Pop Culture Lesson Plans

As educators, obviously one of our goals is to help the literature we teach come alive for our students. I find that students find it difficult to relate to many of the canonical texts we read today because they seem outdated, based on the language and surface plot alone. I think it is important to look beyond the words on the page and help our students make connections with either the language or themes using a common reference point (and a likely point of interest for most students, pop culture).

Activity 1 Rationale:
Because I recently struggled with teaching Shakespeare to a regular English 11 class, I chose to use this activity as a means of helping students connect with the writing styles of Shakespeare and the writing styles of today's hip hop. Additionally, students will be able to make connections between the poetry of Shakespeare's language and the poetry of song lyrics. Finally, it will help them to see the relationship between themes in Shakespeare's writing and time period and similar themes that occur today. Ultimately, this activity can help students see there are reasons we continue to read texts written from hundreds of years ago, not just because they "should" be read, but because they speak to the universal human experience, both in writing styles and in themes.


LESSON PLAN #1: POETRY and SHAKESPEARE

OBJECTIVES:
1. Students will be able to make connections between themes in The Taming of the Shrew and themes in contemporary popular music;
2. Identify the relationship of Shakespeare's writing conventions and music lyrics;

PROCEDURE:

1. Students will have read The Taming of the Shrew using the feminist critical lens. They will already be familiar with how to identify the social commentary being made about a woman's role in society, and what happens when a woman breaks that role.

2. Ask students: How do you definte poetry? Drawing on what you know about song lyrics and about Shakespeare, do you agree that both are forms of poetry? Why or why not?

3. Have students re-read Katherina's final speech from scene 5.2:

KATHARINA: Fie, fie! unknit that threatening unkind brow,
And dart not scornful glances from those eyes,
To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor: 145
It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads,
Confounds thy fame as whirlwinds shake fair buds,
And in no sense is meet or amiable.
A woman moved is like a fountain troubled,
Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty; 150
And while it is so, none so dry or thirsty
Will deign to sip or touch one drop of it.
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance commits his body 155
To painful labour both by sea and land,
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe;
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks and true obedience; 160
Too little payment for so great a debt.
Such duty as the subject owes the prince
Even such a woman oweth to her husband;
And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And not obedient to his honest will, 165
What is she but a foul contending rebel
And graceless traitor to her loving lord?
I am ashamed that women are so simple
To offer war where they should kneel for peace;
Or seek for rule, supremacy and sway, 170
When they are bound to serve, love and obey.
Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth,
Unapt to toil and trouble in the world,
But that our soft conditions and our hearts
Should well agree with our external parts? 175
Come, come, you froward and unable worms!
My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great, my reason haply more,
To bandy word for word and frown for frown;
But now I see our lances are but straws, 180
Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,
That seeming to be most which we indeed least are.
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,
And place your hands below your husband's foot:
In token of which duty, if he please, 185
My hand is ready; may it do him ease.

4. Ask students if they believe she really is "tamed" or if she is just pretending to know her place in that particular society?

5. Then, in groups, ask students to make connections to a song they know from today. Can they think of a song where women are objectified? Or a song where women challenge this stereotypical role? What do they believe about the role of women in the 21st century? How is this different or similar to the message Shakespeare was making in Taming of the Shrew? How is Katherina's character reinforcing or challenging gender stereotypes? What artists (from Leslie Gore to Lil Kim :)) are commenting on gender roles and how? Why? What does this mean for us as consumers?

(example Alycia Keys, "A Woman's Worth"):
(Verse 2)
If you treat me fairly
I'll give you all my goods...
Treat you like a real woman should
Baby, I know you're worth it
If you never play me
Promise not to bluff
I'll hold you down when it gets rough
'Cause baby, I know you're worth it

(Bridge 2)
She rolls the mile; makes you smile, all the while
being true
Don't take for granted the passions that she has
for you
You will lose, if you choose, to refuse to put her first
She will if she can find a man who knows
her worth!
...OH!

(Chorus)
'Cause a real man knows a real woman when he
sees her (when he sees her)
And a real woman knows a real man
Ain't 'fraid to please her (please me)
And a real woman knows a real man always
comes first (first, baby)
And a real man just can't deny
A woman's worth

[Breakdown]
No need to read between the lines
Spell it out for you (spell it out for you)
Just hear this song
'Cause you can't go wrong when you value(Better value...)
A woman's, woman's, woman's, woman's Worth! (yeah)


[Chorus (x2)]
'Cause a real man knows a real woman when he
sees her (when he sees her[1st time]) (nothin' like a woman's worth [2nd time])
And a real woman knows a real man
Ain't 'fraid to please her (please me [1st time]) (ohhh, ooh [2nd time])
And a real woman knows a real man always
comes first (first, baby [1st time]) (comes first [2nd time])
And a real man just can't deny
A woman's worth (a woman's worth)

6. After each group has selected a song, have them answer the following questions:
- How are the themes of the monologue and the song similar? If not, how are they different?
- What literary devices did the poets use? (Examples include metaphor, simile, alliteration, hyperbole, imagery, rhythm, rhyme, point of view, personification, repetition, etc.)

7. Have each group present their findings to the class using their song.

8. After each group has shared, have them answer the following questions:
- What is the author’s purpose in each of your passages? How do gender and position in society affect the speakers' points of view? What literary devices did the poets use to make their points? Has your definition of poetry changed? How would you define poetry now?


Adapted From:
http://www.folger.edu/eduLesPlanDtl.cfm?lpid=750


Activity #2 Rationale
The purpose of this activity is to help students begin to think critically about a "text" by deconstructing the messages in popular culture today, specifically song lyrics. Like with movies, TV, and news, students might not always be aware of the messages targeted towards them and what affect that has on their lives. This lesson plan is designed to help students become more critically aware of the world around them, and put into question the extent to which their lives influence or are influenced by popular culture today.

OBJECTIVES:
1. Students will be able to identify a theme in a popular music song today
2. Students will be able to dissect that song based on lyrics and images and note the difference between connotation and denotation, intended meaning and implied meaning

LESSON PLAN #2: DECONSTRUCTING LYRICS

1. Have students select a song of their choice, preferably within the last year, and bring in a copy of the lyrics
2. Students will read the lyrics and identify the following:
- What message (theme) is this song sending?
- Who is the intended audience?
- What word choice/sentences reinforce that opinion?
- What is the author's (artist's) tone?
- How can you relate to what is being said?
3. After students have answered the questions, have them watch a music video of the song using YouTube.com or a comparable website/video source.
4. After watching the videos, answer the same questions again, only this time in response to the visual aspect of the song:
- What message (theme) is this song sending through images?
- Who is the intended audience?
- What about this video reinforces that opinion?
- What is the author's (artist's) tone of the video?
- How can you relate to what you see?
5. Then, in their own words, have students identify any conflicting areas between the images and the lyrics. Have students look beyond the words and images they see to identify what sort of message the artist is intentionally trying to send to their audience. What messages are unintentionally being sent? How can you tell?