A Reflection Letter
Dear Dr. Young,
I remember that you asked us whether playing music or not when reading or writing at the beginning of the class ECI 520, Teaching Composition. And also I remember that you would like to play soft music when we were free writing in the class. To tell the truth, I really enjoying the time of free writing with the music and I love playing music when reading, writing, exercising, or doing housework. So when I see the options, I am quite interested in option 4. Although I think that it is interesting to create a soundtrack for a YAL book, it is also challengeable. I am not sure whether I can choose appropriate music to reflect the evolution of the themes and characters.
Recently, I finished reading the novel Howl’s moving castle written by Diana Wynne Jones. Several years ago, I watched the film version made by Hayao Miyazaki. I admitted that the movie scenes are impressive; however, what left the profound impression in my mind is the gorgeous soundtrack for this movie made by Joe Hisaishi, which is helpful to enagage me to understand the movie. Even now, I play the theme music from time to time. I am thinking about whether different songs can reflect the novel or not and what effects will appear. Thus, I decided to create the soundtrack project.
Actually, the process of choosing appropriate songs to connect with the characters and themes is extremely hard and time-consuming than I imagined. For picking up 10 songs, I listened more than 200 songs in 2 days. But the process is also enjoyable and interesting. Like the famous saying from Forrest Gump (1994), life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. The countless songs just like the chocolates in the box, I never know what I am going to listen. Wonderful songs often suddenly jump out and surprise me, such as Eurythmics’s sweet dreams, Johnny Cash’s Hurt, and some other songs.
I chose 3 songs to reflect Sophie’s characteristics, experiences, feelings or emotions, the same way for another protagonist Howl and one song for another important character, Calcifer. And then, I used another 3 songs to reflect the themes of this novel, fate, courage, and love. The detailed connections were shown in the soundtrack pages. The list of the tracks is totally based on my personal ideas and perspectives, so maybe some listeners and readers cannot understand or agree. But I welcome different opinions and ideas. I firmly believe that more suitable songs are waiting to be discovered. However, because of the limited time, I didn’t find them.
Finally, it is really a wise and great choice of doing the Soundtrack Project. I will utilize this creative strategy to encourage students to reading creatively and effectively in the future. Hoping you can enjoy the playlist and looking forward to your comments.
Best Regards
Shuhui
I remember that you asked us whether playing music or not when reading or writing at the beginning of the class ECI 520, Teaching Composition. And also I remember that you would like to play soft music when we were free writing in the class. To tell the truth, I really enjoying the time of free writing with the music and I love playing music when reading, writing, exercising, or doing housework. So when I see the options, I am quite interested in option 4. Although I think that it is interesting to create a soundtrack for a YAL book, it is also challengeable. I am not sure whether I can choose appropriate music to reflect the evolution of the themes and characters.
Recently, I finished reading the novel Howl’s moving castle written by Diana Wynne Jones. Several years ago, I watched the film version made by Hayao Miyazaki. I admitted that the movie scenes are impressive; however, what left the profound impression in my mind is the gorgeous soundtrack for this movie made by Joe Hisaishi, which is helpful to enagage me to understand the movie. Even now, I play the theme music from time to time. I am thinking about whether different songs can reflect the novel or not and what effects will appear. Thus, I decided to create the soundtrack project.
Actually, the process of choosing appropriate songs to connect with the characters and themes is extremely hard and time-consuming than I imagined. For picking up 10 songs, I listened more than 200 songs in 2 days. But the process is also enjoyable and interesting. Like the famous saying from Forrest Gump (1994), life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. The countless songs just like the chocolates in the box, I never know what I am going to listen. Wonderful songs often suddenly jump out and surprise me, such as Eurythmics’s sweet dreams, Johnny Cash’s Hurt, and some other songs.
I chose 3 songs to reflect Sophie’s characteristics, experiences, feelings or emotions, the same way for another protagonist Howl and one song for another important character, Calcifer. And then, I used another 3 songs to reflect the themes of this novel, fate, courage, and love. The detailed connections were shown in the soundtrack pages. The list of the tracks is totally based on my personal ideas and perspectives, so maybe some listeners and readers cannot understand or agree. But I welcome different opinions and ideas. I firmly believe that more suitable songs are waiting to be discovered. However, because of the limited time, I didn’t find them.
Finally, it is really a wise and great choice of doing the Soundtrack Project. I will utilize this creative strategy to encourage students to reading creatively and effectively in the future. Hoping you can enjoy the playlist and looking forward to your comments.
Best Regards
Shuhui