Song Lyrics and Poetry:
Hand in Hand
by Ariel Summers
1. Course Title: English X
2. Grade Level: 10th
3. General Objective: Students will become acclamated with reader- response theory and its techniques. They will understand that, according to reader-response, text is meaningless without a reader to give it meaning. They will also understand how song lyrics are poetry and how their interpretations of poems are always valid as long they can give strong reasons from the text.
4. Behavioral Objectives:
1. Given the lyrics to the song "(itís hard) letting you go" by Bon Jovi, students will discuss the songís meaning using reader- response techniques, specifically making assertions about the songís meaning as well as giving reasons and evidence from the text for their comments.
2. Given a copy of Edna St. Vincent Millayís sonnet "[Time does not bring relief; you all have lied]," students will engage in a discussion of the poem using the reader-response techniques described above, comparing it to "(itís hard) letting you go" as well.
5. Rationale: This lesson is designed to heighten studentsí confidence in analyzing poems by giving them a song first. Studentsí prior knowledge of automatically finding songsí meanings will provide them with a basis for analyzing this song as a poem. The song is similar to the sonnet and is to serve in helping students find meaning and make connections. Using reader-response methods and the song as a jumping-off point should make the students more at ease in analyzing the sonnet, since any assertion is viable as long as itís supported. By having students break up into small groups first to discuss the song and poem before our whole-group discussion, students will be able to feel comfortable voicing their opinions and focusing their thoughts in the less-intimidating group setting.
6. Instructional Procedures:
1. First, display a poster that has all the letters of the sentence, "Text is only symbols without a reader to make it a poem, an event, and a meaningful piece of literature" written haphazardly, backwards, sideways, disordered, and/or upside down. Ask students if anyone can read the poster and tell what it says.
2. When nobody responds, turn the poster around to its other side where the sentence is written clearly and correctly. Instruct the students to read the poster aloud as a group.
3. Explain that the exact same letters are on both sides. Ask the students why they could read one side and not the other. Prompt students into understanding that those letters, those lines on paper, donít mean anything unless readers like them MAKE them mean something. The side that makes sense to them would have no meaning to someone who speaks only German, just as a book in French doesnít make sense to most of them.
4. Go on to explain how this idea is the key to reader-response. They shouldnít be intimidated by poems or try to rack their brains trying to figure out what poems are supposed to mean. Poems need them as readers or listeners to give them meaning just like those letters need them.
5. Ask how many of them have heard of Bon Jovi. Pass out copies of the lyrics to "(itís hard) letting you go." Explain that the lyrics are written exactly as they appear in the album cover of These Days. Ask someone to read the song as a poem. Instruct students not to write during this initial reading; they should just be listening.
6. Tell students that this time, as they listen to the song, they can jot down impressions, circle words or phrases that stand out, underline parts, asterisk sections, etc. Play the song.
7. Ask another student to read the lyrics again. Again, students should be told they can take down impressions. During this reading, write "Impressions" and "Why?" on the board, separated by a line.
8. By having students count off by fours or fives, put students into groups. Give them a few minutes to discuss their impressions with one another. Walk around the room to monitor studentsí discussions.
9. Bring the class back together. Tell students to copy the words on the board into their notebooks and to keep notes of the class discussion. Ask students or groups to offer some of their impressions. Keep questioning until they can give reasons for their impressions. If students arenít answering, ask specifically for images or words that stood out to them for any reason and go with them until specific impressions can be articulated.
10. At this point, explain that songs are just poetry set to music. Poetry was originally sung by bards to music--it was oral, not written. Pass out the Millay sonnet.
11. Repeat the entire process with the sonnetóreading, group work, and whole class discussion. This time, ask students to try to make connections between the song and the sonnet.
12. Wrap up by thanking students for their efforts and assign another set of lyrics and a poem for homework. Ask students to write at least one page of response to the lyrics and poem for homework. Tell them that if they are very confused, write about the parts that confuse them and formulate any questions theyíd like answered in class. That way, students can learn from one another. Students should also write a half-page response to the Bon Jovi lyrics and the Millay sonnet.
7. Curricular Materials: This lesson requires a poster with "Text is only symbols without a reader to make it a poem, an event, and a meaningful piece of literature," on both sides. On one side, it should be written normally, but on the other side the letters should be scrambled all over the page, haphazard, upside down, sideways, out of order, and some even backwards. Two handouts will be required: one will have the lyrics of Jon Bon Joviís "(itís hard) letting you go," and the other will have Edna St. Vincent Millayís sonnet "[Time does not bring relief; you all have lied]." A CD player and the Bon Jovi CD These Days are also necessary.
8. Evaluation Procedures: Students will be evaluated based upon the thoughtfulness, creativity, and participation in the in-class discussion and their journal responses.
"(itís hard) letting you go"
by Jon Bon Jovi
It ainít no fun lying down to sleep
and there ainít no secrets left for me to keep
I wish the stars up in the sky
would all just call in sick
And the clouds would take the moon out
on some one-way trip
I drove all night down streets that wouldnít bend
But somehow they drove me back here once again
To the place I lost at love, and the place I lost my soul
I wish Iíd just burned down this place that we called home
It would all have been so easy
if youíd only made me cry
And told me how youíre leaving me
to some organ grinderís lullaby
Itís hard, so hardóItís tearing out my heart
Itís hard letting you go
Now the sky, its shines a different kind of blue
And the neighborís dog donít bark like he used to
Wellóme, these days,
I just miss youóItís the nights that I go insane
Unless youíre coming back,
For me, thatís one thing I know that wonít change
Itís hard, so hardóItís tearing out my heart
Itís hard letting you go
Now some tarot card shark said Iíll draw you a heart
and weíll find you somebody else new
But Iíve made my last trip to those carnival lips
when I bet all that I had on you
Itís hard, itís hard, itís hard, so hard
Itís hard letting you go
Itís hard, so hard, itís tearing out my heart
But itís hard letting you go
Sonnet ii
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Time does not bring relief; you all have lied
Who told me time would ease me of my pain!
I miss him in the weeping of the rain;
I want him at the shrinking of the tide;
The old snows melt from every mountain-side,
And last yearís leaves are smoke from every lane;
But last yearís bitter loving must remain
Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide.
There are a hundred places where I fear
To go,--so with his memory they brim.
And entering with relief some quiet place
Where never fell his foot or shone his face
I say, "There is no memory of him here!"
And so stand stricken, so remembering him.