Week Nine: Pattern Recognition and Adapting Classic Texts

Publicity Photo for Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing

This week I am asking you to watch a movie adapted from a Shakespeare Play. The play is Much Ado About Nothing and the adaptation is a 2012 film by Joss Whedon. You should read the text of the play on the course resource page if you can. You can watch another film of the play (there are several) if you can't find the Whedon version. 

Here is an excellent interview with Whedon conducted by Tavi Gevinson on her Blog Magazine, Rookie. This is well worth reading and you should read it before coming to class if you want some excellent insight on Whedon's filming of the play. 

We will use our reading of the play in text and film adaptation to discuss approaches to adapting texts. We will discuss some various ways to approach some selected scenes from the play and work through some of the steps to planning adaptations of our own.  The general point of our inquiry is to explore some of the the elements of transformation of individual and specific works across mediums.

Sixth Writing Assignment: Post a discussion on your blog about an aspect of the way in which the text of Sleep Donation by Karen Russell is situated.  You can substitute a discussion of the short story, "Vampires in the Lemon Grove," if you need a shorter text to read. I am asking you to consider the work in context, and discuss just one thread of the way in which the text is connected to other works along whatever thread you have chosen,  We have been focusing on ways to read that are grounded in the ways we make or can't make connection with the work. This week we are focusing on ways to read that are founded in the modes and manners in which a particular work/event is connected to other works/events.