Ragtime - Shaw Festival Theatre

Say What?
TERMS FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION
Nigger is probably the most disparaging and offensive word in the English
language. It has been used in a derogatory manner since at least the Revolutionary
War. The word is generally used when the speaker aims to hurt or offend.
The word originated as a neutral term to refer to people with black skin,
as a variation of the Spanish/Portuguese noun negro, but evolved into an
ethnic slur. However, it is sometimes used among African-American/
Canadians as another word for ‘friend’.
Click this link http://www.shawfest.com/education/study-guides/ragtime/ for video of
Shaw Festival professionals weighing in on whether and when it is appropriate to
use the word in a production.
Ragtime the first distinctly American music form, considered to be a synthesis
of African syncopation and European classical music
Accoutrements accessory items of clothing or equipment
Patriotism love of or devotion to one’s country
Rag ship term used to describe immigrant ships
Anarchism the philosophy of a new social order based on liberty unrestricted
by man-made law
American capitalism an economic system that includes private ownership of
the means of production, creation of goods or services for profit or income,
the accumulation of capital, competitive markets, voluntary exchange, and
wage labor
Trade union an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve
common goals such as better working conditions
Tenements a substandard multi-family dwelling in the urban core, usually old
and occupied by the poor
Stevedore someone who works on the docks or a dock labourer
American Dream an American belief that life should be better and richer and
fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement
regardless of social class or circumstances of birth
Assembly line a manufacturing process in which parts are added to a product
in a sequential manner to create a finished product much faster than with
handcrafting-type methods
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C ONNECTIONS
Shaw Festival Study Guide