Student Work
Studying The Blues: October-November 2014
Creative writing assignment - 10/21/2014Assignment: If you were an abolitionist on the Underground Railroad, what would you see/hear/feel?
a day in the female abolitionist's life:
12:09 PM: a knock on the door, a young family, with nought but the cloths on their backs and a cup or two, i showed them down to the hidden room under the floor boards, my family has no idea, they support slavery, although we have not the money to purchase slaves, for this i am gratefull. 1:00: a knock on the door, once more, but the bodies that the hands belong to are not welcome, slave hunters. my husband explains to them that we are a traditonal southern family, and we will keep our eyes open for the slaves if we do see them, little does he know that the very slaves on the poster, the ones that $1,ooo are being offered for, are under the floor boardes, with an eighth of our food, and some of our old clothing. 12:09 pm: i return to the bottom floor, bid the family good bye, and prepare for the next family that will come to my station on the underground railroad. -Eva Gibbs If i was a person helping out on the underground railroad i would probably experience a lot of things. It would be very dangerous and i would be scared that i would be caught. i would see a lot of things good and not good. I would see a lot of scared and sad people as i helped them escape the south. I would see the beautiful country side as i helped the escapees travel through it through the milky darkness. I would hear the chirping and humming of the south bugs. And the screams of the people of our group that fell behind in the chase. I would feel my pain and the pain of others around me. I would feel the hard trail under my feet. I would feel the joy of succeeding in getting them there safety but feeling bad that they still had a way to go. I would not like that job but i would do it if i had the chance. -Max Morrow I would see a great river leading me, along with the northern star. I would hear the river rushing me along. I would feel the cool breeze coming up beside me, helping me along. The northern star would always show me where I was. The river would be my guide. The dead trees were like some animals who had lost their way. The river, the northern star and the dead trees were all my family because they all showed me the way of the Underground Railroad. -Grace Keogh |
Gary Allegretto and Dan Treanor from the Colorado Blues Society teach Boulder and Littleton Mackintosh students about the history of the blues. Students also learned three blues songs and went home with their own harmonicas.
Blues Haikus
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