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English 2341: From Short Story to Film Dr

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English 2341: From Short Story to Film

Dr. Sampada Chavan Dalvi

Short Story to Film Evaluation Essay 20%

 

Description: In this assignment, you will pick one short story from this semester’s selection and evaluate its big-screen adaptation. Either the story or the adaptation must be from a different country of origin and cultural background than your own.  You are strongly encouraged to choose the story and adaptations both from different country of origin cultural backgrounds AND different from yours to examine strategies used by the author and filmmakers to accommodate the target audience from different country and cultural backgrounds. Refer to the syllabus or D2L for a list of the stories. They are also linked in the LibGuide for our class.

 

Purpose: This evaluation aims to examine the adaptation of movies based on different country and cultural perspectives. Specifically, you will evaluate the story and the film based on how well one portrayed national and cultural nuance over the other and then argue on the adaptations’ quality. You must also compare each adaptation's different cultural beliefs and practices with your own. While you will be expressing your opinion in this essay, your tone and voice should come across as reasonable and unbiased. Your aim should be to convince the reader that your ideas are believable.

 

Process: To make your audience agree with your opinions, you must be clear and fair. Follow these steps to ensure that your evaluation is successful.

1.            Criteria: Establish what outcomes were necessary for the story or its film adaptation to successfully portray its country or origin's cultural values and nuances. For example, to evaluate a movie adaptation’s success (or lack thereof), you should consider criteria like plot, theme, actors, direction, genre, setting, audience, etc. On the other hand, if the story was more impactful, consider what it did with descriptions, plot, or dialog to convey its cultural significance.

2.            Judgment: You must establish if these criteria are met. This will be stated in the form of your thesis.

3.            Evidence: You will offer details to support your judgment. Each body paragraph should focus on one criterion and explain why we should agree with your judgment.

 

Questions to ask yourself:

1.            What cultural traditions, values, or systems did the story or the movie make evident?

2.            What cultural traditions and values are changed in each adaptation for the targeted audience?

3.            Did the movie enhance the story or weaken it?

4.            Did the actors do justice to the characters they were portraying? (Did the actors accurately portray characters based on their country of origin and cultural backgrounds?)

5.            Did the movie make any major changes in cultural practice? If so, why and were they effective?

6.            Is the story more memorable or the adaptation?

7.            Does the story speak to a global audience, or does the movie do so?

8.            Which national and cultural traditions and beliefs from the story and the adaptation differ from yours? How important are the national and cultural values in the story and the adaptation?

 

Scholarly citation: You are required to use three movie reviews as scholarly citations. At least one of the reviews must be from critics from different cultural backgrounds. You can use quotes from these reviews as support or include them to refute their claims. The LibGuide page includes helpful databases to start your research. Click here to go there.

 

Grading: You will be graded on the following:

•             Length: No less than four pages

•             Content:

o             A succinct summary of the story and the movie

o             A clear thesis that claims how the movie (or the story) conveys culture/values/traditions in a more convincing manner

o             Body paragraphs that chronologically explore the thesis

o             A conclusion that makes recommendations for a more in-depth adaptation accurately portrays the original message or is tailored to fit the cultural perspectives of the targeted audience.

•             Use of Sources: Use at least three quotes from two movie reviews cited correctly.

•             Format: Correct use of MLA format

•             International Learning Outcomes: The essay should show how the literary and/or cinematic medium can be used to reflect upon global awareness and diversity.