WRITING ASSIGNMENT #1: NATIONAL ANTHEMS
At the bottom of this page are printed the four verses of "The Star-Spangled Banner," adapted from a poem called "Defence of Fort McHenry" written by Francis Scott Key in 1814. It was adopted as the national anthem of the United States by Congressional resolution in 1931. As Americans, we sing this song so often that we’ve lost the sense of the words—and very few of us know or have ever heard all the words. Your task now is to take a good look at these words. As you’re thinking about them, ask these questions:
1) What were the historical circumstances of this poem, written at a time when the United States was at war with England?
2) What do you see as the main points emphasized about the United States here?
3) What role does God play in the poem (song)?
4) How does the song position the United States in relation to other countries?
5) What does the anthem mean to you?
Now go to this website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_anthems . From the list here, choose the national anthem of one other country, print out the lyrics, and ask the same set of questions about those words. (Just a note: we are not ordinarily going to send you to Wikipedia as a source of information, but the site happens to have the best list of translated national anthems’ lyrics.) Now, using your preliminary answers in a brief (3-4 paragraph) essay, describe your thoughts about these two anthems.
We are looking for 2-3 double-spaced pages in response to this assignment. If you are over or under a little, don’t worry about it. At the top left of page one, include the following SINGLE-spaced header:
Name
Core 127-(section number)
Writing Assignment #1
Date
Proofread carefully, so that we will have a good idea of your spelling, punctuation, and language-use skills. Staple your essay together with the lyrics to the second national anthem (never fold down corners when you hand in writing!) and bring it to class with you on September 3, 2008.
The Star-Spangled Banner
O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming.
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!