Subjectivities and Popular Music

Somebody around here is doing coursework in the Composition and Rhetoric PhD program at Wayne State University, working towards a dissertation project focusing on how subjectivities and identities are formed through the act of writing in the classroom.

On his way to the gym, because getting PhD's involves way too much late night Taco Bell, the radio played two songs.

What two songs?

"Fifteen" by Grammy award-winning artist Taylor Swift, and "According To You" by Michael Jackson guitarist mono-named Orianthi.

What is interesting about these two songs, juxtaposed as they were, is how both of them consider the formation of identity of young women in the face of external pressures. Consider the following lyrics:

According to you
I'm boring
I'm moody
and you cant take me any place
According to you
I suck at telling jokes cause I always give it away
I'm the girl with the worst attention span
you're the boy who puts up with that

("According to You." performed by Orianthi. written by Steve Diamond and Andrew Frampton)



'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you
You're gonna believe them
When you're fifteen and your first kiss
Makes your head spin 'round
But in your life you'll do things greater than
Dating the boy on the football team
But I didn't know it at fifteen

("Fifteen." written and performed by Taylor Swift)


We think it's interesting that two songs with such similar sensibilities are on the charts at the same time, popular enough to play back-to-back on a Top 40 radio station.

There might be an application for your classroom. How do other people influence who we are? Does popular culture contain enough messages of self-empowerment? Are there any other songs with similar messages?

In case you're unfamiliar with the songs, we've embedded them below.

Somebody around here has homework to do!

The Day the Music Died

Today marks the anniversary of the plane crash that killed musicians Richie Valens, Buddy Holly, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, commemorated by Don McLean's song "American Pie."

The lyrics of "American Pie" are a great example of an elegy, a poetic form your students might connect with.

Of course, another great example of songs written for a dead celebrity is Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" (both versions).

More recently, P. Diddy sampled The Police for his tribute to Notorious B.I.G.

More In Memoriam: J. D. Salinger Dies at 91

News sources are now reporting that author J. D. Salinger has died at his home.

Salinger, seen above on one of our mini-posters, was notoriously out-of-the-spotlight. The fame, and infamy, of his only novel reportedly haunted him.

We hope that Salinger and Mark Twain arguing over who would win in a fight: Holden or Huck?

Putting Characters to Work--Classroom Activity Idea

Hello from Teacher's Brunch HQ in frosty Auburn Hills, MI.

A few of use around here have been working on a Shakespeare project, and while we're not ready to share the whole thing yet, something came up yesterday we thought you might like.

For "Macbeth," we decided it would be fun to work-up a fake resume for the tragic would-be King. It got us to thinking that making resumes for all the characters, or any character for that matter, is a neat way to have students consider the people that inhabit the literature they're reading a little more deeply.

So "Objective" ends up being less about a job, maybe, and more about that character's motivation.

Other common resume headings could be added or changed as specifically needed.

Of course, a little lesson about resume writing is never a bad thing, either.

Below is our simple ditty for Macbeth. Let us know if you give it a try.




(seems like it's a Scottish kind of week)

Preparing for Black History Month?

The Teacher's Discovery English and Social Studies divisions are interested in making your planning for Black History Month a little easier.



This DVD, "Martin Luther King: I Have a Dream," is a great piece for reviewing one of the most important speeches in American History. King's speech is also a great example of a truly remarkable rhetorician at work.

You'll find a sample of the video, and a free quiz to accompany it, at the link above.




Speaking of Martin Luther King, Jr., this great Talking Poster would be a fine addition to your classroom decor. Press the button on the poster for an audio clip of his famous speech.



And speaking of classroom decor (we are apparently all about the segues today), this poster set will let the words of African American poets resonate with your students every time the pass by. Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and others speak across generations, right into your students' hearts.



If you're interested in covering the Harlem Renaissance from all the angles, our set of three Harlem Renaissance PowerPoint presentations lead your students through the literary, musical, and artistic movements withing the Harlem Renaissance. The images and sounds in these presentations make them something really special.

If these pieces aren't quite what you're looking for, head over to the Teacher's Discovery website and give it a search.

As always, feel free to give us a call or drop us an email at teachersbrunch @ teachersdiscovery. com.

Pass the Haggis! It's Robert Burns Day!

January 25th is Scottish poet Robert Burns' birthday.

Poetry lovers around the world can mark the occasion by carving up another of Scotland's gifts to the world, the haggis.



If that picture doesn't make your mouth water, maybe this will: the last (translated) stanza of Burns' poem "Address to a Haggis":

You Pow'rs, that make mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill of fare,
Old Scotland wants no watery ware
That slops in bowls:
But, if You wish her grateful prayer,
Give her a Haggis!


Perhaps to honor Burns, teachers around the world should have students write their own "Address to a [ ]" poems, featuring students' favorite cafeteria foods.

We'd love to hear any "Address to Chicken Strips" or "Address to Mexican Pizza" ditties that roll across your desk.

Potpourri of Poe

We have two bits of Poe news to pass-on today.

The first is some good news, passed-on to us by Sandy in the Teacher's Discovery English division.

A "new" watercolor showing Edgar (we can call him that because we're buddies) far brighter than the usual image we get of the famous writer is going on auction.

It's reassuring to know that Edgar didn't spend all his time pining after his lost Lenore.

In more ominous news, the Poe Toaster, who for so long has left roses and booze at Poe's gravesite to honor the writer's birthday, was MIA this year. Speculation abounds as to what may have happened.

We here at Teacher's Brunch HQ hope the Toaster is alive and well, and if his or her mission is officially over, express our thanks for giving us something to talk about every January 19th.

Spell Well. . . but you already knew that

So here's a convoluted way to toot our own horns. . . .

Ron Siliman's Blog (a very interesting spot on the net about all things poetic and more, even when you disagree with Mr. Siliman) posted a link to this comic blog, The Oatmeal.

If you look carefully, you'll see that the posters we featured in this post pretty much have your students covered.

It's dangerous to be so cutting edge, but we don't mind buying the Band-Aids.

More Words!

The New Oxford Dictionary has announced its Word of the Year, hot on the heels of our post from yesterday.

Their Word is "unfriend."

An article about it can be found here.

Nominate a Word of the Year

The American Dialect Society is accepting nominations for the 2009 Word of the Year, and the 2000-2009 Word of the Decade.

As the site says:

The best "word of the year" candidates will be:

—new or newly popular in 2009
—widely or prominently used in 2009
—indicative or reflective of the popular discourse

Last year's Word of the Year was "bailout." The 2007 Word was "subprime."

In keeping with the economic theme, and since the website says phrases are allowed, we vote for "Jobless Recovery." We like how it's both hopeful, and dreadfully pessimistic. When you read it you can feel good, but not accuse politicians of sugar-coating the truth. It's a win-win!

If you'd like to have your students enter their choices, you can send an email from their website here.

Feel free to post your choices in the comments section. We'd love to hear what your kids think should win.

Twain!

Teacher's Discovery is highlighting our Mark Twain items this month in honor of his birthday.

Who doesn't love Mark Twain? Really.


Click the image above to check them out.

Pathos, Ethos, Logos (and Robots)

Someone last night was standing in front of a group of college writing students, delivering the finer points of appeals to reasoning, when it dawned on him that one of the funniest bits ever done by the good folks at "Saturday Night Live" has all three--pathos, ethos, and logos.

In abundance.

So here it is, nice and easy, for writing teachers assigning argument essays across the globe. (Sorry for the lead-in advertisement, though.)






A great example of persuasive argumentation. (And just look at the Old Glory logo!)

Plus, it has robots. And there's something about the "Certainly I'm too old" lady that makes us want to pinch her jowls.

Our students and "dirty books"

While a lot of the blogging and posting at Entertainment Weekly's website focuses on the latest exploits of John and Kate or summarizing the goings-on in Melrose 90210, sometimes it does stumble on something worthwhile.

Tina Jordan's post, you can find it here, discusses teenagers and pre-teenagers reading books that may approach or even throw themselves over the comfort line, as far as some adults might see it.

Where do you stand on that? Another one of EW's obsessions, the Twilight books, seems to fit in the discussion, too. But so do loads of other books that have fallen into the canon.

Another great response for Electronic Poetry Starter

We got another really great review for our Electronic Poetry Starter.



We have four electronic starters in all, and you can find them here.

They're so cool, and your students will enjoy using them to write so much, you might even forget heart-breaking baseball playoff losses.

Author Series PowerPoint Presentations

Right about this time in your school year, you're probably trying to keep students' minds on your lessons instead of Homecoming, having happily fallen into the daily grind of school and wondering if a rookie pitcher can help avoid the worst baseball team implosion ever. (Well, maybe not that last part.)

Allow us to make your job a little easier, Mr. or Ms. Literature Teacher.

The presentations we made for some of the most-read authors are ready-to-go out of the box and show students that writers are people, too--sometimes tragically flawed, sometimes surprising normal.

Each disk includes two reproducible activities, so you'll know your students know what's what in the world of letters.

Have a look here for an easy way to troll through the presentations available, and to download some samples.

Take a hike!

We are enjoying a wonderful day here at Teacher's Brunch HQ in sun-splashed Auburn Hills, MI. The new volleyball net is on the grass, the hamburgers were fresh off the grill (Thanks, Nina!), and the Bee Gees are falsetto-ing their way through "Night Fever" on the boom box resting on the window ledge.

We found this post within the blogs of Edutopia that might inspire you to take advantage of whatever nice weather you might have left before the pumpkins are on the stoop. (Thanks for the link, Nancy!)

A great literature connection might be the wonderful Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard.

People who LOVE literature

While trolling the depths of the interwebs for something of interest, we found this site, dedicated to literary tattoos, that might appeal to all you Bohemian teachers out there.




This one was a favorite, because that Atticus Finch knew what was what.

Be Dangerous: Read a book for Banned Books Week

Just a reminder, intrepid readers, from your always-happy-to-stir-things-up friends at Teacher's Brunch HQ in rainy days Auburn Hills, MI: September 26 - October 3 marks the American Library Association's annual observance of Banned Books Week.

Feel free to post your thoughts on BBW--how you celebrate, if you celebrate, and what you think we can do to highlight those great literary works that appear on the fringes. Maybe you have a banned book horror story you'd like to share, so we can commiserate.

Teacher's Discovery, in addition to selling a lot of the books that pop up on these banned lists from time to time, has a few banned book-specific items you might find helpful as you fight the good fight.

Young Adult Book Cover Activity

Hello to everyone from Teacher's Brunch HQ in We're-Going-Back-To-School-Too Auburn Hills, MI. (of the four people in our immediate office, three of us hit the college books again in a couple of weeks and the other just finished a fitness trainer certificate program.)

We found this great blog post about creating your own fake YA book cover taking advantage of some of the cliches of the genre.

Essentially, you use a random name generator to create your Author persona, a random word generator to create your title, and Flicker to find an image that you crop (badly, if you stick to the cliches).

In addition to a great use of technology, we think this activity could be extended in the classroom to have students write a 250-word synopsis of their "books."

A nice way to highlight what students did NOT read over the summer, but might have!

Our book cover is below.

It's the heart-warming story of a father coming to terms with his newborn son's birth defect, as well as his own feelings of abandonment from a childhood spent without his own long-haul trucker father.

A best-seller, for sure.

Some fava beans and a nice chianti

With all of the conversation about the proposed health care bills, we here at Teacher's Brunch, HQ in still-freaked-out-by-swine-flu Auburn Hills, MI thought it might be beneficial to remember one of the very earliest social program suggestions, "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathon Swift.

Here is the full text.

Swift makes some valid points, though we worry that playgrounds might be mistaken for farmer's markets.