzas (abab) --> changes to free verse, no rhyme pattern after the speaker changes
Rhythm/metre: No regular metre
Structure:
1st speaker always uses four lines (verses) per stanza, 2nd speaker uses an irregular amount
At first: Brackets used when 2nd speaker interferes
When 1st speaker adresses 2nd speaker: italicised
Afterwards: 2nd speaker takes over completely --> no more brackets
Station D - Cheat Sheet
There are no right or wrong answers for the comment, as long as you have proper arguments as reasoning. Here are some ideas for both answers:
Yes: - Civil rights movement
- Jim Crow laws ended
- Black and White Americans equal by law
No: - Institutional Racism still exists
- Speaker does not only stand for a black people, but for all the people that
are struggling --> Inequality still exists, wealth inequality has become worse in parts
- there are still people discriminated against, homeless or starving
