Here is some stream of consciousness for the "assignment" of listening to both "Beginnings" by Chicago and then "America" by Simon & Garfunkel. For me it includes writing Anthem and revisiting it through music. So: I listened to the entire Anthem playlist on Spotify while driving home from Charlottesville, VA to Atlanta... in the dark, mostly. I had spent the day researching sites having to do with the Unite the Right rally in 2017, and thinking about how divided Americans are as a country now, and how -- in some ways -- it felt the same in the Sixties, when Anthem takes place. I was very young then, and as devastated as I felt about the war in Vietnam -- I had friends reaching draft age, too -- I had a lot of hope. I think it was the hope of youth. My mother used to seem so cynical to me, and I remember telling her, "I will NEVER be like you!" and thinking it was impossible to feel such depressions and anger and despair about the state of the world, not to mention my room. Well... I get it today. I had no frame of reference at 16, and no understanding of how much the world and life could beat one down, relentless in reality and roadblocks and bringing me up short and finding me wanting, again and again. Now I am the age my mother was then. It's hard sometimes to hold onto hope, to be lighter than she was, and lighter than I have sometimes become. But I am determined to try. It sounds Pollyanna, perhaps, to say that we can work it out (thank you, Beatles), but I want that, so I'm sticking with that hope. I spent time in the car, listening to "Beginnings" more than "America" and thinking about how each day is a beginning, each hope, each breath, and how I do still have the chance to do good work in the world, how one person's doing something positive, matters. Yes? It builds. That's my hope as well. [This is entirely first draft and unfiltered, lol, now it is someone else's turn!]
This is a playlist for me! You have inspired me to look at Anthem and how we might explore it together in class next year. I've read Countdown. Can Anthem be read as a stand alone or does it require the other two for understanding?
Anthem is a stand-alone novel -- all three of the Sixties trilogy books are stand-alone stories; they are interconnected by history and the common thread of fiction, non-fiction, and biography in each one. The biographies in Anthem are woven through the book... there are so many real-life figures in that book (including Elvis!) and there are some cut chapters that are included in the audiobook version -- I can send them to you, if you want them, when you teach the book (they may be on the website by then as well). There are a few cross-over characters you'll see from Countdown and from Revolution in Anthem, but there is no need to have read previous books. I'm chuffed that you might teach Anthem. Thank you!
Here is some stream of consciousness for the "assignment" of listening to both "Beginnings" by Chicago and then "America" by Simon & Garfunkel. For me it includes writing Anthem and revisiting it through music. So: I listened to the entire Anthem playlist on Spotify while driving home from Charlottesville, VA to Atlanta... in the dark, mostly. I had spent the day researching sites having to do with the Unite the Right rally in 2017, and thinking about how divided Americans are as a country now, and how -- in some ways -- it felt the same in the Sixties, when Anthem takes place. I was very young then, and as devastated as I felt about the war in Vietnam -- I had friends reaching draft age, too -- I had a lot of hope. I think it was the hope of youth. My mother used to seem so cynical to me, and I remember telling her, "I will NEVER be like you!" and thinking it was impossible to feel such depressions and anger and despair about the state of the world, not to mention my room. Well... I get it today. I had no frame of reference at 16, and no understanding of how much the world and life could beat one down, relentless in reality and roadblocks and bringing me up short and finding me wanting, again and again. Now I am the age my mother was then. It's hard sometimes to hold onto hope, to be lighter than she was, and lighter than I have sometimes become. But I am determined to try. It sounds Pollyanna, perhaps, to say that we can work it out (thank you, Beatles), but I want that, so I'm sticking with that hope. I spent time in the car, listening to "Beginnings" more than "America" and thinking about how each day is a beginning, each hope, each breath, and how I do still have the chance to do good work in the world, how one person's doing something positive, matters. Yes? It builds. That's my hope as well. [This is entirely first draft and unfiltered, lol, now it is someone else's turn!]
This is a playlist for me! You have inspired me to look at Anthem and how we might explore it together in class next year. I've read Countdown. Can Anthem be read as a stand alone or does it require the other two for understanding?
Anthem is a stand-alone novel -- all three of the Sixties trilogy books are stand-alone stories; they are interconnected by history and the common thread of fiction, non-fiction, and biography in each one. The biographies in Anthem are woven through the book... there are so many real-life figures in that book (including Elvis!) and there are some cut chapters that are included in the audiobook version -- I can send them to you, if you want them, when you teach the book (they may be on the website by then as well). There are a few cross-over characters you'll see from Countdown and from Revolution in Anthem, but there is no need to have read previous books. I'm chuffed that you might teach Anthem. Thank you!
Oooh! Excited to delve into this over the summer and see what comes. Thank you!
Let me know how I can help. I’d be happy to —