The book was better! Or was it? Let’s take a deep dive into fiction and film to find out how literature can successfully be transferred to the screen. How does a written symbol become a visual symbol? How is a character revealed in text and imagery? This class covers several major topics of literary analysis and film comparison, while also giving teens the opportunity to discuss the relevant real-world topics our authors and filmmakers were trying to address.
This is a fast-paced semester-long high school course in which students will read five full novels and watch the films that were based on them in a single semester.
Discussion topics include:
- Characterization
- Setting
- Symbolism
- Bildungsroman
- Social justice issues
- Current events
- YA fiction styles
- Novel vs. film structure
Required books and movies:
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give film)
- Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (Love, Simon film)
- Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game film)
- The Princess Bride by William Goldman (The Princess Bride film)
- The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants film)
Please research the above books and films carefully to make sure that this class will be a good fit for your family. We strongly advise parents to be aware of the content that their children will be viewing before signing up for this course and we encourage families to view and discuss films together.
Learning activities include regular writing to communicate ideas via the discussion forum, videos and multimedia materials to support learning, use of web 2.0 tools to illustrate new concepts, and weekly participation in live webinars. Weekly webinars are 50 minutes long. Recordings are available for students who must miss a session.
