Beatlemania, Mass Hysteria, and the Commercial Machine - Unit Bundle

We all love the Beatles, we can all sing along to their songs...but this lesson is much more than an excuse to listen to great music in the classroom. The timeline, video clips, article excerpts, analysis questions, photographs, magazine covers, writing tasks, and activities embedded throughout this slideshow, force students to think deeply about the causes of Beatlemania, of mass hysteria in general. Students will think about the intense power of the "Commercial Machine" that was responsible for the unprecedented fame and star power of the fab four.

The Essential Question for students is: What were the historical events and factors that contributed to the rise of Beatlemania? Using the song A Hard Day's Night, students will watch a trailer from the film focusing on the reactions of the audiences, the image the Beatles were trying to present, and how they portrayed the other adults differently than themselves. Later, students will compare live footage of the Beatles performing the song She Loves You to that film trailer. The film clip from an interview with Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, asks students to define hysteria and consider whether they themselves have ever been a "slave to the commercial machine", and analyze the role he played in their rise to global superstars. The final slides include a 4 Corners Activity and a Fan Letter writing task for students to summarize their thoughts.

The Document Set contains a Timeline for students to review in order to understand the historical and political events that led to the Beatles arrival (and explosion in popularity) in America during the 1960s. There are questions and an activity embedded in the slideshow for this timeline as well. The second page provides a Graphic Organizer for students to complete as they watch an interview with the Beatles manager, Brian Epstein. Students will consider the point of view of both Epstein and the interviewer on the topics of hysteria, the role of a manager, and the commercial machine. The interview video clip is also in the slideshow. Finally, students are given an excerpt from a Saturday Evening Post article from 1964 to help them analyze exactly what is needed to cause an international craze like Beatlemania? There are many more questions for students to consider using that article contained within the slideshow.

Upon completion of this unit, students will understand the importance of Beatlemania, as an unprecedented cultural phenomenon, and be able to compare the hysteria to other artists that followed in later decades. Students will be able to explain the historical events leading up to the Beatles’ arrival in America, and the role that Brian Epstein played in crafting the Beatles’ image. Most importantly, students will be able to analyze and point out specific connections between popular music and the social and political environment in which that music was created.