9486 in the collection
Bob Dylan Lyrics as a Graduation Requirement
This is from the MCAS Grade 10 Spring 2008. Massachusetts must pass this test in order to receive a diploma. Some of the other literary selections on this test were from Richard Wright's Black Boy, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and William Inge's "Bus Stop."
Do you think Bob Dylan knows what's happening here? How do you suppose he would answer the questions?
DIRECTIONS: The following song lyrics by Bob Dylan were written during the 1960s, a turbulent time in American history. Read the lyrics to "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and answer the questions that follow.
Blowin' in the Wind
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, ’n’ how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, ’n’ how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
—Bob Dylan
Lyrics from BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND by Bob Dylan. Copyright © 1962; renewed 1990 by Special Rider Music.
The Times They Are A-Changin'
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin' who
That it’s namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.
—Bob Dylan
Lyrics from THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’ by Bob Dylan. Copyright © 1962; renewed 1990 by Special Rider Music.
A Common
●9 In lines 3 and 5 of "Blowin' in the Wind," which of the following contrasting pairs do the "white dove" and the "cannon balls" symbolize?
A. peace and war
B. order and chaos
C. freedom and slavery
D. nature and machines
●10 What is the effect of writing "Blowin' in the Wind" as a series of questions?
A. It encourages the listener to think about the speaker's concerns.
B. It causes the listener to care about the speaker's life.
C. It emphasizes the speaker’s confusion.
D. It emphasizes the speaker’s curiosity.
●11 What is the message of the first verse of "The Times They Are A-Changin'"?
A. Changes in society are about
to occur.
B. Changes in society can cause confusion.
C. Most people will embrace changes
in society.
D. Creative people can make changes
in society.
●12 Based on "The Times They Are
A-Changin'," why does the speaker most likely single out "senators, congressmen" and "mothers and fathers"?
A. They understand the problems
of society.
B. They represent an outdated set
of values.
C. They are the most open to change.
D. They are role models for the speaker.
●13 The songwriter's use of contractions in both songs reveals that he most likely feels he represents
A. the common man.
B. the political leaders.
C. the religiously devout.
D. the artistic community
— Bob Dylan
MCAS Language Arts Test
2008-04-
http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2008/release/g10ela.pdf
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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