Although this Everlast song is from 1998 students still seem to like it and talk about going home to find it on Youtube. Only my honors class has listened to it and read the lyrics, but I was disappointed to quite disappointed with the result. Yes, they liked it, but they totally missed the theme of song. First, we discussed their favorite lines. At least two boys repeated the line about a man by the liquor store begging for change. When I asked why they liked the line, both mentioned they liked it because that's what people do, beg for money to use on alcohol. Next, I asked if this was a stereotype. Both said, no. Then I asked if it was possible they were grouping people into one category. Nope. They still didn't get it. I mentioned we'd come back to the discussion and solicited another response. One student mentioned, "I've seen a rich man beg." This conversation also digressed as one student was adamant that you could tell if someone was rich by their clothes. Since this wasn't working, I asked each student (honors) to read the lyrics (altered for student use as was the song itself) and find the most important line. Most picked the line about walking in someone else's shoes. Yea, I thought we were getting somewhere. "What do you think the author would think of our previous conversations after reading this line and realizing it's the most important?" I asked, hoping for light bulbs to flash before my eyes. Nope, once again I had to explain the lyrics, so they could figure out how it related to the book we were reading. Arghh. I'm sure the conversation will go better in my other classes, but it was disheartening. It also made me think of the current elections. No wonder people vote republican. These stereotypes and prejudices are deep.
Although this Everlast song is from 1998 students still seem to like it and talk about going home to find it on Youtube. Only my honors class has listened to it and read the lyrics, but I was disappointed to quite disappointed with the result. Yes, they liked it, but they totally missed the theme of song. First, we discussed their favorite lines. At least two boys repeated the line about a man by the liquor store begging for change. When I asked why they liked the line, both mentioned they liked it because that's what people do, beg for money to use on alcohol. Next, I asked if this was a stereotype. Both said, no. Then I asked if it was possible they were grouping people into one category. Nope. They still didn't get it. I mentioned we'd come back to the discussion and solicited another response. One student mentioned, "I've seen a rich man beg." This conversation also digressed as one student was adamant that you could tell if someone was rich by their clothes. Since this wasn't working, I asked each student (honors) to read the lyrics (altered for student use as was the song itself) and find the most important line. Most picked the line about walking in someone else's shoes. Yea, I thought we were getting somewhere. "What do you think the author would think of our previous conversations after reading this line and realizing it's the most important?" I asked, hoping for light bulbs to flash before my eyes. Nope, once again I had to explain the lyrics, so they could figure out how it related to the book we were reading. Arghh. I'm sure the conversation will go better in my other classes, but it was disheartening. It also made me think of the current elections. No wonder people vote republican. These stereotypes and prejudices are deep.
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