NCAS.A.11: Understanding Art Through Its Society, Culture and History

Overview

Lesson Procedure

55-60 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5 minutes
2. Direct Instruction15 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up5 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "An invented photograph shows an empty school playground. Caption A says: 'First day of summer vacation.' Caption B says: 'The school was closed for a month after a flood.' Write one thing you notice in the photo because of each caption."

   Collect answers. Students usually notice that the same empty swings look peaceful with one caption and worrying with the other. The photo did not change; the context did. Ask: what kind of fact did each caption give? (Something that happened: historical context.)

2. Direct Instruction15 minutes

   Vocabulary.

   • Context: the facts around a work: when, where, by whom and for whom it was made, and what was happening then.
   • Societal context: how a society was organized around the work: who had power, money and credit, who was the audience, who was left out.
   • Cultural context: the beliefs, customs, languages and traditions of the community a work comes from.
   • Historical context: the events and conditions of the time and place in which a work was made, or that it shows.
   • Deepen understanding: notice more in the work because of the context, and be able to point to where.
   • Perspective: the point of view of a particular person or community. When a work comes from a community's culture, that community's own voices belong in the context.

   The Connecting process. The framework defines Connecting as "Relating artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context." Anchor 10 covers the personal side. Anchor 11 covers the external side: society, culture and history. The skill works the same way in every art form: gather context from reliable sources, then go back to the work and show what the context lets you hear or see.

   A writer on his own people's music. James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) was an African American writer, poet and songwriter, born in Jacksonville, Florida. He wrote the words of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (1900) and later led the NAACP as its executive secretary. In 1922 he published The Book of American Negro Poetry, an anthology of poems by Black American poets, with a long preface about Black Americans' creative work. In the excerpt he writes about two kinds of music: ragtime, a popular piano and song style, and the spirituals, religious songs first created by enslaved Black people. Note before reading: Johnson uses "Negro," the respectful term of his time; today "Black" or "African American" is used. Paragraphs are numbered; [...] marks omitted text.

   1For a dozen years or so there has been a steady tendency to divorce Ragtime from the Negro; in fact, to take from him the credit of having originated it. Probably the younger people of the present generation do not know that Ragtime is of Negro origin. The change wrought in Ragtime and the way in which it is accepted by the country have been brought about chiefly through the change which has gradually been made in the words and stories accompanying the music. Once the text of all Ragtime songs was written in Negro dialect, and was about Negroes in the cabin or in the cotton field or on the levee or at a jubilee or on Sixth Avenue or at a ball, and about their love affairs. To-day, only a small proportion of Ragtime songs relate at all to the Negro. The truth is, Ragtime is now national rather than racial. But that does not abolish in any way the claim of the American Negro as its originator.

   [...]

   2Now, these dances which I have referred to and Ragtime music may be lower forms of art, but they are evidence of a power that will some day be applied to the higher forms. And even now we need not stop at the Negro's accomplishment through these lower forms. In the "spirituals," or slave songs, the Negro has given America not only its only folksongs, but a mass of noble music. I never think of this music but that I am struck by the wonder, the miracle of its production. How did the men who originated these songs manage to do it? The sentiments are easily accounted for; they are, for the most part, taken from the Bible. But the melodies, where did they come from? Some of them so weirdly sweet, and others so wonderfully strong. Take, for instance, "Go Down, Moses"; I doubt that there is a stronger theme in the whole musical literature of the world.

   [...]

   3It is to be noted that whereas the chief characteristic of Ragtime is rhythm, the chief characteristic of the "spirituals" is melody. The melodies of "Steal Away to Jesus," "Swing Low Sweet Chariot," "Nobody Knows de Trouble I See," "I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray," "Deep River," "O, Freedom Over Me," and many others of these songs possess a beauty that is--what shall I say? poignant. In the riotous rhythms of Ragtime the Negro expressed his irrepressible buoyancy, his keen response to the sheer joy of living; in the "spirituals" he voiced his sense of beauty and his deep religious feeling.

   4Naturally, not as much can be said for the words of these songs as for the music. Most of the songs are religious. Some of them are songs expressing faith and endurance and a longing for freedom. In the religious songs, the sentiments and often the entire lines are taken bodily from the Bible. However, there is no doubt that some of these religious songs have a meaning apart from the Biblical text. It is evident that the opening lines of "Go Down, Moses,"
   "Go down, Moses,
   'Way down in Egypt land;
   Tell old Pharoah,
   Let my people go."
   have a significance beyond the bondage of Israel in Egypt.

   • Societal context: who gets the credit

     In paragraph 1, what does Johnson say had been happening to ragtime "for a dozen years or so," and why does it matter for understanding the music?

     Result: He says there had been "a steady tendency to divorce Ragtime from the Negro; in fact, to take from him the credit of having originated it." Knowing who created a style, and who was given credit for it, is societal context: it shows that a music sold as "American" grew from a Black American tradition.

   • Historical context: a second meaning

     In paragraph 4, Johnson says the opening lines of "Go Down, Moses" have "a significance beyond the bondage of Israel in Egypt." What historical fact explains that second meaning?

     Result: The songs were created by enslaved people in the United States. A song asking a ruler to "Let my people go" could speak both of the Israelites in the Bible and of the singers' own longing for freedom, which Johnson names in the same paragraph.

   Connect Johnson to Diagram 1. Paragraph 1 is mostly societal context (credit, popularity, who wrote the words); paragraphs 2-4 are cultural and historical (religious songs from the Bible, made by enslaved people). Johnson is also a source of perspective: he writes as a member of the community whose music he describes. Use Diagram 2 to place his preface in time.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Two program notes. The notes below were written for this page for an invented school choir's performance. The facts in Note B are documented in histories of the song. Paragraphs are numbered.

   1Two program notes, written for this page, for the same performance of the spiritual "Go Down, Moses" by an invented school choir. The facts in Note B are documented.

   2Note A. "Go Down, Moses" is a song in the form of a spiritual. Its words retell the Bible story in which Moses asks the ruler of Egypt to free the Israelites. The line "Let my people go" returns again and again. Our choir sings it slowly, with one soloist and the full choir.

   3Note B. "Go Down, Moses" is an African American spiritual: a religious song created by enslaved Black people in the United States. In 1861, during the Civil War, a minister named Lewis Lockwood wrote down its words as he heard them sung by people who had escaped slavery, and the words were printed that year. In 1872 the song appeared in a songbook of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, students from Fisk University in Nashville whose tours of the United States and Europe made spirituals widely known. The words tell of Moses and the Israelites in Egypt; the people who first sang them were themselves held in slavery.

   Sort the information (students fill in the empty cells)

   Kind of information	In Note A?	In Note B?	What it lets a listener notice
   The Bible story in the words	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in
   Who first created and sang the song	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in
   When and how the words were first written down	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in
   How the song became widely known	Students fill in	Students fill in	Students fill in

   • Compare two program notes

     Note A and Note B describe the same performance. Which one helps an audience understand the song more deeply, and why?

     Result: Note B. Both describe the Bible story, but only Note B says who created the song and under what conditions, and how it became known. A listener who reads Note B can hear "Let my people go" as the words of people held in slavery, which Note A never mentions.

   1. Fill the table. Pairs complete it row by row and label each row societal, cultural or historical.
   2. Check the voice. Ask: whose perspective does Note B use? Point back to Johnson as a source from the community that created the spirituals.
   3. Add one sentence. Pairs write one sentence for a Note C that adds context from Johnson's paragraph 2 or 3, without telling listeners what to feel.
4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   A painting and its history. The description below was written for this page; its facts come from the Museo del Prado's catalog record and standard histories. The painting shows an execution. The description does not dwell on injuries, and teachers can preview it. Paragraphs are numbered.

   1A description in words, written for this page, of a painting in the public domain: The Third of May 1808 by the Spanish painter Francisco Goya (1746-1828). Goya painted it in 1814. It is an oil painting on canvas, 268 by 347 cm (about 9 by 11 feet), and it hangs in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

   2The scene takes place at night. On the right, a line of soldiers aims rifles at a group of men on the left. The soldiers are seen from behind, so none of their faces can be seen. A large lantern on the ground between the two groups throws a strong light on the men about to be shot. At the center, one man in a white shirt and yellow trousers kneels with his arms raised wide. Around him, others wait; some cover their faces with their hands, and one is a monk. In front of them, men who have already been shot lie on the ground. Behind the scene rise a dark hill and, farther off, the buildings of a town with a church tower under a black sky.

   3The historical context, written for this page: in 1808 the army of the French emperor Napoleon occupied Spain. On May 2, 1808, people in Madrid rose up against the French troops. The next day, May 3, French soldiers executed people they had captured. Goya painted this picture and a companion painting, The Second of May 1808, in 1814, after the French had been driven out of Spain, with a commission from the provisional government of Spain.

   • Read a detail through history

     In the description of The Third of May 1808, some men already lie on the ground, some face the rifles and others wait behind them. How does the historical context change how a viewer might read this arrangement?

     Result: Paragraph 3 says French soldiers "executed people they had captured" the day after the uprising. The three groups read as one event seen in stages: those already shot, those being shot and those who are next. The arrangement turns a single moment into a sequence that keeps going, which the history explains.

   • Grades 6-8: choose two details from paragraph 2 and write one sentence for each explaining what the history in paragraph 3 adds.
   • Grades 9-12: Goya painted the picture six years after the events, for the government of a country that had just been freed from occupation. Write a paragraph on how that societal context might shape the painting, and what it cannot tell us about the events themselves.
5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Exit ticket: Name one work from today and one kind of context (societal, cultural or historical). Write one sentence that begins "Knowing that ___, I now notice ___ in the work."

   Teacher note on the Johnson excerpt: Johnson wrote in 1922 and uses the language of his time, including "Negro," and some broad statements about a whole people, such as his line about "irrepressible buoyancy," that writers today would avoid. They are kept because the excerpt is quoted exactly. Discuss them as part of the historical context of the text itself.

   For homework: students use the context file below. The town, the mural and the people in it are invented. Paragraphs are numbered.

   1A context file for an invented mural in an invented town, written for this lesson. In 2019 the invented artist Dana Okafor and twelve high school students painted the "Mill Street Mural" on the side wall of the old library in Harlow Falls. The mural has six panels, read from left to right: (1) a brick mill with a water wheel beside the river; (2) workers at weaving machines; (3) a dented metal lunch pail on a windowsill; (4) families eating together at a riverside festival under strings of lights; (5) the same mill with boarded-up windows; (6) children planting young trees along the river.

   2History card (from the invented town history). The Harlow Falls Mill opened in 1884 and made cotton cloth. Its machines ran on water power from the falls until 1921, when it switched to electric power. At its largest, in the 1920s, about 900 people worked there. It closed in 1987.

   3Society card (from invented town records). When the mill closed, 410 people lost their jobs. The town's population fell from about 14,200 in 1980 to about 11,400 in 2000, and the library moved out of the Mill Street building in 1995. In 2017 the town began a project to replant trees along the river, where the mill's buildings had stood.

   4Culture card (from an invented interview with Teresa Vieira, 81, a retired weaver). "Riverside Day started with the mill families, before I was born. Every August we bring food from wherever our grandparents came from and eat together by the water. My lunch pail from the mill is the one in the mural; Dana asked if she could paint it. People drive past and see an old factory. We see where we learned each other's names."

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which question asks about the historical context of a work?

   AWhich colors did the artist mix for the sky in the painting? BHow many dancers are on stage at the end? CWhat events were happening where and when it was made? DHow long does the piece last in performance?

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to paragraph 1, who does Johnson think probably do not know that ragtime is of Black American origin?

   AThe younger people of his generation BThe piano players of St. Louis and Memphis CThe music critics of Paris and London DThe Fisk Jubilee Singers and their audiences

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to paragraph 1, what chiefly brought about the change in how ragtime was accepted?

   AA new kind of piano built for the music BLaws about who was allowed to perform it CPrizes given to the best ragtime players on tours of Europe DChanges in the words and stories that went with the music

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Johnson writes that ragtime "is now national rather than racial." What does he still insist on in the next sentence?

   AThat ragtime should no longer be played BThat Black Americans remain its originators CThat only Black musicians may play it DThat its words should go back to the old dialect songs of the past

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 2, Johnson says the sentiments of the spirituals are "for the most part, taken from the Bible." What does he find harder to account for?

   ATheir words BTheir religious ideas CTheir melodies DTheir popularity abroad

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to paragraph 3, what is the chief characteristic of the spirituals, compared with ragtime?

   AMelody, while ragtime's is rhythm BRhythm, while ragtime's is melody CHarmony, while ragtime's is speed DSpeed, while ragtime's is harmony

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 2, Johnson asks of the melodies, "where did they come from?" What does his question suggest?

   AHe thinks the melodies were copied from European hymns BHe wants readers to send him the names of the composers CHe believes the melodies are not worth studying DHe sees the melodies as the singers' own original creations

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which fact in Note B is historical context for "Go Down, Moses"?

   AThe choir sings it slowly with one soloist BIts words were first written down in 1861, during the Civil War CThe line "Let my people go" returns again and again DThe words retell a story about Moses and Egypt

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to Note B, who were the Fisk Jubilee Singers?

   AProfessional singers hired by a theater in New York BStudents from Fisk University in Nashville who toured widely CMinisters who wrote down the words of spirituals in 1861 DA choir formed in Europe to perform American music

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    According to paragraph 3 of the description, what does The Third of May 1808 show?

    AFrench soldiers executing people captured in Madrid BSpanish soldiers defeating the French army in battle CMadrid citizens celebrating the end of the occupation DThe coronation of Napoleon as emperor in Paris

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In paragraph 2, a lantern lights the men about to be shot while the soldiers are seen from behind. Which reading uses the historical context best?

    AThe lantern shows that the scene was painted in daylight BThe soldiers face away because Goya could not paint faces CThe lantern is there only to fill an empty part of the canvas DIt sets lit, individual victims against a faceless army

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    According to paragraph 3, what happened the day before the executions shown in the painting?

    AThe French army left Spain for good after six years of war BPeople in Madrid rose up against the French troops CGoya received a commission from the government DNapoleon's army first entered the city of Madrid

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which question asks about the cultural context of a work?

    AHow much did the first audience pay for tickets? BWhat year was the work first performed? CWhat beliefs and traditions of its community shaped it? DHow tall is the canvas, measured in centimeters?

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which statement shows context deepening understanding, rather than replacing the work?

    AThe history of 1808 is the real meaning, so the painting itself no longer matters to viewers BOnce we know the date, there is nothing left to notice CContext matters only for paintings, not for songs or dances DKnowing that a dance was first made for a harvest festival helps viewers notice its gathering motions

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    Johnson says the words and stories that went with ragtime changed until "only a small proportion of Ragtime songs relate at all to the Negro." Explain how knowing this societal context could change how a listener hears a popular ragtime piece today.

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    An invented school band will play a ragtime piece. Write one program-note sentence that adds context from Johnson's paragraph 1 or 3, without telling listeners what to feel. Then name the kind of context it adds.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Paragraph 2 of the description says the man in the white shirt and yellow trousers "kneels with his arms raised wide." Explain how the history in paragraph 3 adds to the meaning of his pose.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    A theatre class plans to perform a short scene from a public-domain play written in 1900. Name two kinds of context they should research, a kind of source for each, and how one fact might change the performance.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Explain why it matters to include the perspective of the community a work comes from when describing its context. Use Johnson's preface as an example.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Write one question about The Third of May 1808 that NCAS.A.10 would ask and one that NCAS.A.11 would ask. Explain what makes each question belong to its anchor.

    Show model answer

SVHS editors suggest these links for NCAS.A.11: an anchor from the Responding process before it, the other Connecting anchor, the Creating and Presenting anchors where context shapes new work and programs, and an ELA anchor about comparing texts.

National Core Arts Standards © 2014 National Coalition for Arts Standards. Rights administered by Young Audiences, Inc. New York, NY. All rights reserved. https://www.nationalartsstandards.org