TL Southern trees

SOUTHERN TREES : Answer the questions below after reading the text:

A)Identify the different characters : who are

I

Lewis Allen

Sonny White

 Pop  (What is the link between Pop and the song ?)

« The plush night club audience »

B)Where does the scene take place at the beginning ? List all the  various places mentioned in the text 

When does it take place ? How important is it to understand the text ?

C)Explain the meaning of the following expressions using synonyms :

« I worked like the devil on it »

« I was never sure I could put it across »

D)What did Billy Holiday dread before ever singing « Strange Fruit »? Explain using 3 different adjectives in your answer.

Why was it something to be taken seriously ?

E)Find the sentence which best sums up Billy Holiday’s state of mind  whenever singing « Strange fruit » .

 How can you account for the audience’s silence l.15 ?

F) Why did  « the lone  person  begin to clap  nervously »(12) ? Explain the use of the adverb « nervously » and « suddenly everyone was clapping »

G)Find another passage in the text which echoes that moment

H) How can you justify the use of ”have to” l.19 ? What would it have meant if she had said “must” instead ?

I) Explain the use of “squares and cripples” l.23.

J) “Needless to say, I didn’t”, l.27. Why did she refuse to sing the song she was famous for ?

K) “hot and cold, miserable and happy”. Explain Billie Holiday’s state after singing Strange Fruit on 52^nd Street

L)“You can still hear a pin drop out there”. What does the woman mean to say ?

M) Right or wrong ? She sang the song in the same way, with the same intensity throughout the country.

N)How come the audience didn’t react the same way to Billie’s singing in Manhattan and in Miami ?

O) "I was flailing the audience" (40) : what does the word "flail"imply here ? Which image does it remind of ?
Explain Billie Holiday's state of mind at that particular moment.

P) "But the applause was nothing  like.."(40). How paradoxical is the audience 's reaction ? Why ? What does it show about racial relationships at the time ?