Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Today was a multimedia extravaganza. This is one of my favorite things to examine when reading/teaching Catcher in the Rye. Today we discussed the eerie connections between John Lennon, Mark David Chapman, and the novel. As you know, Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon outside of his apartment in December of 1980. After shooting him, Chapman sat down on the sidewalk to wait for police, and started reading Catcher in the Rye. On the inside of the book's cover, he wrote "This is my statement." Today we examined several things, including various songs by John Lennon, video clips, songs, and photographs to figure out why Chapman would be compelled to do such a thing in the first place, plus why he cited the novel in his defense. We also discussed possible connections between Holden and Lennon, Holden and Chapman, and similar themes, such as child-like innocence.

Click here to see the power point that we covered in class. Click the links below to download the songs, relevant articles, and the video clips.

Article: A Troubled Youth: About Mark David Chapman (plus his statement to the New York Parole Board)

The Beatles - Help! Video

Imagine by John Lennon (video)

Video clip montage of John Lennon

Lennon Shot News clips