For your fall term essay, you will be writing a comparative analysis of two versions of a story as they are told in different media, a practice commonly known as “adaptation.” The analysis will give you the opportunity to display your ability to analyze the ways that a particular medium of storytelling affects the story being told. To complete this assignment, you will need to do the following:
1.Find a story that has been told in two different media,one from group Aandone from group B. You are not allowed to use examples from the “forbidden” list:these are works that have been written about many, many times and would not allow for fair evaluation of your insights and ideas.
Group A: Novels, Short Stories, Poems, Operas/Music, Theater
Group B: Film, Television, Graphic Fiction/Comic Books, Digital Games
Forbidden:Harry Potterseries,Hunger Gamesseries,Great Gatsby, any stories aimed primarily at children (e.g.,Cinderella,Frozen,Lion King). Ask your tutorial leader if you have questions about the suitability of a given story. Also, please do not reuse the story that you wrote about in your first essay as one of your examples.
2.Watch/read/listen to both versions of the story and make notes regarding the ways that they are different using the components of pentadic analysis:
Act—how do the events in each version differ? Are there some events left out of one version of the story but included in another? How is the depiction of events different?
Agent—how are characters developed in each version? Are their substantial differences in characterization? If you are dealing with a film/book comparison, do the actors match the written descriptions? Does one version give you greater access to the psychology of the characters?
Scene—are their significant changes in location, time period, national/cultural context, or other factors related to the scene within the narrative? How do the two media present various spaces and places relevant to the story differently?
Agency—do the two versions of the story provide similar accounts of how actions are completed? Is the presentation of technology or supernatural powers (both important forms of agency) identical or are their differences in the ways that such aspects of agency are depicted?
Motive—How are the reasons behind the events in the story depicted in each version? Do they dedicate equal space in the narrative for concerns related to motivation/purpose or does one version offer more reflection on this aspect of the story?
3.Write an essay of 5-6 pages (1200-1800 words) that addresses the important differences in the two versions of the story and connects them to the characteristics of the particular medium in which they are told. For example, what things can a film do that a novel cannot and how does it apply to this particular case? You will want to consider the differences you discovered in step #2 and organize them into a coherent essay; you can use the divisions provided by pentadic analysis but are not bound to them. You should also include some consideration of the meaning of the story as it appears in the two versions and examine whether there are any significant differences in thematic content of each version. Lastly, you should offer brief speculation (a single paragraph is fine) on the relative quality of each version and, if you prefer one to another, why it is the superior version of the story. External sources are not required but you may find it helpful to look at critical reviews of various versions of the story; if you use any information from such sources, please cite properly using an established citation system.
Some general tips for writing an excellent essay:
--be specific and use lots of examples
--always consider the significance of the medium in analyzing versions of the story
--depth is always important, so a focused analysis on a few major differences in versions of the story is always preferable to a simple list or catalog of all differences
--remember that stories are intended to communicate themes and messages so do not avoid serious discussion of these aspects of the story
--ask questions of the instructor and your tutorial leader
Essay is due in lecture,Friday, November 29in lecture. Please upload a digital version by the end of the day on December 6 to the course Moodle site, with your name and the name of the story in the file name. Good luck!
Late penalty: 2% per working day (10% per week) penalty in the case of late work without documentation regarding illness or personal circumstances making timely completion impossible.