Anthem

Your Anthem

Prompt: Our current national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner was written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key. One hundred years later it was adopted as our national anthem by executive order written by Woodrow Wilson. It wasn't until 1931 that Congress actually place its status as the anthem into law.

The song and its author are colored by racist ideology. Black Americans have been have been segregated from society so much that some have proposed the Black National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing.

We have just written an essay that defines what it means to be American. Now we need to find a song that best encapsulates that definition. In this essay you will make the case for a song that truly represents America. It can be any song including the current candidates, modern songs, or other American classics.

Procedure

You will create an audio/video essay discussing a song. You can use any tools that you already are familiar with. You can also use Twisted Wave a free online audio editor. If you sign in with your school Google account, you should be able to save to your Drive.

Choose a song that inspires or motivates you.
Listen to some of the American Anthem (NPR) examples here.
Interview other people about the song.
Collect audio of the song and other audio media pertaining to the song.
Decide what role the song played defining America.
- 1. Narration (Did it report what was going on?)
  2. Inspirational (Did it inspire and motivate people at the time?)
  3. Protest (Did it advocate for change?)
Compose a 5-7 minute audio/video essay explaining why the song is your anthem. This must still have an introduction, body and conclusion that includes evidence to support your claim. The evidence will come from the lyrics and music of the song as well as the interviews you conduct.

Examples

Outline

Introduction - capture my attention

Thesis: Write a sentence that states why this song should be the new national anthem

Paragraph 1 - Give the background of the song. Why was it written? How was it written?

Paragraph 2 - Why is it important to you? Give specific examples of how the song has helped you. Quote the lyrics (audio recording).

Paragraph 3 - How is it important to others? Has it been covered? Has it been used in soundtracks? Interview people.

Conclusion

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