In your paper, I do not want you to argue which is better, the movie or the book. Instead, I want you to analyze both texts fairly, discussing the special elements of each medium. For example, when you analyze the literary text, you might discuss a symbol, but when you analyze the film, you might discuss how camera shots emphasize this same symbol. I would LOVE it if your essay included pictures of certain camera shots, for example!
To prepare you to write this essay, I ask you to spend some time brainstorming according to the steps below.
Step 1: Choose a literary text and its corresponding film or show; pick the combination that interests you most, or the one that you think you could write the most about.
Wit and Wit
“The Company of Wolves” and Slut
Kindred and Kindred
“The Minority Report” and Minority Report
Step 2: Select a very specific element that both the literary text and its adaptation share in some way, or something that they do very differently. Think in terms of theme, symbol, scene, character, or prop. Here are just a few ideas:
For Wit and Wit:
dehumanization of _________
dehumanization of patient care or research
empathy or kindness
salvation or redemption
Susie’s hands
breaking the fourth wall
For “The Company of Wolves” and Slut:
dehumanization of _________
vulnerability versus power
vulnerability as power
sacrifice to save oneself
sexual agency
the ordinary versus the extraordinary
the characterization of the “wolf”
feminine symbols of personal agency (flowers and lipstick?)
For Kindred and Kindred:
dehumanization of _________
love
power
white privilege
Dana’s adaptability
Kevin’s characterization
time travel as tool to educate (people from the future or people in the past)
opening scenes that build suspense in their own unique ways
For “The Minority Report” and Minority Report:
dehumanization of _________
individual liberty versus collective safety
police states
abuses of power, science, or technology
references to and/or images of eyes/sight/vision/etc.
characterization of the “precogs” (“idiots” versus deities)
final messages of each text
Step 3: Once you identify the general topic for your essay, I encourage you to brainstorm SPECIFIC passages from the literary text and a scene or scenes from the film that speak to your topic in some way. Try to identify at least two examples from EACH text.
Step 4: Now that you have brainstormed your ideas, you are ready to develop a draft thesis statement for your essay. A thesis statement, as you know, is the primary claim or assertion you are making. It often acts as a roadmap for your paper as well. Strong thesis statements are debatable, meaning someone else could challenge our thesis, if they wanted to.
When writing an analysis about literature, we typically ask ourselves two questions to develop our thesis statements:
What features will I analyze in the texts?
What do these features reveal or suggest or symbolize overall? (our claim)
Then, in our conclusions, we typically point to the significance of our argument, and we might focus on why the ideas matter to an individual character in the text, to the texts overall, to the society in which it was written, or to the world in general.
Assignment Details:
Write an academic essay that demonstrates your ability to analyze literature and film and compare/contrast these two storytelling mediums.
The final version of your essay should be 4 pages long (longer is ok, too!).
You should not complete outside research to develop this essay. All evidence will come from your primary texts (the literary text and film/show).
You should quote specific passages in the texts to support your ideas.
You should take your time discussing these passages, clarifying how they support your thesis.
You should include in-text citations and a Works Cited page following MLA format (Links to an external site.).
Your essay should be typed and double-spaced in 12-point, Times New Roman font.
In an analysis essay, we typically write in the third person (he, she, it, they, them, their, etc.).
In academic essays, we generally avoid using the second person (you and your).
Avoid expressions like, “I believe,” “I feel,” “I think,” “In my opinion,” and “Personally” in your essay. I already know you believe your ideas since they are yours!
