Heather Parr

TE 408

Thematic Music

Context: This lesson is designed for a 7th grade class with 70 minute class periods. The
students will be about half way done reading S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders.

State Standards: R.NT.07.04, R.CM.07.03, S.DS.07.01, S.DS.07.02, L.RP.07.02,

L.RP.07.05

Objectives: SWBAT
 Understand how S.E. Hinton relates characters in the novel to popular music
artists of the time period.
 Read a novel for theme.
 Read a song as a ‘text’ and ‘read’ for theme.
 Make connections between two different types of “texts” and understand one text
in relation to the other.

Rationale: In order for students to understand S.E. Hinton’s novel, The Outsiders,
completely, they must understand the music of the time period and how it relates to the
novel’s main characters. In the novel, different groups of characters emerge and Hinton
distinguishes these groups by associating them with musicians of the time period. She
relates The Beatles to the Socs, Elvis Presley to the Greasers, and Hank Williams, Sr. to a
rougher subculture of Greasers. Many students are not familiar enough with these early
popular music artists to grasp Hinton’s use of them in her novel. Therefore, in this lesson,
students will gain an understanding of these and other musicians and how they relate to
the novel’s themes of forbidden love, friendship, and social ostracism. Students will also
make connections between two different ‘texts’ which is a skill that will help them in
other classes.

Guiding Questions:
 What themes do The Outsiders and popular music from the 1960’s have in
common?
 How does S.E. Hinton portray different groups of people?

Materials:
 The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
 “Heartbreak Hotel” by Elvis Presley
 “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” by The Beatles
 “I’m So Lonesome, I Could Cry” by Hank Williams, Sr.
 “Two of Us” by The Beatles
 “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” by Bob Dylan
 “My Generation” by The Who
 Song lyrics handouts
Activities:
1. At the beginning of class, have students get out the theme worksheet that they did
on Monday. Give students a couple of minutes to look this review and re-
familiarize themselves with the themes of the novel that we discussed in class.
(tell students that forbidden love, social ostracism and friendship are the ones we
will be focusing on in this lesson) (3 min)
2. Ask students if they are familiar with Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Hank Williams,
Sr., Bob Dylan or The Who. Have they heard of these artists? What have they
heard? Do they know what their music is about? (5 min)
3. Divide students into 5 groups and have each group go to a computer station in the
classroom. (2 min)
4. Assign each group songs and give them a handout with questions on it to answer
while listening to their assigned songs. The groups/questions will be as follows:
(25 min)
a. Group 1: “Heartbreak Hotel” by Elvis Presley and “You’ve Got to Hide
Your Love Away” by The Beatles.
i. Questions: What theme do these two songs have in common? What
themes do these songs have in common with the novel? Find a
passage in the novel that relates to these songs. What characters in
the novel might relate to these songs? How might The Beatles be
like the Socs? (forbidden love, Cherry and Ponyboy)
b. Group 2: “I’m so Lonesome, I Could Cry” by Hank Williams Sr.
i. Questions: What theme does this song have in common with the
novel? What character/group of people in the novel might relate to
this song? Find a passage in the novel that relates to the ideas in
this song. (social ostracism, the Greasers)
c. Group 3: “Two of Us” by The Beatles
i. Questions: What theme does this song have in common with the
novel? What characters might relate to this song? Find a passage in
the novel that relates to this song’s themes. (friendship, Ponyboy
and Johnny)
d. Group 4: “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” by Bob Dylan
i. Questions: What theme emerges from this song? How might this
theme be related to the novel? Would the Greasers or Socs relate to
this song more? Why? Find a passage in the novel to support your
answer.
e. Group 5: “My Generation” by The Who
i. Questions: What theme emerges from this song? How might this
theme be related to the novel? Would the Greasers or Socs relate to
this song more? Why? Find a passage in the novel to support your
answer.
5. After 25 minutes in small groups, have each group share their findings. Have
them play a portion of their song for the class (a portion that really emphasizes the
ideas they talked about) and give us their answers to their questions. Ask the rest
 of the class if they can think of any other passages in the novel that might relate to
each song. (20 min)
6. Hand out homework sheet and allow students to start on it in class. Give short talk
on class appropriate lyrics. Allow students to use the computers to find their
songs. (15 min)

Homework: Students are to select one modern song. Their song must relate to the theme
of either forbidden love, social ostracism, or friendship. Lyrics to these songs are to be
submitted with a one page write up of how the song relates to the theme and to The
Outsiders. Students will present their song and explanation in class the next day.

Resources: http://www.rockhall.com/teacher/sti-lesson-48/