The Flying Eagle

This is to be an expository essay, not a bunch of answers to questions.

Topic: Choose a major historical event of the 1920s or 1930, (i.e. the election of Calvin Coolidge, Babe Ruth’s 60th home run, the stock market crash of October 1929, Amelia Ehrhardt’s attempted flight around the world, the election of FDR, etc.) about which some kind of musical theatre song or production was written. The event need not have been the main focus of the song or production. Analyze the piece of work, and think about the following issues.

• What is the piece of music/musical theatre production?
• What is the point of view taken by the piece?
• What is the point of view of the creator(s) of the piece?
• (It might be different than that of the song or show.)
• How is the point of view expressed? is it direct v. implied? Is it merely hinted at or is it driven home forcefully? Is it a parody? Is it a satire?
• Is the artist successful artistically? (Do you LIKE the work?)
• What motivation do you believe led to the creation of the piece?
• What do you think inspired the creation of the piece?
• Do you believe the artist uses the piece as a vehicle to criticize a particular part of society or the government?
• Do you believe the artist envisions change to occur because of the production of the piece?
• If there is social change implicit in the piece, was any change caused by its reception?
• If there was change, what was it and how was it reflected in society?
• If there was no change, why not?
• Can you think of a modern comparison for the piece of art you chose to explore?
• Why might the perspective of the artist(s) be important in society?
• Have we (as a society) learned from this piece of art?