Porter's "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" and the Randa Haines adaptation of it
Short Writing Assignment
Bring this to class on the Wednesday after we've viewed the film.
Come to class  with a short essay on one of the following topics:

(1) Describe in as careful detail as possible the several occasions on which George shows up in the film.  For at least one of these, explain how the film indicates to the audience that we must be dealing with a dream or daydream on the part of Granny.  And, for this same incident, explain how what Granny says and how George reacts contributes to the characterization of Granny -- i.e., to our sense of what is going on in her at the moment and what this indicates about the person she has become.

(2) One of the features of the story that the film undertakes to dramatize is a certain friction between Granny Weatherall and her daughter Cornelia.  What are a couple of scenes in the film in which this shows up.  How does Granny behave?  How does the film portray Cornelia's reaction?   Now describe a couple of the ways the story exhibits conflict between Granny Weatherall and her daughter Cornelia.  What is it about the perspective from which the story is told that makes it necessary for the reader to infer what Cornelia's reaction is?  (How would Porter have had to change the personality of Granny if the story were to have included concrete details of Cornelia's responses while keeping to the stream of consciousness that marks the story as Porter wrote it?) 
  • Can we nevertheless infer what is probably the way Granny's behavior impacts Cornelia?  If so, say as specifically as you can what you thought, as you read the story, was probably the way Cornelia reacted on one of these occasions. 
  • Alternatively:  is there an occasion in which Granny's exasperation with Cornelia is kept completely private?   What does this occasion contribute to the characterization of Granny in the story?  Does the film take up this private "fight," too?

(3) What are a couple or three ways in which the story indicates that Granny must subconsciously be aware that she may be soon headed for death?  How does the story indicate that Granny refuses to admit this awareness into her conscious mind?  What are a couple or three facts by which the film indirectly indicates that Granny is subconsciously aware, during her daily activities, that it is quite possible that she is soon going to die?

(4) What does the story cast in the role of the climactic moment of the plot?  What episode, in the film, is assigned this role?  Does the way in which the two stories provide context for Granny's blowing out the candle lead the audience to the same understanding of the possible larger significance of this act?  Explain.

Bring your final draft with you to class.  It should be typed or printed out.  Shoot for at least a half-page, single-spaced.

Expect to show it to 2 or 3 other students in your section, as the basis for small-group discussions that will then be the basis for whole-class discussion at the end of the hour.