Analysing texts: West Side Story on the web-site for teachers and learners of English as a secondary language from a German point of view
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ANDYAndy Guhl 10d /1999: Analysis sent per e-mail:

Analysing the text: Westside story: I like to be in America

The text "WEST SIDE STORY" is a musical about two gangs.

It tells us how two gangs fight about the West Side in New York City.

The 1st group comes from San Juan,the capital of Puerto Rico.

The 2nd group comes from New York.

The main characters are young people, one group are wogs.

It plays in the year 1950s when the West Side of New York is a poor area.

The musical can be divided into 3 parts.

The first part is about the1st meeting on a streetball court.

In this part the two groups stress the rules in the ghetto.

In the 2nd part the climax is reached when the groups are meeting again on the court.

At this meeting one or two people are killed in action. The happy ending is that the groups are friends. And one Puerto Rican and one yankee girl are in love.

The author's message is that everybody must live in peace before some people die.

I am of the opinion that Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim (author's)


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