The Soundscape Project gives students a voice. Using the free program Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net) or Garageband (http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband), students are able to record themselves reciting sections from their favorite plays, novels, poems, etc. They can add in background music and sound effects to create a more complete audio experience. A Soundscape Project is a unique, creative way to let students interact with various texts. It builds comprehension through multisensory learning. By letting students manipulate the text through audio, they are given more freedom to "feel" the text, and to present it how they envision it. For my Soundscape Project, I chose a scene from Joseph Conrad's 1902 novella Heart of Darkness. After travelling into the Congo, Marlow has brought the myserious Kurtz aboard the steamship. Kurtz, however, has fallen ill and will not make it back to Europe alive. This scene is the is final time that Marlow speaks to Kurtz. As Marlow looks on, Kurtz leaves him with ominous, terrifying final words - "The Horror! The Horror!" I thought that this project was a lot of fun, and would definitely be a good assignment to get students to interact with a text. Choosing the music and sound effects really does add more depth to the text, and it gives the students the opportunity to actually create what they might have heard in their minds. I played around with many sound effects, hoping to find the sounds that would really set the mood for the project. Hearing the different possibilites made me think about how I would like to hear this text presented. I felt good about it when I was done because I felt as though I was really able to explore this section of the text and find out what it meant to me. Download the audio file of my Soundscape Project at the bottom of this page! |  |