12. Wuthering Heights & "Shake it Out"

About the Book:

Wuthering Heights is the only published novel by Emily Brontë, written between October 1845 and June 1846 and published in July of the following year. The title of the novel comes from the Yorkshire manor on the moors of the story. The narrative centres on the all-encompassing, passionate, but ultimately doomed love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and the people around them.

The Link with the Song:

The song "Shake It Out" by Florence of the Machine is related to Catherine Earnshaw - the character from Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff's love and heroine of the story, she dies part of the way through the book. Her character, both alive and dead, haunts Heathcliff. She is free-spirited and beautiful, but can also be spiteful, arrogant and childish. Growing up alongside Heathcliff, their love is more like that of twins than lovers, and she marries Edgar because of his position and breeding.

Activity in Class:

- The students read "Wuthering Heights";

- Teacher presents the song "Shake it out";

- The students provide a debate relating song and book.

"Shake it out" - Florence + the Machine

Songwriter: Florence Welch e Paul Epworth

Year: 2011

Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play

And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues strong
It's always darkest before the dawn

And I've been a fool and I've been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I'm always dragging that horse around

And our love's pastured such a mournful sound
Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground
So I like to keep my issues strong
But it's always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaaah
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh woah

I am done with my graceless heart
So tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart
Cause I like to keep my issues strong
It's always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh woah

And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back (Shake it off)
And given half the chance would I take any of it back (Shake it off)
It's a fine romance but it's left me so undone (Shake it off)
It's always darkest before the dawn

And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't
So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road
And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope
It's a shot in the dark and right at my throat
Cause looking for heaven, found the devil in me
Looking for heaven, found the devil in me
Well what the hell I'm gonna let it happen to me

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh woah

13. The Picture of Dorian Gray & "Forever Young"

About the book:

Oscar Wilde's only novelThe Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) is a classic instance of the aestheticism of the late 19th century's English literature. The maxim of aestheticism "art for art's sake" is reflected in the opening of the novel, which specifies art's aim to "reveal the art and conceal the artist."

For greater emphasis, Wilde defines the artist as free of ethical sympathies and morbidity. Even books are seen as only "well written" or "badly written" and not as moral or amoral. Following this prelude on art and beauty, Wilde weaves a plot that explores the issue to its core.

The plot of The Picture of Dorian Gray, if seen apart from the wit and epigrams of Lord Henry is serious and, at times, even somber. Dorian Gray is a young and handsome man whose well-off friend Lord Henry takes him to an art-loving painter, Basil Hallward. The painter makes a picture of Dorian Gray, a fascinating piece that makes Dorian wish to stop aging. His wish is fulfilled and the picture starts aging instead of young Dorian. The consequence is disaster. Oscar Wilde has created an amusing tale that does not end very happily but ends beautifully with our easy-going Lord Henry still chirping.

The link with the song:

As we can see in Oscar Wilde's work, the main character, a young and handsome man, wishes to be beautiful and young forever. This fact is also mentioned in Alphaville's song Forever Young, which has in its title the relation with Wilde's book.

Activity in class:

We can use the song as a soundtrack of the book. The teacher can introduce the book to the students, showing movies and adapted versions of the work, so the students can know a little bit of the story. Then, the students can work in group making comparisons between facts that occur along the book with parts of the song.

Forever Young - Alphaville

Written by: Bob Dylan

Year: 1984

Let's dance in style, let's dance for a while
Heaven can wait we're only watching the skies
Hoping for the best but expecting the worst
Are you going to drop the bomb or not?

Let us die young or let us live forever
We don't have the power but we never say never
Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip
The music's for the sad men

Can you imagine when this race is won
Turn our golden faces into the sun
Praising our leaders we're getting in tune
The music's played by the mad men

Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever, or never
Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever young

Some are like water, some are like the heat
Some are a melody and some are the beat
Sooner or later they all will be gone
Why don't they stay young

It's so hard to get old without a cause
I don't want to perish like a fading horse
Youth's like diamonds in the sun
And diamonds are forever

So many adventures couldn't happen today
So many songs we forgot to play
So many dreams swinging out of the blue
We let them come true

Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever, or never
Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever, or never

Forever young, I wanna be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?

15. Alice in Wonderland & "What a Wonderful World"

About the book:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll.It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world (Wonderland) populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre, and its narrative course and structure, characters and imagery have been enormously influential in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre.

The Link with the Song:

As we can see, the book and the song describe to us the nature. Into the song, there are ideas that exist also into the story, like trees, red roses and colours. The message is completely timeless, the music is not composed to a child though. As a activity propose, the class could compare the compositions, book and story, and search the similarity between them.

What A Wonderful World, by Louis Armstrong
Author:  Bob Thiele and George David Weiss
Year: 1967

I see trees of green, red roses too.
I see them bloom for me and you.
And I think to myself,
What a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white,
The bright blessed day, The dark sacred night.
And I think to myself,
What a wonderful world.

The colours of the rainbow so pretty in the sky.
Are also on the faces of people going by.
I see friends shaking hands, saying: "How do you do?"
They're really saying:"I love you".

I hear babies cry, I watch them grow,
They'll learn much more, than I'll never know.
And I think to myself,
What a wonderful world.

Yes, I think to myself,
What a wonderful world.

16. Mrs Dalloway & "A Day in the Life"

About the Book:


Mrs Dalloway (published on 14 May 1925) is a novel by Virginia Woolf that details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a fictional high-society woman in post-World War I England. It is one of Woolf's best-known novels.

The Link with the song:

The song narrates a day in the life of a british non-named person and can be related to Mrs. Dalloway, that is a romance narrated in just one day. As a activity proposal, we can ask students to look for themes similar in both stories – the death of a guy and the way it affects the people around, the war and the morning habits of both characters.

Activity in Class:

We have a book that talks about a day in the life of a woman and a song with the same theme. Now, the students can write a little piece of text telling about a day in their school living, relating their thoughts about class and friends, as Virginia Woolf relates Clarissa's thoughts. In the end, all these works can be compiled in an book.

“A Day in the Life” By The Beatles

From the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

I read the news today oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph

He blew his mind out in a car
He didn't notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They'd seen his face before
Nobody was really sure if he was from the House of Lords.

I saw a film today oh boy
The English Army had just won the war
A crowd of people turned away
But I just had a look
Having read the book, I've loved to turn you on...

Woke up, fell out of bed,
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup,
And looking up I noticed I was late.

Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke,
and somebody spoke and I went into a dream

I read the news today oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.
I've loved to turn you on.

17. Nineteen Eighty-Four & "Another Brick in the Wall"

About the Book:

Nineteen Eighty-Four is a novel by George Orwell published in 1949. It is a dystopian and satirical novel set in Oceania, where society is tyrannized by The Party and its totalitarian ideology. Their tyranny is headed by Big Brother, the quasi-divine Party leader who enjoys an intense cult of personality, but who may not even exist. Big Brother and the Party justify their rule in the name of a supposed greater good.

The Link with the song:

Another brick in the wall talks about the control in the schools, the influence and the censorship of teachers under the students. It can be related to the influence of Big Brother under the Oceania population in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, and the strong reprehension of the Party in the people thought and habits.

Activity in Class:

The movie "The Wall" - which contains the song "Another Brick in the Wall" - can be used to make a parallel between book and music. If the teacher doesn't have so much time, is possible to work only with the song. What about ask the students to make links between each verse of the song and some part of the book?

For example:

We don't need no thought control  --> is related to --> The Thought Police
All in all you're just another brick in the wall --> is related to --> the comodation of people in relation to the thought control of the Party

and so on...

“Another Brick in the wall – Part II” By Pink Floyd

From the album The Wall (1979)

Written by Roger Waters

We don't need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave us kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave us kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

"Wrong, Guess again! 2x
If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding.
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?
You! Yes, you behind the bikesheds, stand still laddie!"