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 52nd 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.
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 ?
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 ?
