Adaptation: Literature, Film and Society

Strategies

How to Read a Comic

One may first think that this step is unnecessary, that I am not expecting enough of my students.  However, there are many details regarding reading a comic.  The first step is to look at the general structure of the comic – how it is laid out.  The vocabulary such as panel, frame, speech bubble, and gutter, among others, will be pointed out as we go through a page from The Walking Dead comics.  “Pages are meant to be read from left to right and in a "z-like" pattern — you read the rows as they're tiered and make your way down a page.”³⁶ The website Read, Write, Think has many invaluable resources that I have used or modified during my teaching career.  For this unit, I was able to find vocabulary terms for the comics, with visual examples for angles, layout and design, and text containers.  These are the vocabulary terms that were previously explained.  These will be of great help to my students as we preview these first before delving into actual comic pages from The Walking Dead’s first issues. In doing so, we will practice what we have learned together as a whole group.  I believe we will do this in pairs so that there is the comfort of a colleague – students discovering the information together. 

How to Read A Film

The National Archives has a variety of document analysis guides for students to use when they read and analyze a document. Specifically, I have modified the Motion Picture Analysis Worksheet for my students to use so that it incorporates the details of what I learned in the seminar to help them better understand the films and also to reflect the Common Core standards that I want them to achieve. The second section, Viewing, has two components (B) in which students check off the physical components of the film such as music, narration, special effects, color, live action, background noise, animation, and dramatization and  (C), in which it has students look at cinematic features such as camera lighting, music, narration, and/or editing that contribute to the atmosphere of the film. Additionally, there will be a section that reflects/has them write down what they want to share with others in the class discussions as I am also trying to have them develop their speaking skills. For this unit, I have also found another graphic organizer that might be good to use with my students.  It is specific for the cinematic and theatrical elements and their effects.  This one focuses more on the actual filming of the piece, and it is divided into five parts:  One – Framing, Angles, and Camera Movement; Two – Editing Choices and Length of Takes; Three – Soundtrack and Music; Four – Color and Lighting; and Five – Theatrical Elements.  I imagine this particular graphic organizer to be very helpful as students first carefully read the film or its specific elements, going back to them, and being able to apply what we have learned in class. Then they will look at the bigger picture, asking what this all means with regard to the characters and their actions. 

Collaborative Learning/Groupwork

Students need to learn how to work together to accomplish goals – those set by the teacher and themselves. This is a basic requirement for many positions or jobs that they will hold in the future. Working together, relying on each other helps to build team-working skills. This strategy is somewhat challenging for us in that there are two groups of students at three different high schools. For the intense conversations that follow, and the readings of important concepts such as gender, race, or religion, a facilitator must be certain that there is a strong sense of camaraderie, trust, and willingness to work with and listen to others in the group. In collaborative learning, each group member is accountable to each other member. They are dependent upon one another and each one contributes the established goals. Everyone has some strength to share.³⁷  Together, more is accomplished. Opportunities to learn about each other before and while working help to promote the collegiality and cohesiveness necessary to work well together. Individual and group evaluations are necessary to monitor the group’s work (product) and their progress as a team. Additionally, this strategy will serve us well as we will be working within the time constraints of the 30-minute “skinny block”.