Book Title: When Marian Sang
Author: by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Grade Level: 4
Type: Nonfiction
Topic: Biography/African-American
Lexile:


Discussion Questions

1. Why does the author insert song lyrics in many places throughout the book?
   • They are words to hymns and gospel songs that Marian liked to sing and helped to make famous.
   • The song lyrics were chosen to tie into Marian’s life story.
   
   
2. What instances of prejudice did Marian Anderson encounter in her career?
   • She was not allowed to apply to music school.
   • On trains, she had to travel in crowded, dirty "Jim Crow" cars, and often she could not get a hotel room.
   • She had to sing to segregated groups, with whites in the best seats, or sing separate concerts for whites and blacks.
   • She was not allowed to sing in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.
   
   
3. How was Marian Anderson’s life in Europe different from what her life had been in the United States?
   • In Europe, Marian sang to mixed (not segregated) audiences.
   • She could travel and find hotels without restrictions.
   • She sang in famous and important concert halls.
   
   
4. What was Marian’s way of dealing with the prejudice she encountered?
   • She always worked hard and behaved with dignity.
   • She did not speak publicly about equal rights; instead she acted with courage and determination and set an example.
   • She understood that she "had become a symbol to her people and she wanted to make it easier for those who would follow her," so she agreed to sing at the Lincoln Memorial despite her concerns.
   
   
5. Why was Marian Anderson so successful as a singer?
   • She was serious about singing, even as a young child; she practiced her parts and often other singers’ parts as well.
   • She was determined: she found alternative ways to progress when she was denied entrance to music school.
   • She was courageous: she sang before a famous teacher, who immediately agreed to teach her; she traveled alone to Europe to study.
   • She always worked hard; for example, she studied foreign languages so that she would understand words to songs in other languages.