Monday, January 27, 2014
Blog 6: Readicide
Are you good with swapping out Of Mice and Men for Twilight,
for example? Or Macbeth for Hunger Games?
While I may not necessarily be the biggest fan of Macbeth or Hamlet, other books taught in English classes like Of Mice and Men and Catcher in the Rye were books that I will treasure forever as they
not only proved to be engaging, interesting books but they also taught me
numerous lessons about literature and life in general. If schools were to trade
these books in for more 21st century type books like Twilight and The Hunger Games, I think that a lot would be lost in a sense that
students will no longer grasp hold of the same life knowledge learned through
these classic stories. I suppose The Hunger
Games may serve to teach lessons about endurance and faith, but only on the
surface whereas the lessons about companionship, betrayal, self-worth, etc.
that are taught through the classic stories go deep into the heart and soul of
the novel and require understanding of language, style and literary elements.
These are the kind of books that further our ability to understand the world
around us and prepare us for the trials and tribulations that come throughout
life. They have some element of moral and/ or virtue that make the stories worth
reading. These classic stories also have some realistic qualities to them as
the experiences and challenges faced by Holden Caulfield relate to numerous
people on many different levels. The
Hunger Games and Twilight, on the
other hand, are stories set in completely unrealistic societies where the
characters face unrealistic situations that cannot be applied to modern day
life- that is unless you plan on fighting people to the death or transforming
into a blood sucking vampire (which is highly unlikely). All in all, when it
comes to sticking with the classics or trading in for the recent stuff, I say
stick with the classics. They serve far more purpose in preparing students for
life than Katniss Everdeen and Edward Cullen ever will.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Blog 4: Book Number One Overview
I believe I mentioned this in a previous post but just as a reminder, I read Veronica Roth's Divergent for my first book and after completing it, I have to say that I am extremely satisfied with my decision. Not only was the book full of adventure and plot twists, but the characters and overall story line was very well developed and the writing itself was above average. I also was a fan of the budding relationship between Tris and Tobias and could not stop reading in anticipation of what might happen next. I highly recommend this book and I plan on continuing the series, hopefully reading both the second and the third book. I also am looking forward to the movie which won't be coming out for a while but seems to be promising thus far from the quality of the actors chosen to play the characters and the short snippets of information that come out regarding the film. In general, I am really happy with this book and my decision to read it and I can't wait to see what happens next as the series continues.
Blog 5: Adapting My Book
The book that I am reading is Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick. In general, the book seems like it would be pretty easy to transform into a movie in that the overall story line is fairly basic. The story itself is realistic as it recounts the life of Pat Peoples, who has spent the past four years in a mental instutions, and his journey in gaining his life back and finding peace with his situation. Being such a realistic story, recreating it through film, in my mind, would not be very challenging. There are some scenes, however, that could be somewhat difficult to remake in that they encompass numerous aspects that are sometimes better understood through writing than through acting. I also think that it would be difficult to keep the same format as the book which is journal entries. The book tells Pat's story through his own writing about his day to day life. It would be hard to do this in a film in that there are so many days to account for and while some days are essential to the plot, others are probably not as necessary and would not make as much sense in a film version.
One of the days that I see as important to the story is the day that Pat first came home from the mental institution. This scene sets the basis of the story by providing information about not only Pat and his current state but also about his family and the way they view him. In this scene the audience is able to grasp the understanding that Pat is very unstable due to the "apart time" he is having from his wife Nikki. Though the audience does not know much about that situation, they do know that whatever happened between Nikki and Pat was significant enough to send Pat to a mental institution and cause him to be extremely emotionally unstable and constantly anxious. The audience also sees that while Pat's mother and brother are very welcoming upon his returning, his father, on the other hand, is not at all happy to see his son and instead keeps to himself, not even speaking to Pat. This would need to be incorporated in the film because it lays out all the major details needed in order to understand the rest of the story.
Another scene that is crutial to the story is the scene where Pat and his father start interacting. As previously described, Pat's father is somewhat ashamed of his son and of the fact that he was in a mental institution so when he finally starts reaching out to Pat, it becomes a major moment in the story. Throughout the story, the only time the audience sees any interaction betwen Pat and his father is during Eagles football games as that is one passion that they share. Even then, however, communication is minimal and returns to non existent as soon as the game comes to a finish. At one point, however, Pat's father starts leaving the sports section of the newspaper under the basement door for Pat everyday. While this may seem small and insignificant, this moment changes Pat in that it gives him a glimmer of hope that his relationship with his father can be restored. I think this scene would need to be kept in the story because the story is all about Pat and his relationships with numerous people and the relationship he has with his father is one of the most important relationships in the story.
Lastly, I think that the scene where Pat gets into a fight at the Eagles football game tailgate is important to the story. This scene is very extensive in that a lot goes on. While it starts off normal with Pat socializing with his brother's freinds, things start to go astray when a man enters wearing a Giant's jersey. A fight breaks out and when the man starts going after Pat's brother, Pat steps in to defend his family member. Pat ends up knocking the man cold in front of not only a huge audience but also in front of the man's son. This causes Pat to have an emotional breakdown because he is guilty for what he has done and he is worried that Nikki will be dissapointed in his actions. It is important though because it shows how much Pat cares about his family and proves that he would do anything to help them, even if it means upsetting Nikki.
Two things that I think would need to be cut are some of the days where not much happens as well as the whole journal/ diary entry format. As I mentioned before the story is told through Pat's journal entries, however, many of the entries are somewhat insignificant to the overall story line. I think that in creating the film the director would need to go through and cut many of the days where all that happens are minor events such as Pat going on a run with Tiffany or watching a game with his brother. I also think that it would be difficult to keep the diary entry format because while in book form it is enteratining and engaging, in a film that is only two hours it would be hard to keep the audience hooked if every three or four minutes the story was jumping to a new day. I think that instead the director should combine multiple diary entires into just a few days and that way the story line would be easier to follow.
One of the days that I see as important to the story is the day that Pat first came home from the mental institution. This scene sets the basis of the story by providing information about not only Pat and his current state but also about his family and the way they view him. In this scene the audience is able to grasp the understanding that Pat is very unstable due to the "apart time" he is having from his wife Nikki. Though the audience does not know much about that situation, they do know that whatever happened between Nikki and Pat was significant enough to send Pat to a mental institution and cause him to be extremely emotionally unstable and constantly anxious. The audience also sees that while Pat's mother and brother are very welcoming upon his returning, his father, on the other hand, is not at all happy to see his son and instead keeps to himself, not even speaking to Pat. This would need to be incorporated in the film because it lays out all the major details needed in order to understand the rest of the story.
Another scene that is crutial to the story is the scene where Pat and his father start interacting. As previously described, Pat's father is somewhat ashamed of his son and of the fact that he was in a mental institution so when he finally starts reaching out to Pat, it becomes a major moment in the story. Throughout the story, the only time the audience sees any interaction betwen Pat and his father is during Eagles football games as that is one passion that they share. Even then, however, communication is minimal and returns to non existent as soon as the game comes to a finish. At one point, however, Pat's father starts leaving the sports section of the newspaper under the basement door for Pat everyday. While this may seem small and insignificant, this moment changes Pat in that it gives him a glimmer of hope that his relationship with his father can be restored. I think this scene would need to be kept in the story because the story is all about Pat and his relationships with numerous people and the relationship he has with his father is one of the most important relationships in the story.
Lastly, I think that the scene where Pat gets into a fight at the Eagles football game tailgate is important to the story. This scene is very extensive in that a lot goes on. While it starts off normal with Pat socializing with his brother's freinds, things start to go astray when a man enters wearing a Giant's jersey. A fight breaks out and when the man starts going after Pat's brother, Pat steps in to defend his family member. Pat ends up knocking the man cold in front of not only a huge audience but also in front of the man's son. This causes Pat to have an emotional breakdown because he is guilty for what he has done and he is worried that Nikki will be dissapointed in his actions. It is important though because it shows how much Pat cares about his family and proves that he would do anything to help them, even if it means upsetting Nikki.
Two things that I think would need to be cut are some of the days where not much happens as well as the whole journal/ diary entry format. As I mentioned before the story is told through Pat's journal entries, however, many of the entries are somewhat insignificant to the overall story line. I think that in creating the film the director would need to go through and cut many of the days where all that happens are minor events such as Pat going on a run with Tiffany or watching a game with his brother. I also think that it would be difficult to keep the diary entry format because while in book form it is enteratining and engaging, in a film that is only two hours it would be hard to keep the audience hooked if every three or four minutes the story was jumping to a new day. I think that instead the director should combine multiple diary entires into just a few days and that way the story line would be easier to follow.
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