STEP ONE — BLOG POST / ANALISIS
A: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
What is your song’s contribution to the musical’s:
- Context and Characters: provide an overall synopsis of the song in regard to its setting and how it advances the plot of the story so far. What characters are included in the song? What are their wants / fears / background?
In the song “Hurricane” written by Alexander Hamilton, it reflects upon the event that had occurred when he was seventeen years old when a hurricane came and devastated his home. The hurricane raged violently as it caused destruction throughout the village, it was if God was unleashing his wrath upon this little village. The wind, the sea attacked the village from all sides. All you could do was stand there and accept your fate as you heard the shrieks of the distressed surround you. In the song, it says “I didn’t drown, I couldn’t seem to die”, I believe that there is a tipping point in his career because, through this event, it seems that his mindset had changed and now he has the motivation to use his skills to help others. I believe he thinks God had shown him mercy and let him live, although it would have been so much better if he died within that hurricane, God had other plans for him so he was alive for a purpose. Alexander Hamilton says in his song that “[he] wrote his way out” and in a sense this is true. Through this event, his writing had impressed the villagers that were left and through this event, and through his writing skills, all the villagers felt motivated to help get Alexander Hamilton on a “Ship that was New York bound” so he could continue writing. As the song continues it explains throughout different scenarios that “[he] picked up a pen, [he] wrote [his] own deliverance” in other words when he was backed into a corner his writing, improved his circumstances. Such as how in the song “Alexander Hamilton” it says that Alexander Hamilton “wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain, well the word got around, they said this kid is insane, man! took up a collection just to send him to the mainland, get your education, don’t forget from whence you came and the worlds gonna know your name” and this explains how he survived the devastation created by the hurricane, through his writings.
B: CONNECTIONS TO HISTORICAL ELEMENTS
How does your chosen song relate to the American Revolution as a whole?
- Historical Events and Ideas: Look up any phrases, events, documents, or concepts that are not familiar to you, or may be familiar to your peers in order to fill in the gaps in their knowledge. What does your research tell us about the event, ideas, values, or perspectives of the time?
From examining this event we can learn about how the Hurricane affected the entire history of America. Without this event occurring Alexander Hamilton would have never have journeyed to New York and started his career as a writer. Alexander Hamilton would have never become a famous scholar, or one of the founding fathers of America. Alexander Hamilton had over time become one of the influential voices in the U.S. Constitution. Alexander Hamilton pursued a vision of America as a glorious nation. Alongside James Madison, Alexander Hamilton played a major role in the securing of a Constitution calling for a national government. Alexander Hamilton had also become the founder of the first national bank of America.
Through all of these accomplishments of a once poor man, we can learn that the way a poor man can improve his life, is with the American Dream/Way. The American Dream/Way says that an individual can build a better life through a good work ethic, Alexander Hamilton’s life demonstrates that the American Dream/Way was an accurate idea at the time. Through hard work and a good attitude, many people believed that you could build a better life for yourself, such as how Alexander Hamilton lived his life.
- Socials Curriculum: Which one of the courses’ Big ideas does your chosen song connect to the most, and in what ways? Be specific!
The physical environment influences the nature of political, social, and economic change.
Through the event of the hurricane, it caused the village to be in utter ruin. They had nothing, their homes were destroyed and those who were still alive shared whatever little they had with the rest of the villagers. As it says in the song “Hurricane” “they passed a plate around” and I infer that they were all sharing the same meal throughout all the survivors. Through this event, it emphasized how the poor become poorer, and the rich become richer and the rich don’t give the poor a second thought. Through this, even Alexander Hamilton began to understand that if he wanted to succeed in life he had to use the skills he had to make a future for himself. He was a poor seventeen-year-old, who sought out the power, to make himself rich, and make a name for himself. He wrote a piece about the event that had occurred when he was seventeen. He wrote about the Hurricane and made it a describing piece where the reader could read the story and visualize it so well that it was almost as if the reader was there to experience the event that had taken place. As he started writing, his name slowly started began to be known. All the survivors of the Hurricane gathered up whatever they could just to send Alexander Hamilton to New York to get an education and to use his skills to create a good work ethic, just like what the American Dream/Way said, it said that the individual can build a better life through a good work ethic. This event influenced Alexander Hamilton, to begin leaving his mark on the world. This event pushed Alexander Hamilton out of his shell and made him sprout wings so he could soar. This event influenced the economic change of America because if this event had not taken place it would not have led to Alexander Hamilton creating the first national bank in America. This economic change could never have come into existence, if the hurricane had never occurred it would have never led to Alexander Writing that descriptive piece about the hurricane then that would have never led to the survivors of the village to help Alexander Hamilton get onto a “ship that was New York bound”, which would have never led him to create the first national bank of America.
C: GUIDED QUESTION
In what ways does your chosen song relate to the American Revolution as a whole?
- Analysis: Find and analyze at least three lines in your chosen song that you believe to be essential to understanding the people, conflicts, ideologies, or events of the American Revolution. In other words, does the synthesis of your research and listening of Hamilton reveal about how the American Revolution affected the lives and privileges of those involved?
Once the American Revolution, was over and when America gained its freedom, the lives of those involved improved. They won a war, then flooded their products all over the world. The American Way is also known as the American Dream. The American Dream in a sense is that the individual can build a better life through a good work ethic. In the song “Hurricane” Alexander Hamilton in a sense represents all of those people who migrated to America because he has the impulsive behavior and mindset that through his hard work, and by using his skills he can better improve his own life. It stats in the song that “[he] wrote his way out”, this is true because Alexander Hamilton used the skills he had gotten from God and used these skills to improve his life. It is quite funny because in the song Alexander Hamilton believes that God has given up on Alexander Hamilton and that God won’t help him anymore, although God is helping him in a strange way. God provided Alexander Hamilton with the skills he needed to have in order to improve his life. Alexander Hamilton just had to make the choice of how he was going to use his skills. He could have easily did the opposite of what he did and just wrote for fun instead of for the world, or kept his skills to himself. He went from a poor seventeen-year-old who had is home obliterated by a hurricane, to be a scholar who is still remembered even today. Alexander represents the American people who had once taken the impulsive action to start a Revolution against the British. In the song, it implies that Aaron Burr is the type who wants to make a change but is too scared to do anything, so he constantly says to Alexander Hamilton to “wait for it”, just wait for the right time. Alexander Hamilton does not listen to Aaron Burr, because like I mentioned before, Alexander Hamilton represents the Americans who started the Revolution. I can infer that without the impulsive action the Americans took, and Alexander Hamilton took, they would have never gotten anywhere in life. Alexander Hamilton became a champion in the constitution, “[he] wrote about The Constitution and defended it well” he was a 10 dollar founding father, “[he] wrote financial systems into existence”. All because he grasped the concept, that by having a good work ethic and by using the skills he had, he could improve his life, just like how the American Revolution forced people to grasp this concept, and this caused them to strive. Although over time their idea of the American Way/Drea, it evolved to “give me liberty and I will use my work ethic to build a good life for myself and family”. This is funny because the whole reason the American Way/Dream was made was to get people to strive for a better life not because they had to, but as it evolved it started changing into an obligation that it was required to have a good life. In the end, the American Revolution improved the lives and privileges of the Americans, because it made them strive to use their skills to create a better life for themselves. Even though it evolved into an obligation it still helped a lot of people to have the correct mindset and helped them improve their lives.
