Here is my Final Project

First an essay about my project and a lesson plan or explanation of how it could be used in the classroom. Jenna and I worked together on this project but each created a separate interactive book and classroom assignment, etc. While our projects are the same 'idea,' we each worked on two different projects to see how we may differ in our presentation and so forth.

After the essay is the 'interactive book' that uses videos and pictures and text to show how a text can be written into other art forms.

Colleen Boyle
ENG468
Final Project
Due April 25, 2011

Comparing Contexts Activity

For my final project, Jenna Tackett and I developed an exercise where texts are presented with their different adaptations including pictures, paintings, films, and stage performances. I think that students can benefit from this type of presentation of multiple texts that are related or inspired by one another.

However, this type of activity or discussion is only possible with popular works that have been adapted multiple times. Some of the works that Jenna and I discussed being good for this type of activity include Romeo and Juliet, Peter Pan, Wizard of Oz, Frankenstein, Alice in Wonderland, Pride and Prejudice, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Dracula, and others that seem suitable. Whether reading the text and watching clips and examining other types of adaptations or reading a text and watching a whole film, I think students can benefit from observing the differences of context and the transformation it takes when becoming a new type of media.

Studying the adaptations and how a changing context reinvents a story will help students prepare to write papers that compare two texts or discuss how different modes of writing can be employed whether they are writing 'academic' papers or working on creative projects like fiction writing or short film making. This is the perfect jump off for a final project where students have the opportunity to create a short film from a written text, short story, or novel, assuming that the students have access to the technology.

For my example presentation below, I used Romeo and Juliet since it is a play typically taught in High Schools and has been adapted numerous times and has a modern adaptation that uses the original text in a modern setting. I have the presentation set up so that students would watch clips while in the process of reading of the text. It would either be assigned to read the play alone at home and then as a class with the clips or just read together in the class. I have also included pictures, still shots from films, and other images that relate to the particular scene of the play. The following discussion questions would be then discussed after seeing the different adaptations or used as a writing assignment.

1) What changes exist between the text and the film adaptation?

2) Why do you think these changes were made? Technology issues? Other cultural factors?

3) If you were adapting the text, what changes would you make or wouldn't make?

4) What things remained the same? Why do you think they remained the same?

5) What cultural differences exist between the original and adaptation, and how do you think they effected the adaptation or the original text?

Students would have a writing assignment to follow up this type of exercise that allows them to use their observations about the comparison and write a thoughtful essay about the two texts. Or a creative project would follow that allows them to take a text and adapt in a modern setting as a short film. I would advise students to make conscious changes in their creative project but to have a clear understanding of why they made those changes. I think the creative option would be more engaging and fun for students.

*Below is the presentation. Like a youtube video, there is an option to make it go full screen. I apologize for the youtube clips if they have subtitles or any other annoying defects. I did use the full texts of Romeo and Juliet, and some of the clips are very long.