“You're the Top!” Pop culture then and now
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=896
A lesson plan for grades 9–12 English Language Arts
Teachers can use this simple research project to introduce any literary unit that requires knowledge of popular culture during a certain time period. Drawing on William Shakespeare’s and Walt Whitman’s stylistic device of cataloguing people, things, and events, students can re-write Cole Porter’s song to make it relevant in today’s society. This lesson provides opportunities for collaborative group work and self-reflection and evaluation.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
English Language Arts (2004)
Grade 9
- Goal 1: The learner will express reflections and reactions to print and non-print text and personal experiences.
- Objective 1.02: Respond reflectively (individually and in groups) to a variety of expressive texts (e.g., memoirs, vignettes, narratives, diaries, monologues, personal responses) in a way that offers an audience:
- an understanding of the student's personal reaction to the text.
- a sense of how the reaction results from a careful consideration of the text.
- an awareness of how personal and cultural influences affect the response.
- Objective 1.02: Respond reflectively (individually and in groups) to a variety of expressive texts (e.g., memoirs, vignettes, narratives, diaries, monologues, personal responses) in a way that offers an audience:
- Goal 5: The learner will demonstrate understanding of various literary genres, concepts, elements, and terms.
- Objective 5.01: Read and analyze various literary works by:
- using effective reading strategies for preparation, engagement, reflection.
- recognizing and analyzing the characteristics of literary genres, including fiction (e.g., myths, legends, short stories, novels), non-fiction (e.g., essays, biographies, autobiographies, historical documents), poetry (e.g., epics, sonnets, lyric poetry, ballads) and drama (e.g., tragedy, comedy).
- interpreting literary devices such as allusion, symbolism, figurative language, flashback, dramatic irony, dialogue, diction, and imagery.
- understanding the importance of tone, mood, diction, and style.
- explaining and interpreting archetypal characters, themes, settings.
- explaining how point of view is developed and its effect on literary texts.
- determining a character's traits from his/her actions, speech, appearance, or what others say about him or her.
- explaining how the writer creates character, setting, motif, theme, and other elements.
- making thematic connections among literary texts and media and contemporary issues.
- understanding the importance of cultural and historical impact on literary texts.
- producing creative responses that follow the conventions of a specific genre and using appropriate literary devices for that genre.
- Objective 5.01: Read and analyze various literary works by:
Grade 10
- Goal 1: The learner will react to and reflect upon print and non-print text and personal experiences by examining situations from both subjective and objective perspectives.
- Objective 1.02: Respond reflectively (through small group discussion, class discussion, journal entry, essay, letter, dialogue) to written and visual texts by:
- relating personal knowledge to textual information or class discussion.
- showing an awareness of one's own culture as well as the cultures of others.
- exhibiting an awareness of culture in which text is set or in which text was written.
- explaining how culture affects personal responses.
- demonstrating an understanding of media's impact on personal responses and cultural analyses.
- Objective 1.02: Respond reflectively (through small group discussion, class discussion, journal entry, essay, letter, dialogue) to written and visual texts by:
- Goal 5: The learner will demonstrate understanding of selected world literature through interpretation and analysis.
- Objective 5.01: Read and analyze selected works of world literature by:
- using effective strategies for preparation, engagement, and reflection.
- building on prior knowledge of the characteristics of literary genres, including fiction, non-fiction, drama, and poetry, and exploring how those characteristics apply to literature of world cultures.
- analyzing literary devices such as allusion, symbolism, figurative language, flashback, dramatic irony, situational irony, and imagery and explaining their effect on the work of world literature.
- analyzing the importance of tone and mood.
- analyzing archetypal characters, themes, and settings in world literature.
- making comparisons and connections between historical and contemporary issues.
- understanding the importance of cultural and historical impact on literary texts.
- Objective 5.01: Read and analyze selected works of world literature by:
Grade 11
- Goal 1: The learner will demonstrate increasing insight and reflection to print and non-print text through personal expression.
- Objective 1.02: Reflect and respond expressively to texts so that the audience will:
- discover multiple perspectives.
- investigate connections between life and literature.
- explore how the student's life experiences influence his or her response to the selection.
- recognize how the responses of others may be different.
- articulate insightful connections between life and literature.
-consider cultural or historical significance.
- Objective 1.02: Reflect and respond expressively to texts so that the audience will:
Grade 11 — Advanced Placement English Language
- Goal 4: The learner will analyze prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines and rhetorical contexts.
- Objective 4.01: Determine an author's intent/argument by:
- identifying an author's use of rhetorical strategies and devices and the extent to which they effect the development of the theme (e.g., selection of detail, tone, mood, style, attitude, point-of-view, syntax, organization, diction, voice).
- explaining the effectiveness of the author's use of language for the intended audience.
- Objective 4.01: Determine an author's intent/argument by:
- Goal 6: The learner will demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English and exhibit stylistic maturity.
- Objective 6.01: Demonstrate an understanding of the conventions of language by:
- employing appropriate grammar and mechanics.
- revising writing to enhance voice and style, sentence variety, subtlety of meaning, and tone in consideration of questions being addressed, purpose, audience, and genres.
- Objective 6.01: Demonstrate an understanding of the conventions of language by:
Grade 12 — Advanced Placement English Literature
- Goal 5: The learner will engage in an intensive study of representative works of recognized literary merit from various genres and time periods with a strong focus on the 16th through the 21st century.
- Objective 5.01: Demonstrate an understanding of literary works by:
- analyzing textual detail.
- exploring historical context as well as social and cultural values.
- evaluating an author's style, including syntax, diction, figurative language, and literary devices.
- considering organization, subject, occasion, audience, purpose, and speaker.
- sharing thoughtful discussion in the company of his/her peers.
- Objective 5.01: Demonstrate an understanding of literary works by:
- Goal 6: The learner will demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English and stylistic maturity.
- Objective 6.01: Demonstrate an understanding of the conventions of language by:
- employing appropriate grammar and mechanics.
- applying knowledge of diction.
- revising writing to enhance voice and style, sentence variety, subtlety of meaning, and tone in consideration of questions being addressed, purpose, audience, and genres.
- Objective 6.01: Demonstrate an understanding of the conventions of language by:


