Worksheet: Close Listening and Thematic Analysis Using 'Where's My Phone?'

Hook: Turn fragmented listening into focused learning

Teachers and students: you want one reliable, classroom-ready activity that turns a single song into a rich, cross-curricular lesson—without hours of prep. This listening worksheet for Mitski's 2026 single "Where's My Phone?" gives you a step-by-step plan to teach close listening, lyric analysis, instrumentation study, and video interpretation in a single 45–90 minute class. It solves the common pain points of fragmented resources, unclear learning outcomes, and limited class time.

Why this case study matters in 2026

In late 2025 and early 2026 Mitski teased and released material tied to Shirley Jackson–style horror and domestic isolation—an approach that fits major 2026 trends in music education: multimodal analysis, critical media literacy, and AI-assisted annotation tools that let students engage with audio and video in new ways. Use this worksheet to explore how lyrical themes interact with production choices and visual storytelling, and to teach students skills that matter for modern exams and portfolio work.

Learning objectives (what students will be able to do)

• Perform close lyric analysis by identifying central images, motifs, and implied narrator perspective.
• Analyze instrumentation and production to explain how timbre, space, and dynamics support theme.
• Interpret music video elements (mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing) and relate them to literary influences like Shirley Jackson and Grey Gardens.
• Construct evidence-based arguments that link lyrics, sound, and visuals into coherent theme analyses suitable for exams or portfolios.

Materials & setup

• Playback setup (good speakers or headphones) and a screen for the official video.
• Printed or digital worksheet (use the sections below as the worksheet template).
• Official lyric sheet (students should access licensed lyrics via music service or publisher; do not copy-paste full lyrics into handouts).
• Annotation tools: pen/highlighter or an AI-assisted transcript tool like Descript or an LMS annotation feature (2026 classrooms now use integrated transcript players).
• Timing: 45–90 minutes depending on depth and extensions.

Pre-listening warm-up (5–10 minutes)

1. Quickwrite (3 minutes): "Name one place where people feel 'at home' but behave differently outside. Why might artists use the home as a setting?"
2. Context note (teacher reads aloud): Mitski's 2026 singles used horror and domestic imagery in promotion—call-in numbers, website teases, and references to Shirley Jackson. Ask students to predict how that context might influence the song.

Worksheet Section A: Guided lyric analysis (20–25 minutes)

Tip for teachers: ask students to have a copy of the official lyrics. For copyright safety, instruct them to link to the publisher's page or display brief quoted phrases (under 40 characters) with attribution.

Activity A1 — First read (5 minutes)

1. Play the song once without interruption. Students mark words/phrases that stand out: repeated images (objects, places), emotional words, and verbs.
2. After listening, students share 2–3 striking words in pairs.

Activity A2 — Close reading (10–15 minutes)

Use these prompts—students answer briefly in their worksheet.

• Speaker & perspective: Who is speaking? First-person narrator, observer, or unreliable narrator? Provide two lines of textual evidence (paraphrase if quoting is restricted).
• Key objects & metaphors: List 3 objects or repeated images. What do each of them symbolize in the song's context (safety, loss, surveillance, communication)?
• Contrast & contradiction: Identify any lines showing conflict between outer behavior and inner feeling (public vs private). How does that mirror the press description—"outside a deviant, inside free"?
• Title meaning: "Where's My Phone?" — brainstorm literal and symbolic meanings (disconnection, search for contact, loss of self, technology as anchor).

Teacher notes — sample answers & talking points

Possible themes to surface: isolation, anxiety, the uncanny in domestic space, surveillance/communication, the unreliable self. Connect to Shirley Jackson's concerns about reality and sanity—students can argue the narrator seeks reality anchors (a phone) amid disorientation.

Worksheet Section B: Instrumentation & production study (20 minutes)

Teachers: focus on listening tasks rather than making definitive claims about instrumentation. Let students identify elements and justify how they support themes.

Activity B1 — Focused listening (10 minutes)

1. Play four targeted excerpts (or play whole song and pause):
   • Opening 0:00–0:20 — texture & space
   • A midpoint 0:45–1:05 — any shift or layering
   • Climax or chorus — dynamic contrast and vocal delivery
   • Outro — decay and aftereffects
2. Students annotate the waveform or transcript (if using a tool) and write down: primary instruments/sounds, vocal timbre, reverb/space, and any unusual production (distortion, field recordings, phone tones).

Activity B2 — Interpretation prompts

• How does the arrangement create tension? (e.g., sparse textures vs sudden strings)
• Are there sounds that could belong to the video diegesis (door creaks, phone rings)? How do these blur the line between song and scene?
• How does vocal performance (breath, phrasing, dynamics) convey psychological states?

Teacher notes — scaffolding and sample language

Encourage descriptive answers: instead of "strings make it sad," prompt students to say "high, sustained strings with narrow vibrato create an unstable, high-register tension that suggests anxiety." This trains precise music-writing skills required for exams and portfolios.

Worksheet Section C: Video interpretation & visual analysis (25–30 minutes)

Play the official video. Students should take notes on visuals and how they align with or contradict the lyrics.

Activity C1 — Shot-by-shot observation (10–15 minutes)

• Students timestamp 4–6 significant shots or sequences and note: setting, costume, color/lighting, actor blocking, camera movement, editing pace.
• Class discussion: identify cinematic references—does the video evoke the slow dread of Shirley Jackson's Hill House or the documentary intimacy of Grey Gardens? How do these references shape interpretation?

Activity C2 — Sound-Image relationships (10 minutes)

• List moments where a visual moment is emphasized by a sonic change (e.g., reverb swells, a diegetic ring). Why pair those elements?
• Ask students whether the video supports a single reading or creates ambiguity—cite two examples.

Teacher notes — themes to push on

Look for domestic decay vs personal sanctity, the uncanny intrusion of technology, and the idea of "performance" in private spaces. Push students to link specific shots (lighting, lens choice) to emotional states.

Assessment rubric (quick, 0–4 scale)

Use this rubric for short in-class submissions or for a 500–800 word written analysis.

• Thesis & argument (0–4): Clear claim linking lyrics, sound, and visuals.
• Evidence (0–4): Precise references to lines, timestamps, and production details.
• Analysis depth (0–4): Moves beyond description to explain how choices enact themes.
• Writing & citation (0–4): Clear prose, proper citation of lyric and video sources.

Differentiation & accessibility

• Shorter task for beginners: focus on one verse and one scene; produce a paragraph linking them.
• Advanced students: research intertextual references (Jackson, Grey Gardens) and write a comparative mini-essay.
• Accessibility: provide captions/transcripts, transcripts of production notes, and audio descriptions for visually impaired students.

Extensions & project ideas (for 1–2 weeks)

1. Create a 3–5 minute audio essay: combine short clips (fair use for education), voiceover analysis, and annotated waveform visuals; publish to class blog or portfolio.
2. Remix/cover project: students rearrange the song (acoustic, electronic, puppet-theatre score) and write a reflection on how instrumentation changes the theme.
3. Multimodal essay: compare Mitski's song-video to Shirley Jackson's themes; include scene analysis, soundtrack excerpts, and archival images in an annotated slideshow.

Technology & 2026 teaching tips

By 2026, classrooms increasingly use AI and multimodal tools—here are practical, ethical ways to use them with this worksheet:

• Use AI transcript tools to generate time-coded captions for close-listening. Always verify for accuracy before student use.
• Leverage collaborative annotation platforms so students can highlight lyrics and leave inline comments. Encourage evidence-based notes to counter surface-level observations.
• Teach students to evaluate AI summaries: have them compare a generated theme summary to their own and identify what the AI missed (context, emotional nuance).

Sample answers & teacher model paragraph

Below is a concise teacher model showing how to combine lyric, sound, and visual evidence into one paragraph. Use this as a grading benchmark.

In "Where's My Phone?", the narrator's search for a phone becomes a search for certainties; lyrically, repeated images of misplaced objects and furtive actions suggest a fractured interior life. Sonically, sparse textures and intermittent high-register instruments create an unsettled sonic space that mirrors the narrator's anxiety, while occasional diegetic cues (a phone-like chirp or distant ring) blur the boundary between memory and present. Visually, domestic clutter and low, domestic lighting conjure both sanctuary and entrapment—the video’s long takes let us linger in the narrator’s point of view, reinforcing the theme of private performance. Together, these elements stage a claustrophobic, Gothic modernity in which technology is both a tether and a ghostly absence.

Common classroom pitfalls and how to avoid them

• Avoid summarizing instead of analyzing: require a clear claim that connects two modes (lyric+sound, sound+visual).
• Watch for over-reliance on single-word adjectives: prompt students to justify terms like "haunting" with sonic and visual specifics.
• Prevent copyright issues: instruct students to cite official lyric sources and use short, attributed quotes; prefer paraphrase for handouts.

Cross-curricular connections

• English/Literature: Compare motifs to Shirley Jackson’s work; assign short reading passages for comparative analysis.
• Media Studies: Analyze how promotion (teaser phone line, dedicated website) used diegetic storytelling to extend the single’s themes.
• Psychology: Discuss themes of anxiety and perception; pair with short readings on dissociation and reality-testing.

Classroom-ready printable worksheet (copy-paste template)

Below is a compact worksheet teachers can paste into a document or LMS. Each section corresponds to the activities above.

1. Pre-listen: Quickwrite (3 min): Where do people hide their true selves?
2. Lyric Close Read: List 3 repeated images; describe narrator; what does the title suggest?
3. Instrumentation: Note 3 production choices; how do they create tension?
4. Video Study: Timestamp 4 shots and describe visual cues; how do sound and image interact?
5. Mini Paragraph (150–300 words): Argue one theme linking lyric, sound, and video.

Why this worksheet helps exam and portfolio prep

Students learn to gather time-stamped evidence, craft concise claims, and use multimodal sources—skills increasingly required in 2026 exams and digital portfolios. The structure trains fast, focused analysis suitable for timed tasks and longer project-based assessments.

Final thoughts: thematic threads to emphasize

• Home as theatre: private spaces as sites of identity work.
• Technology as tether/absence: the phone is both connection and missing object.
• Unreliable reality: sonic textures and video framing that suggest perception, not objective truth.

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Ready to teach this in your next class? Download and adapt this worksheet for your syllabus, try the 45-minute lesson plan this week, and collect student responses in a shared folder. If you found this helpful, sign up for our weekly educator brief for more 2026-ready music education worksheets, assessment rubrics, and AI tools for the classroom.

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