Question

notice & note
review what you noticed and noted as you read the text. your annotations can help you answer these questions.
interpret

1. in paragraph 7, why do you think the author refers to the song “go down, moses” as “the forbidden spiritual”?

the author refers to the song as “the forbidden spiritual” because ________.
checklist

1. i make inferences and cite relevant evidence to support my ideas.

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Explanation:

To answer this, we consider the context of "Go Down, Moses" (a spiritual with themes of liberation, often linked to enslaved people's desire for freedom) and the term "forbidden." Likely, the song was prohibited by slave owners (as it could inspire resistance/escape, challenging the slave system). So the author uses "forbidden" to show it was suppressed because of its subversive (to slavery) message.

Answer:

the song's themes of liberation (like Moses leading people from bondage) threatened the slave system, so slave owners forbade it to prevent enslaved people from being inspired to resist or seek freedom.