Passage 3: “The Lesson” by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar was a renowned poet, novelist, and playwright during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was one of the first African American writers to earn national prominence for his meaningful representations of what life was like for Black Americans living during this time.

My cot was down by a cypress grove,
And I sat by my window the whole night long,
And heard well up from the deep dark wood
A mocking-bird's passionate song.
And I thought of myself so sad and lone,
And my life's cold winter that knew no spring;
Of my mind so weary and sick and wild,
Of my heart too sad to sing.
But e'en as I listened the mock-bird's song,
A thought stole into my saddened heart,
And I said, "I can cheer some other soul
By a carol's simple art."
For oft from the darkness of hearts and lives
Come songs that brim with joy and light,
As out of the gloom of the cypress grove
The mocking-bird sings at night.
So I sang a lay for a brother's ear
In a strain to soothe his bleeding heart,
And he smiled at the sound of my voice and lyre,
Though mine was a feeble art.
But at his smile I smiled in turn,
And into my soul there came a ray:
In trying to soothe another's woes
Mine own had passed away.
What is the theme of the poem?
A. Music has the power to renew the human spirit
B. Music creates a sense of companionship among strangers
C. Songs convey emotions more accurately than words alone
D. In every song there is a lesson about the human experience

I took the test, the answer is A. Music has the power to renew the human spirit

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)

the president was the speaker and it was a great part of history.

explanation:

video of the national aeronautic space administration's (nasa) coverage of president john f. kennedy’s address at rice university, houston, texas, concerning the nation's efforts in space exploration. in his speech the president discusses the necessity for the united states to become an international leader in space exploration and famously states, "we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."