Self-paced
P1
Aida Overton Walker (1880–1914), one of the most widely acclaimed African American performers of the early twentieth century, was known largely for popularizing a dance form known as the cakewalk through her choreographing, performance, and teaching of the dance. ███
Intro topic ·
How Walker popularized the cakewalk dance
Details of cakewalk ·
Origins and key characteristics
Originated by African Americans before Civil War, based on West African dances
P2
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More details of cakewalk ·
European elements added which contrast with African elements
Consequences of Euro influences ·
Originally parody of European dance, but ended up appealing to European Americans
Evolution of cakewalk ·
Parodied by European Americans
Started as African American parody of European American dancing; developed into European American parody of African American dancing
P3
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Author's perspective ·
on cakewalk's success
Cakewalk's broad, cross-cultural appeal was important and necessary to its success, given the socioeconomic conditions of the time
P4
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Author's perspective ·
on Walker's role in cakewalk's success
Walker popularized cakewalk by meeting different audiences' expectations
Example ·
of how Walker appealed to one audience
Walker's version of the cakewalk was refined and graceful, appealing to middle-class African Americans
Another example ·
of how Walker appealed to a second audience
Walker's version of the cakewalk was considered authentic, appealing to middle- and upper-class European Americans
Final example ·
of how Walker appealed to a third audience
Walker's version of the cakewalk had certain elements ("grand flourishes") that appealed to newly rich audiences
Passage Style
Single position
Spotlight
14.
The author describes the socioeconomic ████ ██ ███ ███████████████████ ██████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ █████████ █████████ ██ █████ ██
a
argue that the ████████ █████ ████ ██████ ███████ ████ ██ ████ ███████ ██████ █████████████
The complex social circumstances of socioeconomic flux created the conditions for the cakewalk’s success, but the author doesn’t suggest that those conditions were necessary for the cakewalk’s success.
b
detail the social ███████ ████ ████████ ██████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ ████ ███████ ███ ████████ █████ █████
This refers to a different social context—one discussed earlier, in P1 and P2, and which took place earlier in time, starting
c
identify the target ██ ███ ███████████ ███████ ██████ ████ █████████████ ███ ████████
The targets of the cakewalk’s parodic elements are identified earlier, in P2: African Americans used the dance to parody European Americans, and European Americans in turn used the dance to parody African Americans. Meanwhile, the socioeconomic flux described in P3 is brought up to explain not who was being parodied, but why those layers of parody helped the dance gain wide appeal; it was a time of diverse audiences with diverse tastes.
d
indicate why a ██████████ ████████ ███████████ ███ ██████████ █████████ ███ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ████████
The author brings up socioeconomic flux in order to argue that it was a time of diverse audiences with diverse tastes, and that a culturally complex dance like the cakewalk was well-suited for such an environment.
e
explain why European ████████ ████████ ██ ███ ████████ ████ ████ ██ █████ ████ █████████
The author doesn’t indicate whether European American parodies reached wide audiences. All we know about European American parodies is that they formed part of the