1984 influences on popular culture

Radiohead's "2+2=5"


"Are you such a dreamer
To put the world to rights
I'll stay home forever
Where two and two always makes a five
I'll lay down the tracks
Sandbag and hide
January has April showers
And two and two always makes a five
It's the devil's way now
There is no way out
You can scream and you can shout
It is too late now
Because you're not there
Payin' attention
Payin' attention
Payin' attention
Payin' attention
yeah I feel it, I needed attention
Payin' attention
Payin' attention
Payin' attention
Yeah I need it, I needed attention
I needed attention
I needed attention
I needed attention
Yeah I love it, the attention
Payin' attention
Payin' attention
Payin' attention
Soon oh
I try to sing along
But the music's all wrong
Cos I'm not
Cos I'm not
I'll swallow up flies?
Back and hide
But I'm not
Oh hail to the thief
Oh hail to the thief
But I'm not
But I'm not
But I'm not
But I'm not
Don't question my authority or put me in the box
Cos I'm not
Cos I'm not
Oh go up to the king, and the sky is falling in
But it's not
But it's not
Maybe not
Maybe not"

David Bowie's "1984"


"Someday they won't let you, so now you must agree
The times they are a-telling, and the changing isn't free
You've read it in the tea leaves, and the tracks are on TV
Beware the savage jaw
Of 1984
They'll split your pretty cranium, and fill it full of air
And tell that you're eighty, but brother, you won't care
You'll be shooting up on anything, tomorrow's never there
Beware the savage jaw
Of 1984
CHORUS
Come see, come see, remember me?
We played out an all night movie role
You said it would last, but I guess we enrolled
In 1984 (who could ask for more)
1984 (who could ask for mor-or-or-or-ore)
(Mor-or-or-or-ore)
I'm looking for a vehicle, I'm looking for a ride
I'm looking for a party, I'm looking for a side
I'm looking for the treason that I knew in '65
Beware the savage jaw
Of 1984
CHORUS
1984
1984
1984 (more)
1984
1984 (more)
1984"

Day 5
I. Lesson Overview
a. Unit: 1984 by George Orwell etext of 1984
b. Lesson: Quiz 1 and 1984 allusions in popular culture
c. Summary: The quiz will take approximately 20 minutes of class. After all students have completed the quiz, the students will break up into two groups. Group 1 will listen to the song "1984" by David Bowie and read the lyrics listed below. Group 2 will listen to Radiohead's song "2+2=5" and read the lyrics listed below. After listening to their song, the groups will get together and discuss what each band/singer is trying to say about Orwell's 1984. They will then quickly present their findi
d. Essential Content Question: How important is our right to the freedom of speech, press, religion and petition?
e. MA Curriculum Frameworks
      • 11.5 Apply knowledge of the concept tha the theme or meaning of a selection represents a view or comment on life, and provide support from the text for the identified themes.
      • 26.2 Compare stories in print with their film adaptations [allusions in popular music], describing the similarieties and differences in the portrayal of characters, plot and settings.
f. Learning outcomes
      • Students will be able to connect aspects of a song alluding to 1984 to the text itself.
g. Materials needed

      • Projector so that the wikispace can be projected for all of the students to see
      • Computers for each student. This class will either have to take place in a computer lab or each student will have a lap top.
h. Technology included

      • Wikispaces
      • Embedded youtube videos.
II. Lesson Roadmap
a. In class activities

      • Students will take their quiz (20 minutes)
      • The class will break up into two groups. One group will listen to Bowie's song, the other group will listen to Radiohead's. (5 minutes)
      • Each group will brainstorm which themes from 1984 are included in the songs. (10 minutes)
      • Each group will present their findings to the class. (rest of class)
b. Summary with descriptions

      • Students will take their quiz (20 minutes)
        • If any students need more time for their quiz, they can move into the hallway to complete it.
      • The class will break up into two groups. One group will listen to Bowie's song, the other group will listen to Radiohead's. (5 minutes)
        • The videos are embedded into the wikispace and the lyrics can be found below.
      • Each group will brainstorm which themes from 1984 are included in the songs. (10 minutes)
      • Each group will present their findings to the class (rest of class)
c. Assessments

      • Quiz 1
      • Participation grade for group work on brainstorming themes from the songs.
d. Homework assignment
      • Read chapter one through three and complete the blog question.
e. Extensions/Modifications
      • Students will be given extra time for their quiz if necessary.


Day 6
I. Lesson Overview
a. Unit: 1984 by George Orwell etext of 1984
b. Lesson: Using Excel to analyze characters
c. Summary: There are about ten important characters in 1984. By putting all of them together in a spreadsheet, the students will be able to quickly compare and contrast the characters and try to find patterns and/or meaning.
d. Essential Content Question: How important is our right to the freedom of speech, press, religion and petition?
e. MA Curriculum Frameworks
      • Analyze patterns of imagery or symbolism and connect them to themes and/or tone and mood.
f. Learning outcomes

      • Students will be able to create a spreadsheet of all characters that they can find in the text so far.
      • Students will be able to decide upon which information is most important about the characters.
      • Students will be able to locate information about the characters in the text.
g. Materials needed

      • Projector so that the wikispace can be projected for all of the students to see
      • Computers for each student. This class will either have to take place in a computer lab or each student will have a lap top.
      • Excel
      • The etext of the novel etext of 1984
h. Technology included

II. Lesson Roadmap
a. In class activities
      • Students will list all characters in the novel in an Excel spreadsheet (5-10 minutes)
      • Students will pair up and compare their findings with another student. They will add what their partner has that they have forgotten. (5 minutes)
      • Using the etext of 1984, students will find (CTRL + F) all cases of each character in the novel. They will copy and paste this information in the corresponding column for each character. (15 minutes)
      • Students will figure out how to categorize all quotes that have to do with each character. (10 minutes)
      • Students will take note if there is any type of pattern or repetition of words for any character. (5 minutes)
      • Students will email their final product to the teacher.
b. Summary with descriptions

      • Students will list all characters in the novel in an Excel spreadsheet (5-10 minutes)
        • The characters will be in one column all the way to the left side of the spreadsheet.
      • Students will pair up and compare their findings with another student. They will add what their partner has that they have forgotten. (5 minutes)
        • Even minor characters could be important, so doing this exercise for as many characters as possible is the goal.
      • Using the etext of 1984, students will find (CTRL + F) all cases of each character in the novel. They will copy and paste this information in the corresponding column for each character. (15 minutes)
        • Without the etext, this would be a pretty time consuming activity. With it, however, as well as the shortcut to copy and paste, this should be fairly quick.


      • Students will figure out how to categorize all quotes that have to do with each character. (10 minutes)
        • Categorizing is a great analytical higher thinking tool.
      • Students will take note if there is any type of pattern or repetition of words for any character. (5 minutes)
        • For instance-->Katharine is hard while Julia is soft
        • Students will email their final product to the teacher.
c. Assessments
      • The students will email their finished product to the teacher.
d. Homework assignment
      • Read chapters four through six and complete the corresponding blog.