"Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell inspired me to make a playlist. I wanted to include not just songs that were mentioned in the book, but other pop culture references as well. 1986 was about 13 years before most of this year's freshman class was born, so even though most of the references are probably familiar, they may not know all of them.
As I went through the book pulling out some of these songs, shows and movies, I realized that they add so much more to the story than I noticed on my first pass. For example, in one scene, Eleanor's stepfather is away from home and the family watches "Highway to Heaven" and teaches the youngest child a hand-clapping game ("Down, Down, Baby"). It's probably the most carefree scene in the book. Shortly afterward, Eleanor is in a neighbor's garage listening to Black Sabbath. The cultural references contribute to the underlying tone and the progress of the story. Because of that, a video playlist was a good way to explore the book in greater detail. I just scratched the surface, and someone else's playlist would most likely be different than mine. But it's an example of the way these projects can help readers appreciate the text as they dive deeper into it.
Here's the link to the playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1Zvzuj9Zj2C1otkyG1YFx2A47dcq7sq7
As I went through the book pulling out some of these songs, shows and movies, I realized that they add so much more to the story than I noticed on my first pass. For example, in one scene, Eleanor's stepfather is away from home and the family watches "Highway to Heaven" and teaches the youngest child a hand-clapping game ("Down, Down, Baby"). It's probably the most carefree scene in the book. Shortly afterward, Eleanor is in a neighbor's garage listening to Black Sabbath. The cultural references contribute to the underlying tone and the progress of the story. Because of that, a video playlist was a good way to explore the book in greater detail. I just scratched the surface, and someone else's playlist would most likely be different than mine. But it's an example of the way these projects can help readers appreciate the text as they dive deeper into it.
Here's the link to the playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1Zvzuj9Zj2C1otkyG1YFx2A47dcq7sq7
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