"Dixie Chicks Among Esteemed Outlaws"

At the 49th annual Grammy Awards, the Dixie Chicks won in five categories, sending a message to the Country Music Association. Ashley Sayeau supports this message in an article that also honors other controversial musicians.

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 12 Unit 4's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: How the Media Twists the News, Why Partisans View, Bush's Address on Iraq Invasion, The Dixie Chicks, Keep the Heat, Chicks Reap Whirlwind, No More Whistlin' Dixie, America Catches Up, Speaking Up and Speaking Out, Esteemed Outlaws, A Tired Old Song
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. dissent
    a difference of opinion
    Throughout the ordeal, the group remained admirably unapologetic, insisting that dissent is (or at least should be) a vital liberty in America.
  2. snub
    refuse to acknowledge
    The Country Music Association completely snubbed the Chicks at its awards ceremony in May.
  3. antithetical
    sharply contrasted in character or purpose
    Such an affront on the part of country music is not only cowardly, but also quite antithetical to the genre's history.
  4. conservative
    resistant to change
    Women in country music--like the Dixie Chicks--have a long tradition of being particularly bold in speaking out against some of the very conventions their record labels and conservative fan base celebrate.
  5. advocate
    a person who pleads for a person, cause, or idea
    And though she once feigned dozing off while listening to feminist advocate Betty Friedan speak as a fellow guest on The David Frost Show, Lynn was a pretty controversial women's advocate.
  6. dogged
    stubbornly unyielding
    As daring as some outlaw artists have been, the country music establishment has often proved even more dogged in its conservative views.
  7. unconventional
    not conforming to accepted rules or standards
    And Cash, never completely at home in the country music world, once said that "the very idea of unconventional or even original ideas ending up on country radio was absurd."
  8. lament
    express grief verbally
    No wonder, then, that in his gay cowboy song, Willie Nelson lamented that "you won't hear this song on the radio/Not on your local TV."
  9. asset
    a useful or valuable quality
    Similarly, with last Sunday night's awards, country music should embrace the fact that its greatest assets have never been scared of controversy or doing the right thing.
  10. progressive
    favoring or promoting change, often by government action
    To quote the great Dolly Parton--who has sung a few feminist, antiwar, and progressive anthems herself--"You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try."
Created on Sat Mar 07 18:06:15 EST 2015 (updated Sat Mar 07 19:06:46 EST 2015)

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