Friday, August 23 - AM Fluency

Opening conversation: What fad or fashion in pop culture has interested you, either recently or in the more distant past? I felt that this was an appropriate question for our unit on “brat,” a fad that has spread around the world this summer. Students recollected fads from their past: shoulder pads and big hair for women in the 80s; K-drama and K-pop; grunge; and pogoballs. 

We then finished the “brat” article and listened to a brat song: “Feminine Urge” by the Last Dinner Party. Analyzing this song led us to a brief discussion about the figure of the “Angel in the House” from Virginia Woolf’s famous essay, “Professions for Women.” 

We concluded class by listening to a song that we were supposed to listen to last week: “Born in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen. We learned how this is a song that most Americans misunderstand, thinking that it is a patriotic song.