Kevin
Carbone
EDLA 615
Prof. Silverman
10/29/06
Goodnight, Mr. Tom
The
Extension Project
Reading Goodnight, Mr. Tom was a very
pleasurable experience for me. I really did enjoy the story
and the characters that the author included in the novel.
The Literature Circle for this book provided many different
perspectives by the different leaders and in turn, brought
up some very good questions and points. This book did not
just deal with the growth of the main character, Willie, but
also accurately portrayed the hardships of small towns
during World War II.
I chose for my extension project a CD cover that would list
songs from the soundtrack to the novel. I was really racked
for ideas and took many hours to finally settle on an idea.
I was looking for examples on different extension projects
and found one that elementary students completed. The list
of songs that they came up with showed me that they actually
took time to identify the themes of parts of the book and
related them to songs that they know. I tried to take major
parts of the book and find adequate songs that would
relate.
At the end of this project, I really felt proud of my
accomplishment for this project. I found songs that I feel
represented Willie’s growth and key points in the story that
shaped his growth.
Goodnight, Mr. Tom
1. The
Times They Are A-Changin’ – Bob Dylan
2. This is
the Time – Billy Joel
3.
Vindicated – Dashboard Confessional
4. Mother –
John Lennon
5. I Will
Take You Home – Grateful Dead
6. Hold On
– Sarah McLachlan
7. I am a
Rock – Paul Simon
8. Fire and
Rain – James Taylor
9. I’m
Movin’ On – Rascal Flatts
Explanation
of Songs:
- I
chose this song because I felt that Willie and Tom were
going to begin a life together that would ultimately
change for both of them. I thought that the words
conveyed by Dylan were very appropriate to this first
encounter between the two.
- When
Willie begins to hang out with his newly acquired
friends, I thought that those times of picking
blackberries would be something that they would want to
hold on to or remember, especially with the wartime
situations that they would have to deal with.
- With
this song, I interpret the words as an individual who is
gaining self-esteem and is realizing his own worth. Mr.
Tom keeps encouraging Willie and gives that support to
him that helps him realize his potential.
- When I
read that Willie’s mother called him back to London, I
began to read even faster to see what would happen.
Then atop all the unsupportive dialogue that his mother
and he had, I began to see that a rough road was
beginning to be traveled. I thought about how Willie
was imagining his mother when he was left and abandoned
and then told that his mother was not coming back. I
thought John Lennon’s song set the right mood when
Willie would think about his own mother. Even though
Lennon’s mother died when he was 17 and Willie’s mother
left him for dead, the feeling and words of the song
were relative.
- “I
Will Take You Home” was an easy pick based upon Mr. Tom
breaking Willie out of the hospital and bringing him
back to the cottage. The verse I chose from the song
depicted that instance perfectly.
- When
Willie is brought back to Mr. Tom’s cabin, he is still
haunted by the death of his sister and the abandonment
of his mother. He needed time to get over these
traumatic instances and Mr. Tom was there the whole time
to help him through it. “Hold On” seemed appropriate
because from Tom’s perspective, he knew that Will had to
let it out to get over it. I felt that he could sing
this song to Will to let him know he was there and
supportive.
- When
Zach dies, Willie has a hard time dealing with news. He
separates himself from his life and refuses to mourn for
Zach. He, in my opinion, acts like a rock and feels no
pain, and acts like an island and does not cry.
- He
does finally grieve over Zach’s death and realizes that
he can be with Zach in his heart. This song reflects
his loss and coming to terms with the incident.
- I just
imagine this movie ending with this song playing through
the credits. The song lets the listener know about a
journey that has been taken and the singer’s realization
after. Will realizes that he has grown, not just
physically, but emotionally and mentally. All of the
valleys that he has endured in his life, helped shape
him into the boy he became and the man he will become.
Self
Evaluation:
Levels: |
1
|
2
|
3
|
Score
|
Criteria: |
Meaning |
Project does not convey the meaning of the book |
Project partially conveys the meaning of the book |
Project fully conveys the meaning of the book |
3
|
Organization |
There is no organization |
The
organization of the project is very weak |
There is exceptional organization |
3
|
Effort |
The
project shows no effort |
The
project shows a little effort |
The
project shows a full amount of effort |
3
|
|
Total: 9/9
References:
www.wikipedia.com
www.jamestaylor.com
www.songlyrics.com
Various
CDs