Pledge of Allegiance

The Pledge of Allegiance appears in the Homecoming pep rally as a shared civic ritual, linking the school's football celebration to the broader symbols and practices of American public life. Its place in the program makes it part of the rally's carefully ordered movement from gathering to patriotic observance to support for the team.

Occurrence at the Pep Rally

At the Clarendon gymnasium, the cheerleaders take their positions as the band begins the fight song and football players run in from the opposite side. The cheerleaders then lead everyone through the Pledge of Allegiance. The band plays The Star-Spangled Banner immediately afterward, and the crowd turns to chants urging the team to win its Homecoming game against the Gruver Greyhounds. The pledge is therefore presented not in isolation but among school music, patriotic ceremony, and collective sporting enthusiasm.

Civic Ritual and Community

The sequence gives the pledge a public, communal function: the gathered school and town participate together before cheering for a team that represents Clarendon. The rally's patriotic observances and its football loyalties occupy the same ceremonial space, while the annual rivalry with Gruver supplies a local focus for the crowd's excitement. In this scene, the pledge helps mark the gathering as more than a sports assembly: it is also a shared expression of civic belonging.