PRACTICAL LANGUAGE AUTUMN 2022
Reading Assignment 3: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton (Extracts)
[Opening scene]
“How does a bastard, orphan, Ten-dollar cause his
son of a whore and a Scotsman, image is on it
dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot
in the Caribbean by providence
impoverished, in squalor,
grow up to be a hero and a scholar?
The ten-dollar Founding Father without a father
got a lot farther by working a lot harder
by being a lot smarter
by being a self-starter
By fourteen, they placed him in charge
Of a trading charter
And every day while slaves were being
slaughtered and carted away
across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up
Inside, he was longing for something to be a part of
The brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow or barter
Then a hurricane came and He was desperate
devastation reigned to succed
Our man saw his future
drip-drippin’ down the drain
Put a pencil to his temple
connected it to his brain
and he wrote his first refrain
a testament to his pain
Well, the word got around, they said
‘This kid is insane, man!’
Took up a collection just to
send him to the mainland
‘Get your education,
don’t forget from whence you came,
and the world’s gonna know your name!’
What’s your name, man?
Alexander Hamilton.
My name is Alexander Hamilton
And there’s a million things I haven’t done
But just you wait! Just you wait!
*
[‘My shot’]
I am not throwin’ away my shot!
I am not throwing away my shot!
Hey yo, I’m just like my country,
I’m young, scrappy and hungry,
And I’m not throwin’ away my shot! His ambition for this new
... created country. He
compares himself to this
Rise up! new country.
When you’re livin’ on your knees, you
rise up! To be or not be.
Comparison with
Tell your brother that he’s gotta Hamlet's play of
rise up! Shakespeare.
Tell your sister that she’s gotta Reflexion on his own
rise up! death
When are these colonies gonna
If he have achieved
rise up? enough before death or
not, to let it or fight a
I imagine death so much it little bit more.
feels more like a memory
Questions of honours
When’s it gonna get me? and courage. He died in
In my sleep? Seven feet ahead of me? a duel.
If I see it comin’, do I run or do I let it be?
Is it like a beat without a melody?
...
I’m past patiently waitin’, I’m passionately
Smashin’ every expectation
every action’s an act of creation!
I’m laughin’ in the face of casualties and sorrow
For the first time, I’m thinkin’ past tomorrow!
And I am not throwin’ away my shot!
I am not throwing away my shot!
Hey yo, I’m just like my country,
I’m young, scrappy and hungry,
And I’m not throwin’ away my shot!
We’re gonna rise up!
Time to take a shot!
We’re gonna rise up!
Time to take a shot! . . .
*
[Final scene]
I imagine death so much
it feels more like a memory
Is this where it gets me,
on my feet,
sev'ral feet ahead of me?
I see it coming,
do I run
or fire my gun
or let it be?
There is no beat
no melody
Burr, my first friend,
my enemy
Maybe the last face I ever see
If I throw away my shot,
is this how you'll remember me?
What if this bullet
is my legacy?
Legacy, what is a legacy?
It's planting seeds in a garden
you never get to see
I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song
someone will sing for me
America, you great unfinished symphony,
you sent for me
You let me make a difference,
a place where even orphan immigrants
Can leave their fingerprints
and rise up!
I'm running out of time,
I'm running, and my
time's up!
Wise up!
Eyes up.
I catch a glimpse of
the other side
Laurens leads a soldiers' chorus on
the other side
My son is on
the other side
He's with my mother on
the other side
Washington is watching
from the other side
Teach me how
to say goodbye
Rise up!
Rise up!
Rise up!”
QUESTIONS
1. Identify the biographical details of Alexander Hamilton’s life contained in the opening scene
of the musical.
2. What makes Hamilton “the ten-dollar Founding Father without a father”?
3. Explain the use of the phrase “my shot” in the second extract.
4. What are the dying hero’s concerns in the final scene of the musical? Can you see any
parallels between the imagery used in the second and third extracts?
