Adaptation analysis
Overview: As we’ve discussed at length this semester, it’s possible to apply many different
interpretations to a text. When writers go on to “adapt” a text for some other form, such as a
screenplay, they necessarily offer their own interpretation of the subject matter. This semester,
we have read many texts that are either adaptations of an earlier work, or were themselves
adapted and performed at some point. By focusing on particular themes or features, adaptations
(re-created versions of other texts, usually in a different genre) offer their own readings of a text.
In this paper, you will discuss how a given adaptation interprets a text. This includes film,
drama, and literature. 1,000 words.
Steps:
1. Choose any pairing of any text from class and a text it was adapted from or into,
including but not limited to:
a. A Thousand Acres (1997) and the novel https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120323/
b. The National Theater’s performance of Antigone and the play (requires
subscription): https://www.ntathome.com/antigone
c. “The Red Ribbon” from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and “The Husband
Stitch”
d. King Lear and A Thousand Acres (the novel)
e. Any of the film adaptations of “The Yellow Wallpaper” (i.e.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790788/)
f. The Bluest Eye (A Play) by Lydia Diamond
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28234039-the-bluest-eye
The purpose of this analysis is:
• To appreciate how every adaptation comments upon and critiques the piece that is being
performed.
• To help you notice details in adaptation and make meaningful observations about those
details.
• To expand on your group discussions of our texts and generate further interpretation
and analysis through writing.
• To articulate your creative and critical thinking about a literary text through well-crafted
analytical writing.
Things you should be looking for in a filmed performance:
• Time/place/location of the play (especially if it differs from the original)
• Speech patterns/pauses/affect
• Body language/attitude
• Facial expressions
• Camera angles/types of shots
• Techniques like voice over narration, special effects, or visual illusions
• Detail in costumes/settings
• Deviations from the source material
Guidelines:
• Your paper should be guided by a central thesis that makes a claim about the
relationship between the text and the adaptation. It is best if you write down your
ideas first, summarize what you’ve said, and then revise the piece so that your “summary”
becomes your claim. It is not necessary to know exactly what you’ll say from the outset,
but only to refashion your thesis so that it reflects what you do, in fact, argue. Again, the
point is that you are working on coherence, organization, and focus.
• Avoid overly broad claims or questions that you cannot reasonably defend or answer
within a 2-page paper.
§ Example of an overly broad claim: “Shakespeare’s Sonnets focus on the
themes of loyalty and friendship.”
§ Example of an appropriately narrow claim: “Shakespeare’s Sonnets
experiment with conventional ideas about friendship to represent feelings
of sexual desire between two men.”
§ Example of an appropriately narrow question: “What is the nature of
the friendship between the young man and the speaker of Shakespeare’s
Sonnets? Is the representation of their friendship conventional in some
ways and not others?”
• Put this claim near the beginning of the paper. It is hard to develop a claim that you
don’t make until the end. If, as you draft, you find your main idea is best expressed in the
conclusion, then move that claim to the opening.
• Develop your response using specific evidence from the text and the performance.
The body of your paper should consist of several paragraphs that develop and support
your initial claim or question. Body paragraphs must center upon your effective use of a
few specific examples (quoted lines) from the text. Always follow up with a closereading of these lines or the details of the performance, using careful analysis of the
language to show how it supports your claim or helps you find an answer to your
question. All of your paragraphs should contain one or more warrants, explanations of
how your close reading supports your main claim.
• The bulk of your argument must come from your close reading of specific passages.
It is fine to summarize for the reader’s understanding, and to show a pattern in the play,
but do not generalize about the plays themes. Instead, ground your answers in the
language of the play itself.
• The piece must be well written. Good writing requires more discipline than talent.
There is a lot of romanticizing of writing in our culture that confuses students about
whether they can become good writers. Good writing is clear writing. It is well-organized
ideas that are free of distracting errors and are sufficiently explained. You will produce
good writing by writing your ideas down, confirming by re-reading the text that your
analysis is accurate, and then reassembling your sentences into something that another
person could understand. It is helpful if you imagine your work being read by an
uninformed person. Make it a piece someone could read before picking up one of the
plays to help them understand the material better.
• Please use MLA style when citing sources. For these papers, you are not required to
use outside sources, but you should still use parenthetical citations when citing from texts
and include a Works Cited. Questions about citing sources? First consult this MLA
GuideLinks to an external site., then see me with additional questions.
• Further questions about how to avoid plagiarism and use sources correctly? Workshop a
draft of your paper with me!
Questions I Will Ask as I Grade Your Papers:
• Does the paper’s introduction articulate a clear thesis or question that sets up the analysis
that follows?
• Does the body of the paper support the thesis with thoughtful explanation and
interpretation of supporting details and direct evidence (i.e. quotations) from the text?
• Would an uninformed reader be able to follow the writer’s explanations and reasoning?
That is, would someone who hasn’t read the play learn something by reading this
analysis?
• Is the paper free of distracting grammatical and mechanical errors? Are sources cited
properly?
Formatting
• 1″ margins
• Times New Roman 12-point font
• Double-spaced
• MLA heading & header
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_g
uide/mla_general_format.html
• Academic-essay length paragraphs (at least 8 sentences)
• Proofread