The Influence of David Bowie in Other Artists' Conceptualizations. an Elective Workshop for Freshmen Students

Home , Major Tom, Major Tom (Coming Home), Under Pressure

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso Instituto de Literatura y Ciencias del Lenguaje

The influence of David Bowie in other artists’ conceptualizations. An elective workshop for freshmen students

TRABAJO DE TITULACIÓN

Para optar al grado de Licenciado en Educación y al Título de Profesor de Inglés

Alumna: Josefa Jaramillo Geeregat

Profesor: Ricardo Benitez Figari

Segundo semestre 2016

INTRODUCTION

Every language is part of a culture, so in language teaching, it is highly important to emphasize that there is more to learn than just the language itself; instead, every cultural aspect of each culture plays a role when teaching someone how to communicate in a foreign language. There is a context that must be understood by the learners in order for them to communicate accurately in another language: the culture alongside the language.

As cited by Moran (2001), “Culture is viewed as civilization, the great achievements of a people as reflected in their history, social, institutions, works of art, architecture, music and literature -- commonly referred to as “big C” culture.

Culture is also referred to as the customs, traditions, or practices that people carry out as part of their everyday lives

-- “small c” culture” (Halverson, 1985). Culture is more than a language. It involves history, groups of people, art, relationships, and ways of living, among others. And it becomes quite relevant when the focus is to teach a language, as there are many factors that make the language the way it is and that make the language be used in a certain way.

In order to explain what culture is, a possible approach can be made between one’s own culture and another one by explaining their similarities and differences. Brown (1991) mentions that culture can be examined in biological or psychological matters,

2 and Moran (2001:5), regarding this view, says that “many aspects are seen as universal to all members of humankind; derived from the nature and functions of the human brain. These universals as in language, music, or in the universal facial expressions associated with emotions are the shared basis of communication across cultures.” Taking this into consideration, it can be said that talking about something that is universal and reaches most people, could be a bridge that links language and knowledge, as feelings and emotions are part of what makes us interested in something. Following this idea, if students feel a connection to a certain topic, and there is interest in knowing more, it would bring motivation to participate in the activities they are part of during a workshop.

Following the same reasoning, a possible approach to teaching students about a particular topic is to begin with something that evokes feelings and emotions, something that goes beyond cultures despite its origins, and one of the things that fulfill those requirements is a topic related to an influential musician.

The present graduation project consists of a pedagogical proposal that develops an elective workshop in which students can learn about the English culture and language through a topic that covers not only the history of the iconic British artist

David Bowie, but also about his influence in other artists’ conceptualizations. The objective of this workshop is that

3 students can distinguish the influence of David Bowie in different aspects of culture.

Culture through icons

Culture, as explained by Moran (2001), is built by different communities, or small groups of people that share beliefs, interests, etc. And it can -at the same time- influence people from other communities and can invite them to share and to be part of their groups.

Artists have a community that often transcends aspects such as time and place, as art remains in the memory of society and can be appreciated by different generations. Also, artists invite people from all over the world to enjoy their work and to share it.

In the music sphere, many musicians have achieved the ultimate goal they yearn for: to become influential in other artists, as well as to move the audience and to make them feel identified with their music. In other words, to become an icon.

The influence that some icons have had in cultural aspects has been enormous; they can clearly have an effect on people’s ideas and behavior, all of these produced by the artistic proposal that artists have brought forward during their careers.

In this workshop students will be able to understand how an iconic musician such as David Bowie was able to transcend

4 through generations of people and artists not only in the UK, but all over the world. For example, as Time magazine states in its article “4 Ways David Bowie Influenced Musicians Today”, there are notorious influences of Bowie’s conceptualizations of androgyny and sexuality, ever-changing image, theatricality, and sci-fi spirit in the pop star Lady Gaga, Adam Lambert, St.

Vincent and Janelle Monáe. Also, Andre Trendell and Ashley Clement mentioned in Gigwise, a British online music news site, in its article “RIP David Bowie” other 29 artists who were influenced not only in musical aspects, but also in the conceptualizations of the artist, and described Bowie as “A master of all forms, his music and attitude broke barriers, set the agenda and both defined and defied genres. So much of the musical landscape looks as it does because of him, and pop would not be the same if it weren’t for The Thin White Duke. It stands to reason that he influenced and inspired countless artists.”

In terms of cultural aspects, not only is his influence as an artist worth teaching, but also his life and way to live, as mentioned in The Independent “David Bowie was the most influential British pop artist ever and personified our culture throughout his life”, so it can be said that there is more for students to learn about British culture in David Bowie than just about his alter egos and musical influence, instead, there are cultural aspects of the British culture in his history and behavior.

There are certainly many aspects in which David Bowie also influenced and impregnated his new concepts and ideas in his audience. Topics like sexuality and being different were remarkably addressed during his career. As accurately described by The

Independent “He was weird, and weird was good. He constantly experimented with identities and made it all right for teenagers to experiment too. Partly because of him, young people found they could be liberated as much by being different as by being part of the group. His fans often discovered his music as an intensely personal experience but knew, as he put it in

“Rock’n’roll Suicide”, that they were “not alone.” His influence again, is not only restrained to his music, or the way he lived his life, but also in the way he managed to persuade the audience with his lyrics and to make a change in people’s life and ways of thinking, even in non-English-speaking countries where people still perceive his music as meaningful, and in countries where the cultural differences with Bowie’s culture are significant, he has had the opportunity to influence people.

David Bowie was such an influential artist that has had an impact not only on other musicians, but also on artists in general: painters, actors, among others, who have said that their musical styles or sources of inspiration come from David

Bowie; therefore, his relevance for cultural matters is worth being taught, especially for people who are learning a different culture and language. Bowie’s lyrics and artistic proposals can

6 reflect much about what people in different decades have lived and experienced.

The objective of this workshop is that students can learn about the characteristics of a musical icon, the relevance of an artist through different generations of people around the world and the influences of a musical icon in cultural features such as the musical scene.

This workshop has been designed for freshmen students because among the contents they cover at this school grade, there is a unit called “Music and Literature” in which the objective is for them to learn about different musical and literary genres, to learn about iconic pieces of art, musicians and books, as well as to assess and appreciate the value of music and literature and to develop respect for the role of music and literature as a means of communication.

The text book “Teens Club” provided by the MINEDUC contains four units, but it must be mentioned that not all of the contents of the book are aligned with the contents in the “Planes y

Programas”; therefore, the ministry of education plans and programs for this school grade differ mostly in terms of topics with the books provided to schools.

Freshmen students are likely to get interested in topics related to art, and particularly music, so it is an engaging workshop in which they will be able to work on their communicative skills through the realization of several activities; to be aware of

7 the influence iconic musicians can have in cultural aspects; and to understand the importance of learning about a culture in order to learn about a language. As the Chilean curricula for the subject of English covers topics of art and music superficially, this workshop is a great opportunity for freshmen students to incorporate new concepts related to the topic of music and icons by learning about an iconic member of the artistic world.

The Syllabus

For this workshop, the most suitable type of syllabus is a content-based syllabus, for two reasons: students learn the language through the learning of the subject and that learners can understand and value the culture behind the language, which is the main focus of this graduation project.

As mentioned by Jalilzadeh and Tahmasebi (2014) “Krashen suggests that a second language is most successfully acquired when the conditions are similar to those present in first language acquisition: that is, when the focus of instruction is on meaning rather than on form; when the language input is at or just above the proficiency of the learner; and when there is sufficient opportunity to engage in meaningful use of that language in a relatively anxiety-free environment.” In this case, a content-based syllabus would provide the students with the conditions necessary to develop their critical thinking skills and English skills at the same time.

A communicative approach is mostly needed in this syllabus, because the main linguistic objective is that students develop the capacity to communicate their ideas and thoughts clearly in the target language, rather than the capacity to focus on grammatical functions. In order to achieve this purpose, the activities contained in the syllabus follow a task-base model, so students will carry out specific tasks and projects that will help them use the target language in specific situations.

In this workshop, students will distinguish the characteristics of an icon and understand how influential an icon can be when it comes to cultural matters. Students will be part of this engaging immersion in David Bowie’s life and music, as well as his impact on the musical scenario, by being active participants in the activities designed for this workshop. They will work collaboratively, reflect on the topics of the workshop and develop their critical thinking abilities. Therefore, this content-based syllabus with its focus on communicative learning approaches that will facilitate the learning of the students through sharing ideas and discussing the topics in groups. They will not only be able to learn about the influence of David

Bowie, but also they will have the opportunity to find an example of an iconic artist in their own culture, so they will use the knowledge provided in this workshop and put it into practice.

Students will be encouraged to be active participants during the workshop with the objective of making them think critically and independently.

Needs Analysis

In order to analyze students’ needs and to check the viability of this workshop, a questionnaire designed for 9th graders was conducted with the purpose to set clear objectives for this workshop. The questionnaire was answered by twenty freshmen high school students at Colegio Agustin Edwards in Valparaiso. All the students enthusiastically participated, despite the fact that the level of English of some students is quite low.

The questionnaire consisted of sixteen questions about the type of activities students preferred, interest in the topic of the workshop, and interest in the subject. Regarding student motivation towards the subject (see Appendix 2, Question 2), most students expressed a rather positive answer.

As this workshop is closely related to art, in particularly music in English, students where asked whether they like listening to music in English (see Appendix 2, Question 4), and more than half of the group answered positively. This information is very helpful, as part of the activities in this workshop is related to listening to songs, as well as other listening activities, in which listening to someone speaking in

English would be easier and engaging for those who like to listen to music in English.

One of the important questions that needed to be asked, as this workshop is particularly referred to David Bowie, was whether they know David Bowie (see Appendix 2, Question 7) and fortunately, students had heard of him before, so the viability increased thanks to the fact that the students, despite the age factor, are aware of the existence of this iconic artist.

In order to specifically address the possibility of teaching this topic to freshmen students they were asked whether it was interesting for them to learn about the life of an iconic artist

(see Appendix 2, Question 15), and students express interest in learning about it with a relatively high percentage of positive answers.

As most Chilean students only learn about basic aspects of a foreign culture during their school years, it is clearly demonstrated that topics that go beyond their understanding of culture will always be well received by them, and it would be extremely meaningful for both students and teacher, as it could be a new experience and a new approach to teaching and learning about culture.

References

Moran, P. (2001). Teaching Culture: Perspectives in Practice. Massachusetts, USA.

Jalilzadeh, K., & Tahmasebi, A. (2014, September). Content-based syllabus. European Scientific Journal, 1, 224.

Brown, H.D. (1991).Human Universals. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Halverson, R.J. (1985). Culture and vocabulary acquisition: A proposal. Foreign language Annals

Trendell. A., Clement. A. (2016) RIP David Bowie. Gigwise Online Magazine. http://www.gigwise.com/photos/104910/rip-david-bowie---artists- he-inspired-influenced-killers-nirvana

Feeney, N. (2016). 4 ways David Bowie Influenced Musicians Today. Time Magazine http://time.com/4175766/david-bowie-influence-legacy/

Editorial. (2016). Voices. The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/david-bowie-was-the-most- influential-british-pop-artist-ever-and-personified-our-culture- throughout-a6806771.html

Grant, J. (2016). Rock Icon, David Bowie Changed the face of Music. People Magazine. http://teachingkidsnews.com/2016/01/17/rock-icon-david-bowie/

The Straight Dope. (2016). Was Major Tom the Astronaut a Real Person. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1517/was-major-tom-the- astronaut-a-real-person

Songmango. (2016). Space Oddity (Major Tom) http://songmango.com/space-oddity-ground-control-major-tom-by- david-bowie-review/

David Bowie - Space Oddity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYMCLz5PQVw

Grant, J. (2016). David Bowie`s influence on other artists. People Magazine. http://people.com/celebrity/david-bowies-influence-on-other- artists/lcd-soundsystem/

COURSE SYLLABUS

Type of course: Elective workshop

Duration: 17 lessons

Audience: Freshmen students

Class hours: 90 minutes per session

Rationale

“The influence of David Bowie in other artists’ conceptualizations” is an elective workshop designed for Chilean

9th graders. The purpose of this workshop is to teach students about the influence of David Bowie in various generations of artists, as well as teaching about the importance of an iconic artist in cultural matters. The syllabus is divided into 3 units, each of which contains 4-7 lessons. The first unit “Who is David Bowie?” is divided into 5 lessons, in which students

General Objective By the end of this workshop Unit 1: Who is David Bowie? Objective: Discover the origins ofstudents David Bowie;will hisbe lifeable and to social context distinguish the influence of Lesson 1: The life of David Objective: Recognize important David Bowie in different Robert Jones aspects of David Bowie’s early lifeaspects and ofsocial culture. context

will learn about David Bowie’s life and origins, as well as some background information about history and music at the time he became an artist. The second unit “What did he do?” is divided into 7 lessons, in which the topics covered are his musical career and alter egos, as well as work his in other areas such as acting. The third and last unit “Art after Bowie” is divided into 4 lessons, in which the students will understand the influence of David Bowie in other artists.

Course Objectives

Lesson 2: The origins of David Objective: Identify Bowie as an artist the aspects that made David Robert Jones become David Bowie Lesson 3: Music before Bowie Objective: Describe the musical scenario previous to David Bowie Lesson 4: David Bowie's Objective: Define David musical style Bowie’s musical styles Lesson 5: Unit Evaluation This evaluation is based on Informative poster the design of a poster that must include information regarding the social context in which David Bowie started his career and information about his early life. Unit 2: What did Bowie do? Objective: Examine David Bowie's career through his alter egos and work. Lesson 1: Meet Hunky Dory Objective. Discover David Bowie’s first pieces of work and alter ego Lesson 2: Meet Ziggy Stardust Objective: Investigate about David Bowie’s alter ego “Ziggy Stardust” Lesson 3: Meet Major Tom Objective: Describe the most important features of this character Lesson 4: Meet the Thin White Objective: Compare the Duke characteristics of David Bowie’s alter egos Lesson 5: Meet the actor Objective: Discuss David Bowie’s acting career Lesson 6: Friends and Objective: Explain the collaborations importance of David Bowie’s musical collaborations Lesson 7: Unit evaluation This evaluation is based on a Role-play role-play where two of David Bowie’s alter egos meet and talk about their contributions. Unit 3: Art After Bowie Objective: Explore David Bowie’s influence in art

Lesson 1: The rise of the icon Objective: Distinguish the aspects that made David Bowie become an icon. Lesson 2: The influence in Objective: Analyze David music Bowie’s influence in music around the world Lesson 3: The innovation in Objective: Establish David musical performances Bowie’s contributions to the musical scene Lesson 4: The impact in other artists Lesson 5: Unit evaluation This evaluation is based on an Oral presentation oral presentation in which students explain the importance of David Bowie in the musical scenario; contributions and influence, and compare his iconic figure to a Chilean musical icon.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Unit 1: Poster activity (30%)

Evaluation Unit 2: Role-play activity (30%)

Evaluation Unit 3: Oral presentation (30%)

Self-evaluation (10%)

Rubrics

Poster rubric

CATEGORY 4 3 2 1

Required The poster includes All required elements All but 1 of the Several required Elements all required elements are included on the required elements are elements were missing. as well as additional poster. included on the information. poster.

Labels All items of Almost all items of Many items of Labels are too small importance on the importance on the importance on the to view OR no poster are clearly poster are clearly poster are clearly important items were labeled with labels labeled with labels labeled with labels labeled. that can be read from that can be read from that can be read from at least 3 feet away. at least 3 feet away. at least 3 feet away.

Graphics - All graphics are All graphics are All graphics relate to Graphics do not relate Relevance related to the topic related to the topic the topic. to the topic. and make it easier to and most make it understand. easier to understand.

Attractiveness The poster is The poster is The poster is The poster is exceptionally attractive in terms of acceptably attractive distractingly messy or attractive in terms of design, layout, and though it may be a bit very poorly designed. design, layout, and neatness. messy. It is not attractive. neatness.

Grammar There are no There are few There are some There are several grammatical/mechanical grammatical/mechanical grammatical/mechanical grammatical/mechanical mistakes on the mistakes on the mistakes on the mistakes on the poster poster. poster. poster.

Retrieved from http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/downloadFile.cgi?file=12365-2-18725- Making_A_Poster_Rubric_1_.doc&filename=Making_A_Poster_Rubric_1_.doc

Role-play rubric

Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/socstud/frame_found_sr2/g_blms/ g-17.pdf

Oral Presentation Rubric

Excellent Good Needs Attempting (1 (4 points) (3 points) Improvement point) (2 points)

Organization Student presents Student Audience has Audience cannot information in presents difficulty understand logical, information in following presentation interesting a sequence presentation because there sequence which which audience because student is no sequence audience can can follow. jumps around. of information. follow.

Elocution Student uses a Student's voice Student's voice Student clear voice so is clear and is low so the mumbles, and all the audience most of the audience has speaks too can hear audience can difficulties quietly for presentation. hear hearing the students in the presentation. presentation. back of class to hear.

Use of the Student uses the Student makes Student Student makes language grammatical only a few occasionally frequent structures minor makes grammatical correctly most grammatical grammatical mistakes and of the times and mistakes and mistakes and mispronounces pronounces mispronounces mispronounces most of the correctly most only a few words. words. of the word. words.

4.Self Evaluation

Retrieved from https://www.google.cl/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache- ak0.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F92%2F30%2F4b%2F92304b537a6142ee74027de60

8d39664.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fexplore%

2Fstudent-self-evaluation%2F&docid=up6FAqdPXivH-

M&tbnid=fNq7fCrQzwAjdM%3A&vet=1&w=720&h=960&itg=1&bih=638&biw=13

66&ved=0ahUKEwi3jt2k2OHQAhVEkpAKHcqPCeQQMwhOKCkwKQ&iact=mrc&uact

Sample Lessons

Unit 3 – Lesson 1 Objective: Distinguish the aspects that made David Bowie become an icon.

Getting started! 1. In pairs, discuss the following questions. Take notes if necessary. a) What do you think is an icon? b) According to what you know, what characteristics would make a person become an icon? c) What do you think is the difference between an artist and an icon? 2. Share your answers with the class.

Before reading

1. Read the title of the article, what do you think it is about? 2. The first line of the article is a lyric from David Bowie’s famous song, Space Oddity: “The stars look very different today.” Why do you think the journalist chose to begin the article with this lyric? What do you think it means?

Reading Activity

1. Read the article “Rock icon, David Bowie, changed the face of music”

2. Answer the following questions:

a) What important characteristics about David Bowie’s are mentioned in the text? b) What aspects of his career do you think that made him become an icon? c) What do you think made Bowie different from other artists? d) In the text, they mention “Space oddity” as one of his most iconic songs, why do you think the journalist says so?

3. Get together with a classmate and discuss your answers. After this we will check all the answers as a group.

After reading

1. Get together in groups. 2. Choose one of David Bowie’s song that you think it’s the most representative and iconic of his career, the one song that made him become an icon. 3. Read the lyrics, watch the video clip or live performance, and think why that particular song could be the one that made him become an iconic artist. You can take into consideration the lyrics, the performance, the musical style, etc. 4. Make a brief presentation and share it with the rest of the class.

Reading Activity Text

ENTERTAINMENT, NEWS Rock icon, David Bowie, changed the face of music

January 17, 2016 9:27 pm by Joyce Grant

David Bowie in 2002. Image: Photobra|Adam Bielawski

The stars look very different today.

David Bowie, one of the world’s most famous musical artists, has passed away at the age of 69, from cancer.

People around the world are mourning the death of a man who was a rock star, a pop star, an actor and someone many people would consider an all-around “creative genius.”

Bowie pushed the boundaries of every art form he touched—singing, movies, fashion, song writing. He was an avid reader and an intellectual. He applied his knowledge to his work, so that his songs—while many of them seem “normal” to us today as we look back on them—were always far ahead of what others were doing at the time.

Whatever Bowie did, he did with style. He was known for his outlandish fashion, often painting his face and styling his hair so he didn’t look like himself. His iconic tall, slim figure often lent itself to fashion that was gender-ambiguous; in other words, you often didn’t recognize him—or even known whether it was a man or a woman in the costume. In the 1970s, he assumed a personality known as the “Thin White Duke,” and sang in a style The Guardian calls “synthetic art-funk.” It was ahead of its time.

Contributing to Bowie’s often odd look, was the fact that his eyes were unusual and interesting. In 1962 when he was young, a boy punched him in the schoolyard, and the pupil (black part) of his left eye became permanently “dilated,” meaning that it was much bigger than that of the other eye. (Bowie remained close friends with the boy, who “later designed Bowie’s album artwork,” according to the British newspaper The

Guardian. In fact, the boy was a member of Bowie’s first band, the Kon-rads, when Bowie was 15 years old.)

David Bowie’s real name was David Jones, but he changed it to David Bowie because he didn’t want to be confused with another major pop star of the time, Davy Jones, of The Monkees.

One of Bowie’s biggest songs is Space Oddity, which came out around the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The song was famously sung by former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield—while Hadfield was flying above the Earth in the International Space Station.

Bowie had many other huge hits including Starman, The Man Who Sold the World, Jean Genie, Rebel Rebel, Ashes to Ashes, Fame and Under Pressure.

Perhaps the most fascinating thing about David Bowie was that you never knew what he was going to do next. His last music video, which was released in early January, shortly before his death, was called “Lazarus.” It was intended to be a “self-epitaph,”— a type of musical and artistic “good-bye” for his fans.

Retireved from http://teachingkidsnews.com/2016/01/17/rock-icon-david-bowie/

Unit 2 – Lesson 3

Objective: Describe the most important features of the character Major Tom.

Meet Major Tom – Story songs

Getting started!

1. In groups of 3, answer the following questions: a) Who do you think Major Tom is? b) Can you imagine what he does? c) Can you think of what inspired David Bowie to create this character? 2. Share your answers with the class.

Listening & Reading activity

1. Listen to the song Space Oddity and read the lyrics. Try to figure out what the story is about. 2. Share your thoughts with a partner, see if there are similarities in the story you imagine. After this, share your story with the whole class. 3. Read the excerpts about the history of the character and check if your predictions were correct.

After Listening & Reading

1. In groups of 4, discuss the following questions: a) From the information given by David Bowie in the excerpt of the interview, how did he come up with the character? b) Can you think of a relation between the character and David Bowie? What would that be? c) Are there any connections to Bowie’s character Ziggy Stardust? 2. Create wanted poster for the missing Major Tom. Make a drawing of Major Tom and write a description of his appearance and personality, so people can easily recognize him if they have happen to see him.

SPACE ODDITY BY DAVID BOWIE

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYMCLz5PQVw

Ground Control to Major Tom Ground Control to Major Tom Take your protein pills and put your helmet on Ground Control to Major Tom (ten, nine, eight, seven, six) Commencing countdown, engines on (five, four, three) Check ignition and may God's love be with you (two, one, liftoff)

This is Ground Control to Major Tom You've really made the grade And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare "This is Major Tom to Ground Control I'm stepping through the door And I'm floating in a most peculiar way And the stars look very different today For here Am I sitting in a tin can Far above the world Planet Earth is blue And there's nothing I can do Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles I'm feeling very still And I think my spaceship knows which way to go Tell my wife I love her very much she knows Ground Control to Major Tom Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you "Here am I floating 'round my tin can far above the moon Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do"

Was "Major Tom" the astronaut a real person?

Was there an actual Major Tom? Not that the history books show. Though there were two Apollo astronauts named Tom, neither were Majors and both returned home safely (Thomas P. Stafford was on Apollo 10 and Thomas K. Mattingly served aboard Apollo 16).

Bowie's creation of Major Tom was certainly influenced by Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey." Bowie is said to have written his song shortly after seeing the movie. "Space Oddity" obviously is a pun on "Space Odyssey."

Retrieved from http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1517/was-major-tom-the- astronaut-a-real-person

What did Bowie say about Major Tom?

In July of 1969, man landed on the moon. Bowie has this to say about the landing and the movie: “In England, it was always presumed that it [“Space Oddity’] was written about the space landing, because it kind of came to prominence around the same time. But it actually wasn’t. It was written because of going to see the film 2001, which I found amazing. I was out of my gourd anyway, I was very stoned when I went to see it, several times, and it was really a revelation to me. “It got the song flowing. It was picked up by the British television, and used as the background music for the landing itself. I’m sure they really weren’t listening to the lyric at all (laughs). It wasn’t a pleasant thing to juxtapose against a moon landing. Of course, I was overjoyed that they did. Obviously, some BBC official said, ‘Oh, right then, that space song, Major Tom, blah blah blah, that’ll be great.’ ‘Um, but he gets stranded in space, sir.’ Nobody had the heart to tell the producer that.”

Retrieved from http://songmango.com/space-oddity-ground-control-major-tom-by-david- bowie-review/

Unit 3 – Lesson 4

Getting Started!

1. Form 3 groups and discuss the following questions: a) Do you think that David Bowie has influences any other artists? b) In what way do you think he may have influenced them? c) Are there any artists that you think are similar to David Bowie? Who? In what way are they similar? 2. Share you answers with the other groups.

Reading Activity

1. Read the article from People’s Magazine 2. Highlight the concepts you consider to be more relevant in terms of the influence David Bowie had in these artists. 3. Get together with a partner and share your findings. 4. Answer these questions: a) Are there similar concepts described by the artists? b) Can you think about concepts to classify these influences?

After reading

1. In groups of 3, make a quick research on the internet about other artists who have been influenced by David Bowie. 2. Create different categories in which you group artist according to the aspect of his life or career that was influenced by David Bowie. 3. Make a short Presentation using Prezi to explain your findings to your classmates.

Reading Activity Text

An Icon of Icons: How David Bowie Influenced Everyone from Madonna to Kanye

It’s easy to forget just how radical the late Bowie was. From pioneering the music video to gender-bending reinvention, Bowie’s legacy lives on in today’s music icons

MADONNA The singer's gift for constant reinvention? No doubt inspired by Bowie, who assumed elaborate personas and alter-egos like Ziggy Stardust, Major Tom, the Thin White Duke and Aladdin Sane. "He was one of the geniuses in the music industry, one of the greatest singer- songwriters in the 20th century," Madonna told a crowd in Houston two days after Bowie's death. "He showed me it was okay to be different."

BOY GEORGE Boy George has long called Bowie his hero, someone he "credits with changing his life." While the artist was too upset to comment on Bowie's passing, he said via his manager: There "would not be Boy George if it wasn't for David Bowie." The late artist played with masculinity and femininity in a way that inspired other artists to embrace gender confusion.

PRINCE A multi-instrumentalist like Bowie, the two artists embraced being fundamentally, unapologetically different – and finding the art in androgyny.

KANYE WEST Upon hearing of Bowie's death, West tweeted, "David Bowie was one of my most important inspirations, so fearless, so creative, he gave us magic for a lifetime." The rapper's high-concept, revolutionary videos were only ever possible thanks to Bowie's perfection – and subversion – of the medium.

LADY GAGA Gaga's extravagant costuming was unthinkable before Bowie's experiments in fashion and makeup. "Bowie's sonic footprint and fashion influence will echo forever because of the musician's innate desire to express themselves and be free," Atlanta DJ Sir Daniel told NBCBLK. "In today's music market you can have a Lady Gaga and a Young Thug that both speak to their generation through music and fashion and push the envelope with little concern for normative thinking around gender."

MARILYN MANSON Bowie was a champion of the gender-fluid, non-binary movement, employing dramatic makeup and glitter and flamboyant clothes, assuming identities that didn't fit any one mold. In an editorial for Rolling Stone, Manson wrote that Bowie "confused and captivated" him when he first saw him on TV, and soon became a profound influence. "Every song of his was a way for me to communicate to others," he wrote. "It was a sedative. An arousal. A love letter I never could have written."

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM In March of 2015, the band's former leader, James Murphy, covered Bowie's Station to Station track, "Golden Years." (Murphy even played percussion on two tracks off of Bowie's album, Blackstar.) The artist has long been open about Bowie's influence on his music, having grown up listening to him.

Retrieved from: http://people.com/celebrity/david-bowies-influence-on-other- artists/lcd-soundsystem/

APPENDIXS Appendix 1: Questionnaire

Needs Analysis Survey

Male: ____ Female: ____

Instructions:

This chart contains 16 questions regarding the relevance of the topics covered in English lessons in connection to students’ motivation towards learning a second language, with an especial focus on the interest in music and icons.

Mark with an X the option in the boxes that best fits your opinion

Questions 1. Yes 2. Sometimes 3. No 1. Are you interested in the topics covered in your English lessons? 2. Are you motivated to learn English at school? 3. Do you like to talk about art in your English lessons? 4. Do like to listen to music in English? 5. Do you like to watch documentaries or movies about music or musicians? 6. Do you like to read articles, news or books about music or musicians? 7. Have you heard about David Bowie? 8. Does the material used in class promote your understanding of the topic? 9. Do you think that talking about music and artists would be motivating for you? 10. Do you know what the characteristics of an icon are? 11. Do like to listen to music from previous decades? 12. Would you like to learn more about 13. Do think that listening activities are easier to comprehend a topic?

14. Do you think that oral presentations can help you to improve your English? 15. Do you consider interesting to learn about the life of an iconic artist? 16. Do you consider relevant to learn about the culture of the language you are learning?

Appendix 2: Needs analysis results

2. Are you motivated to learn English at school?

20% 45%

35%

1 2 3

4. Do like to listen to music in English?

20%

75%

1 2 3

7. Have you heard about David Bowie?

20% 35%

45%

1 2 3

9. Do you think that talking about music and artists would be motivating for you?

10% 25%65%

1 2 3

10. Do you know what the characteristics of an icon are?

30% 30%

40%

1 2 3

11. Do like to listen to music from previous decades?

35%

60%

1 2 3

15. Do you consider interesting to learn about the life of an iconic artist?

20%

50%

30%

1 2 3