English Assignment

This is an English assignment from Miss Schuske, who taught class in the 1960s. It includes songs from popular artists of the time like “Macarthur Park” by Jimmy Webb, “A Day in the Life” by the Beatles, “Long Time Gone” by Crosby, Stills, & Nash, and “El Condor Pasa (If I Could)” by Simon and Garfunkel, “The Windmills of Your Mind” by Alan Bergman and Michael Legrand, and “Spinning Wheel” by Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Each song features lyrics about how life is changing for the worse and reflects the general outlook of the public during this time of counterculture, civil rights, antiwar, etc. movements—all of which had themes regarding the decreasing quality of life. Students were asked to break down the imagery, word choice, and pronouns of each of the excerpts provided in order to come up with an overall meaning for the song—not unlike activities current Uni High students are asked to do in Freshman and Sophomore English with songs and poems. However, it appears that this was uncommon for the time, as lyrics weren’t as accessible or even considered poems by most people.

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English Assignment