i'm a prospective high school english teacher and i'm thinking about having my students read this story one day, not revealing the author(s)...and have a discussion about it as literature, and talk about the outcome @ the end, the feelings that waldo goes through, if the murder was intentional or not (thanks jhillst!)... and i'll show them the song too
or maybe i'll do it the other way around if the kids don't want to read, introducing the song first to get them into literature through music. lemme know what you think about this
I think that would be a great idea - let's face it, if you read the lyrics first without hearing the music, you might wonder just where this is going, and teenagers have ridiculously short attention spans these days (I'm eighteen, I ought to know!) Though there is mention of sex fairly early on, so they might hang in there a bit longer...
I think that would be a great idea - let's face it, if you read the lyrics first without hearing the music, you might wonder just where this is going, and teenagers have ridiculously short attention spans these days (I'm eighteen, I ought to know!) Though there is mention of sex fairly early on, so they might hang in there a bit longer...
As for whether the girls know he's in there or not: I don't think they do, but it's clear that both of them have no respect for Waldo ("that schmuck"). When they see he's sent a package, whatever it is, they treat it with an equal lack of respect ("might as well open it"; there's not any real interest there) and open it roughly. Whether they know or not, they're not concerned about hurting him physically or emotionally - carelessly ruining any gift he'd sent would be hurtful.
The girls in this song/story are portrayed as cold, heartless, hedonistic floozies, whereas Waldo is sensitive, almost childlike, and a victim. Makes me wonder what experience Lou had when he wrote this while still at college, whether it is autobiographical at all...
i'm a prospective high school english teacher and i'm thinking about having my students read this story one day, not revealing the author(s)...and have a discussion about it as literature, and talk about the outcome @ the end, the feelings that waldo goes through, if the murder was intentional or not (thanks jhillst!)... and i'll show them the song too
or maybe i'll do it the other way around if the kids don't want to read, introducing the song first to get them into literature through music. lemme know what you think about this
I think that would be a great idea - let's face it, if you read the lyrics first without hearing the music, you might wonder just where this is going, and teenagers have ridiculously short attention spans these days (I'm eighteen, I ought to know!) Though there is mention of sex fairly early on, so they might hang in there a bit longer...
I think that would be a great idea - let's face it, if you read the lyrics first without hearing the music, you might wonder just where this is going, and teenagers have ridiculously short attention spans these days (I'm eighteen, I ought to know!) Though there is mention of sex fairly early on, so they might hang in there a bit longer...
As for whether the girls know he's in there or not: I don't think they do, but it's clear that both of them have no respect for Waldo ("that schmuck"). When they see he's sent a package, whatever it is, they treat it with an equal lack of respect ("might as well open it"; there's not any real interest there) and open it roughly. Whether they know or not, they're not concerned about hurting him physically or emotionally - carelessly ruining any gift he'd sent would be hurtful.
The girls in this song/story are portrayed as cold, heartless, hedonistic floozies, whereas Waldo is sensitive, almost childlike, and a victim. Makes me wonder what experience Lou had when he wrote this while still at college, whether it is autobiographical at all...