If I Ever Get Out of Here

Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity. 

ACTIVITY 1: “The Novel as Mixtape”

Split into pairs. Each pair will choose a chapter title from the book. Listen to the song and look at its lyrics; think about the following questions:

1. How does this song connect to this chapter?
2. What might the song’s title and message symbolize?
3. How does that message fit into the narrative arc of the novel?

After discussing these points in your pair, group with other pairs to share the significance of selected songs and their relationships to the text.

Then, as a class, think about the novel as though it was a mixtape. Discuss the following questions together:

1. How does Gansworth use music to reflect the different parts of the story?
2. What is the arc of the story as it is told through music?
3. Why is it useful to think about the novel as one continuous playlist? What might a reader learn by thinking about the novel this way?
4. in which songs best befit or represent individual characters?

Teaching Suggestion: This activity encourages students to think about the novel in a symbolic way and connect to The Unifying Nature and Healing Power of Music.