Watch the video, Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwk0lDjUQFw&feature=youtu.be, and answer each question below in complete sentences.
- According to the personal testimonies at the beginning of the film, how do Egyptians remember Umm Kulthum, twenty years after her death?
- On which topic did Umm Kulthum’s early education focus? How did this benefit her as a singer? (Note: the holy book of Islam is the Koran or Qur’an.)
- How did Umm Kulthum first begin to sign publically?
- Why did Umm Kulthum’s father dress her in boys’ clothing? Why did he continue to allow her to perform?
- Which country colonized Egypt? How did Umm Kulthum’s music support the Egyptian independence movement?
- How did the role of women change after the Egyptian revolution of 1919?
- How did Umm Kulthum’s public persona compare to that of other female artists at the time?
- Who was Ahmed Rami? What did he do for Umm Kulthum?
- Umm Kulthum built her career on which three technologies that were new to Egypt?
- What is the melodic contour of Umm Kulthum’s songs? (Ascending, descending, or arching?)
- Why did early Egyptian cinema feature singers?
- Who was MohammedAbd el-Wahhab? Why was he Umm Kulthum’s biggest rival?
- How did Umm Kulthuum insist musicians in her orchestra learn to play her music?
- What is tarab? What is the English translation, according to the film?
- How would Umm Kulthum musically create a sense of tarab for her listeners?
- In concert footage of Kulthum’s performances, how do her audiences react to tarab?
- Why did Umm Kulthum carefully guard her privacy?
- How did Kulthum support Egyptian revolutionary activities in the 1930s?
- How did the Egyptian revolution of the late 1950s threaten Umm Kulthum’s career?
- How did political leader Gamal Abdel Nasser support Kultum?
- Why was Umm Kulthum’s collaboration with her formal rival, MohammedAbd el-Wahhab, a significant event?
- Describe the ensemble supporting Umm Kulthum’s performance of el-Wahhab’s composition, “Enta Omri.” Which instruments do you see and hear in these examples? (Describe the size of the ensemble and the types of instruments using vocabulary such as chordophones, membranophones, etc.)
- Why did it take Umm Kulthum nearly two hours to perform “Enta Omri?”
- According to interviews in the documentary, why do songs such as “Enta Omri” hold such significance with their listeners?
- How did Kulthum “mobilize the Arab world” after Egypt’s defeat in the Six-Day War?
