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1. The Blues Singers

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This is the second in a four-part series about the Blues, a unique form of music born out of the African slave culture in the United States. When slaves were freed, their musical traditions blended with European musical styles into Jazz and the Blues. This article features stories about leading Blues musicians throughout the history of the music, including B. B. King, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, and Bessie Smith.

2. Elements of the Blues

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This is the third in a four-part series of essays on the American musical style called “Blues.” The music grew out of the musical traditions of African slaves in the United States between 1619 and 1863, blended with the musical styles of Europe. It is closely related to Jazz. Blues and Jazz are the only two completely unique musical styles created in the United States. This article covers the verse structure, the instruments, and other musical elements of the Blues.

3. The Blues: Grammar and Glossary

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This is the last of a four-part series on the American musical style called “Blues.” The music grew out of the musical traditions of African slaves in the United States between 1619 and 1863, blended with the musical styles of Europe. It is closely related to Jazz. Blues and Jazz are the only two completely unique musical styles created in the United States. This section, as the title suggests, explains the words used in discussing the Blues and music in general, for example the use of “Blues” to mean more than just a color.

4. The Lighter Side

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   Blue is a common word found in American idioms. For example, “Once in a blue moon” means something happening rarely. And “Blue in the face” means a person is pale from exhaustion or frustration. This short section lists several idioms with the word blue in them, and gives an explanation of the phrase.

5. Alaska! The Last Frontier

   In: English Teaching Forum 2002, Volume 40, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article describes Alaska, the 49th state of the U.S. It presents facts about Alaska’s native people and their life style, history, transportation, and education. It also provides a text about “Iditarod,” which is an annual sled-dog race, held in Alaska since 1973.

6. Renewable Energy

   In: English Teaching Forum 2002, Volume 40, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   This article, aimed at high intermediate to advanced readers, discusses the use of renewable energy. It presents a brief history on the source and types of energy. It then focuses on recent developments including solar, biomass, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal energy. The article discusses the future of renewable energy and provides some suggestions on how to improve it.

7. The Lighter Side

   In: English Teaching Forum 2002, Volume 40, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   The Lighter Side in this issue has three parts. “Scrambled Energy Words” is an unscrambling-the-words activity using vocabulary related to energy. “Energy Jokes and Puns” has jokes related to energy, and “Energy Idioms” contains idioms related to energy.

8. All That Jazz

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 2 Format(s): Text, Image / Poster / Maps

   This article is the first of three to introduce Jazz music, which was born in the United States over a period of 200 years. Jazz was influenced by African, Latin American, and European music. It is generally accepted that Jazz was first recognized in New Orleans, Louisiana, the southeastern United States. This mostly historical article features many Jazz musicians including Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton, Buddy Bolden, Joe “King” Oliver, and Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong. A list of Web sites is included.

9. The Cotton Club

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 2 Format(s): Text, Image / Poster / Maps

   This one-page piece details The Cotton Club, one of the most glamorous dance and music clubs in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. The Cotton Club was located in Harlem, which in the 1920s was an African-American residential and cultural business center in New York. The club had 30 to 50 chorus girls who danced and sang and were only hired if they were beautiful and very tall. Although the singers and dancers were almost all black, the audience was almost all white, which was a sign of the racial American society at the time.

10. The Lighter Side

    In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 2 Format(s): Text

    This "Lighter Side" begins with a contest to name a Jazz song. The answer is "Georgia On My Mind." Although there is an American state called Georgia, Georgia is the name of a girl for whom the song was written in 1930. In the second section of "The Lighter Side," definitions and uses of the word Jazz are given.

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