Taylor Swift’s new song “Anti-Hero” reached number one on Billboards Global 200, broke the record for the biggest number of first day streams and reached Top 10 in almost 40 countries shortly after its release. Listeners connect with it in different ways. But, what was Swift’s intended message? 

     That was the central question for students attending Ms. Melissa Hilton’s seminar about “Anti-Hero,” which was held on Nov. 21 and 22 in the media center. The seminar’s main goal was to find the messages behind Swift’s words. 

     The seminar began with a discussion about how often the anti-hero archetype can be seen in literature and media around us. Student’s brought up examples such as Loki and Jack Sparrow, and talked about what characterized each as an anti-hero.

     Students were then given a copy of the lyrics to annotate and then paraphrase into their own words. Sophie Tsai (26’) said, “This was my favorite part of the seminar, and it was really fun to interpret the lyrics.” Then there was a small group discussion, followed by sharing with the larger group.

     At the end of the seminar, Ms. Hilton played the music video and asked students to observe how a visual component changed or strengthened thematic implications, opening up a class conversation about Swift’s intended meaning. “From this seminar, I learned that an artist’s work usually reflects their views and experiences. So, perspective is really everything,” Arjun Ahuja (26’) said. 

     Ms. Hilton said, “A couple of students thanked me for it and said they had never thought about a song like that before.” Her inspiration for the seminar itself came from her students, as many “Swifties” asked her opinion on Swift’s new album. Noticing her student’s interest, she believed that the song would play well with applying their literary skills of analysis. 

     She stressed that connecting language arts skills we learn through reading texts from the curriculum to the real world is vital. She said her 9th graders “have a hard time seeing the connection to the real world. [They ask] ‘why do you need these skills?’” 

     Ms. Hilton added, “[They’re] halfway to college, and are even farther away from having an adult job. So when someone tells [them] that it’s important to be able to read and write, [students think] ‘ah whatever.” “But, Swift,” she said, “is like an access point to see a relevance for that type of thinking.” 

     She aims to convey to students that the skills they learn in the language arts classroom can be applied to think critically about music, books and other media.