1 Overview

Listen to the song and find the missing

words

Strange Fruit
Southern trees bear strange
..................,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the
..................,
Black body swinging in the Southern
..................,
Strange fruit hanging from the
poplar ...................
Pastoral scene of the gallant
..................,
The bulging eyes and the twisted
..................,
Scent of magnolia sweet and
..................,
Then the sudden smell of burning
..................!
Here is fruit for the crows to
..................,
For the rain to gather, for the wind
to ..................,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to
..................,
Here is a strange and bitter
...................

Definition of a 'metaphor' :
Metaphor is the concept of understanding one
thing in terms of another. A metaphor is a figure of
speech that constructs an analogy between two
things or ideas; the analogy is conveyed by the use
of a metaphorical word in place of some other
word. For example: "Her eyes were glistening
jewels".

Question 2
1

What type of text is it? Justify

Comment on the title.
What is the topic of this song?
(fruit metaphor for what?
How do you call this particular type of
song? Can you give other examples?
2 Close up
From the context, work out the meaning
of the following words : bulging, twisted,
pluck, gather, rot, crop
Sort out the following words in two
categories. Give them a title.
Justify your title.
(voir tableau ci-dessous)
What is the impact of these clashes on the
reader/listener ?

things or ideas; the analogy is conveyed by the use

of a metaphorical word in place of some other
word. For example: "Her eyes were glistening
jewels".

Question 2
1

Photograph

Text
"Strange Fruit" was a poem written by Abel
Meeropol, a Jewish high-school teacher from the
Bronx, about the lynching of two black men. He
published under the pen name Lewis Allan.
In the poem, Meeropol expressed his horror at
lynchings, possibly after having seen Lawrence
Beitler's photograph of the 1930 lynching of
Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marion,
Indiana. He published the poem in 1936 in The
New York Teacher, a union magazine. Though
Meeropol/Allan had often asked others (notably
Earl Robinson) to set his poems to music, he set
"Strange Fruit" to music himself. The piece gained
a certain success as a protest song in and around
New York. Meeropol, his wife, and black vocalist
Laura Duncan performed it at Madison Square
Garden. (Meeropol and his wife later adopted
Robert and Michael, sons of Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg, who were convicted of espionage and
executed by the United States.)

3 Going further
The photograph :
Part 1 :
Looking at the picture, describe the scene
as precisely as possible.
How do you react to the couple to the left?
Aren't they nice?
What type of party could they be
attending ?
What could the man in the middle point
to?
Part 2 :
This is a 'necktie party'.
Find in the poem words that could
describe this photograph
Who is left out in the poem ? Can you
write a list of words/ phrases to describe
these people.
Now read the text used as a comment on
the photograph. What does it tell us about
the historical context?
4 Your turn
Use your notes from 3 to write a short
descriptive paragraph : place, people,
atmosphere, historical context, the
photographer's point of view

Teacher's notes :
1 Ecrire au tableau les noms : Billie Holiday et
attendre leurs ractions : singer, jazz

Abel Meeropol = teacher/ poet, turned into a song by BH

"Strange Fruit" is a song performed most famously by Billie Holiday, who released her first recording of it
in 1939, the year she first sang it. Written by the teacher Abel Meeropol as a poem, it condemned American
racism, particularly the lynching of African Americans. Such lynchings had occurred chiefly in the South
but also in all other regions of the United States. He set it to music and with his wife and the singer Laura
Duncan, performed it as a protest song in New York venues, including Madison Square Garden.
The song has been covered by numerous artists, as well as inspiring novels, other poems and other creative
works. In 1978 Holiday's version of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[2] It was also
included in the list of Songs of the Century, by the Recording Industry of America and the National
Endowment for the Arts.

Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan[1] April 7, 1915 July 17, 1959) was an American jazz singer and
songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday was a seminal
influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a
new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo.
Critic John Bush wrote that Holiday "changed the art of American pop vocals forever."[2] She co-wrote
only a few songs, but several of them have become jazz standards, notably "God Bless the Child," "Don't
Explain," "Fine and Mellow," and "Lady Sings the Blues." She also became famous for singing "Easy
Living," "Good Morning Heartache," and "Strange Fruit", a protest song which became one of her
standards and made famous with her 1939 recording.

Billie Holiday

A Necktie Party in Marion, Indiana,

1930.
The lynching of Thomas Shipp and
Abram Smith, August 7, 1930. by
Lawrence Beitler

Wikipedia
Ne donner qu'une partie des renseignements = jazz singer and songwriter born 1915 died 1959 ;
poem by a Abel Meeropol a (white) teacher married to a black singer
poem and song = protest against... (listen and you will find out...)

Strange Fruit
Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh!
Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,

For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,

Here is a strange and bitter crop.
1 The land of milk and honey/ positive,
sweet images of the south
Southern breeze
pastoral scene
gallant south
scent of magnolia sweet and fresh
fruit

2 A land of violence/ negative images

Blood
buldging eyes
twisted mouth
smell of burning flesh
crows

Mystery and suspense :

strange fruit = what are they?
Travail sur la metaphore vs comparaison (metaphor vs simile)
Metaphor is the concept of understanding one thing in terms of another. A metaphor is a figure of speech that constructs an
analogy between two things or ideas; the analogy is conveyed by the use of a metaphorical word in place of some other word.
For example: "Her eyes were glistening jewels".

Similar and different =

the fruit = for the two hung black
strange = unusual, poplar = no fruit, and hung people cannot be considered as fruit
but on the other hand =
hanging, fruit hang from branches ; stem = here a rope ; ripe = rotten bodies eaten
by crows
Analogy used to enhance/ emphasize/ put a stress on the abonrmal, the horror...
encapsulated in the photograph
black body swinging = who are they? Where are they?
Swing = music, children game = dance? Stereotype of black people
Last stanza = pick out the elements of horror, what does this stanza describe
precisely (ripe then rotten fruit ) griesly details,
Why makes the poem effective?
- the hung black people are never mentioned (use of a metaphors = fruit, swing)
- the topic (lynching, racism...)
- the structure of the poem (indifference vs protest song/poem)
Notre thme et macrotche : image de presse
Ici pome puis chanson inspire par l'actualit et plus prcisment une photo = ce
sera le travail de ce dossier (lire la tche finale et la distribuer)

The lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, August 7, 1930. by Lawrence Beitler

"Strange Fruit" was a poem written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish high-school teacher from the Bronx, about
the lynching of two black men. He published under the pen name Lewis Allan.
In the poem, Meeropol expressed his horror at lynchings, possibly after having seen Lawrence Beitler's
photograph of the 1930 lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marion, Indiana. He published the
poem in 1936 in The New York Teacher, a union magazine. Though Meeropol/Allan had often asked others
(notably Earl Robinson) to set his poems to music, he set "Strange Fruit" to music himself. The piece
gained a certain success as a protest song in and around New York. Meeropol, his wife, and black vocalist
Laura Duncan performed it at Madison Square Garden. (Meeropol and his wife later adopted Robert and
Michael, sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of espionage and executed by the United
States.)

Outils
Author's intentions + impressions
By using this image, the photographer wants to shos/ suggest/ indicate/ make us feelrealize- understand that
By comparing this to that, he wants the reader to feel/ realize/ understand that
In this picture we get a feeling/ an impression/ a sense of suspense/ danger/ threat/
horror, and this/ which is caused by/ results from/ is conveyed by the fact that/ the
image of/ such words as
Purpose
The purpose of this photograph is to
This picture is meant to
He used this photograph so as/ in order/ in an attempt... to obtain/ to make people
aware of...
He used... so that the viewer would/ could
He uses... so that the viewer will/ can
Analysing symbols
This is a / what we have here is a metaphor in that we have an object representing a
concept. The strange fruit symbolizes/ represents/ is a symbol of/ stands for racism/
inhumanity
This represents the conflict between.... and .