Carlton OaksSchool

Introduction

• Explain the situation of the book being written and then a movie being created later- Author, title, there was a movie (1-2 sentences)

• Summarize the BOOK by including major characters, main conflict, struggle, and resolution (5-8 sentences).

• Take a position on the book versus the movie that includes the three ways that prove it (thesis statement).

Example 1
The emotional and intellectual book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was made into multiple movies, including the early 1930s classic version starring Lon Cheney as the title character. In the book, a highly intelligent scientist, Victor Frankenstein, follows his desires to master death due to his past woes in losing family members. Through intense study and experimentation, he is able to bestow life on dead tissue and creates a terrible creature. It escapes, and when he comes across it years later, he learns that it has become intelligent yet murderous. It insists that Victor create a mate for it to share its life, but Victor refuses. As it continues to murder people that Victor cares about including his wife, Victor vows to destroy the creature. In the end, Victor dies from his struggle, and the creature expresses its regrets as it vows to destroy itself. This book is not given its full potential in the movie version due to deletions, additions, and changes made to the original story.

Example 2
The most famous book series in the world began in the 1990s, and halfway through its publishing, Hollywood began to cash in with almost equally fascinating films. When J.K. Rowling's third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, hit the theatres in 2003, audiences were both amazed and flabbergasted by how different it was from the book. In the book, 15 year-old Harry is pursued by a black dog, presumed to be a grim, which is an omen of death. For his entire school year, Harry believes that Sirius Black is out for revenge because Harry stripped Voldemort of his powers. He finds out that Black is actually his godfather is in fact the black dog and actually was not guilty of being Voldemort's trusted servant. With the help of his best friends Ron and Hermione, Harry manages to convince Headmaster Dumbledore of Black's innocence. They go back in time to save Black, and he escapes into the night. When this book was turned into a movie, it added, removed, and changed several significant plot elements that made it worse.

Body Paragraphs: CD, Com, Com
CONCRETE DETAIL

State the fact of how the movie added, deleted, or changed something from the original story. This should be a single sentence.

COMMENTARY

State your opinion of how the CD made the movie either better or worse than the book. This should be two sentences.

COMMENTARY METHODS

• Two sentences that build upon each other, explaining how the CD (addition/deletion/difference) makes the book or movie better.
• Two separate reasons that explain how the CD makes the book or movie better.

ATTWN, Example 1 (separate reasons)
The makers of the movie added several elements to the storyline in an attempt to make it more suspenseful, but these additions simply made the movie silly (BT). Fred Narracott is portrayed in the film as a sandwich loving boat driver, while the book does not give him any kind of character development (CD). In the opening scene for example, Fred and his sandwich distract the viewer from learning details about the main characters (com). When he appears in the closing scene, again with a sandwich, it downplays the tension of the movie's climax (com).
ATTWN, Example 2 (one reason built upon)
The makers of the movie added several elements to the storyline in an attempt to make it more suspenseful, but these additions simply made the movie silly (BT). Fred Narracott is portrayed in the film as a sandwich loving boat driver, while the book does not give him any kind of character development (CD). Smiling with a sandwich in the opening moments does not set the proper mood for a murder mystery (com). When viewers sit down to experience a suspenseful thriller, they need to be instantly thrust into an uncomfortable scenario, not be allowed to lightly chuckle (com).

DON, Example 1 (separate reasons)
The makers of the movie added several elements to the storyline in an attempt to incorporate mild humor, but these additions simply made the movie silly (BT). The new character of the cruise director from India is first given a scene in which he bumbles through a guessing game of everyone's names, and then later he gets over-excited about finding the murder weapon that was thrown into the river (CD). The us of his over-the-top accent leads the viewer to believe that he is being used to stereotype Indians as clownish people (com). Additionally, the attempt at humor is simply not funny, instead causing the characters and viewers alike to roll their eyes at jokes that have no place in a murder mystery (com).
DON, Example 2 (one reason built upon)
The makers of the movie added several elements to the storyline in an attempt to incorporate mild humor, but these additions simply made the movie silly (BT). The new character of the cruise director from India is first given a scene in which he bumbles through a guessing game of everyone's names, and then later he gets over-excited about finding the murder weapon that was thrown into the river (CD). Death On the Nile should be a suspenseful story that makes the viewer sit on the edge of their seat, but scenes like these make them sit back and relax for a moment (com). A murder-mystery such as this should devote every moment to building suspense that comes to a climax at the moment when the murderers are revealed (com).

CONCLUDING SENTENCE: Closes the body paragraph with transitional phrasing

Examples:

-"These deletions from the original book show that..."

-"By removing these scenes from the movie..."

-"Together, these removed scenes results in..."

CONCLUSION

• Restate your thesis/position of which is better (book or movie) based on the three criteria (additions, deletions. differences) using the same or very similar terms. 1-2 SENTENCES

• Choose one of your six concrete details on which to focus as THE MOST SIGNIFICANT detail that supports your thesis/position. Explain why it is so significant/important/necessary/influential /etc. This is not just restate. You are going even further than you went with the two "coms." 3-4 SENTENCES

• Give a recommendation for people new to the story for how they should approach the book and movie (i.e. watch the movie and then read the book, watch the movie and just skip the book altogether). 1-2 SENTENCES

PERIOD 3 EXAMPLE

Bearing in mind the additions, deletions, and differences made in the movie And Then There Were None, the originalbook is far superior in its ability to tell a suspenseful story with compelling characters. Of all the ways that the movie missed the mark, the most profound mistake is the missing chapter involving Inspector Maine and Sir Thomas Legge. After all, this is a mystery story. Agatha Christie's choice to have the authorities baffled by Wargrave's master plan makes it so much more mysterious than the typical mystery novel. With Wargrave confessing at the end of the movie, it results in the standard "here's how I did it" confession that is seen so often in mystery novels and movies alike. Therefore, anyone wanting to have the true And Then There Were Noneexperience should first read the novel, and then decide if they can handle viewing the story with such a key scene omitted. Viewing the movie later definitely impacts the way a reader views the original story.

PERIOD 1 EXAMPLE

Bearing in mind the additions, deletions, and differences made in the movie, the original Death On the Nile book is far superior in its ability to tell a suspenseful story with compelling characters. Of all the ways that the movie missed the mark, the most profound mistake is the missing element of Signor Richetti. Other than Pennington, he becomes the most suspicious character-turned-red-herring. Without his murderous side plot that eventually connects with Colonel Race, the story is missing necessary mystery. Therefore, anyone wanting to have the true Death On the Nile experience should first read the novel, and then decide if they can handle viewing the story with such a key character omitted. Viewing the movie later definitely impacts the way a reader views the original story.