English 220:  Fiction into Film
Fall 2004

Analytic Essay #2

The assignment

Imagine that you are writing for the reader described in the memo “Writing with the Appropriate Reader in Mind -- Analytic Essays”.  

Briefly:  this is a reader who is open-minded but critically astute and logically demanding, and who, though originally familiar with both works you discuss, has neither read the story nor seen the film for the last several weeks, and, while interested in both works, has not had the opportunity to think through the implications of any differences between them in overall meanings and effects.  You are writing an analytical essay that must be clear and convincing to a person in this condition.  Be sure to think your way carefully through the memo linked to above, in order  

Your job is to explain your view on one of the following topics in a way that would lead that reader to adopt them as his or her own.

Option One — Contrasting Porter's "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" with Haines' film adaptation of it.:

Take one of the topics in the initial short writing assignment on the fiction and film versions of Porter's "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall."  This can be the one you originally wrote upon.  Or it can be a different one. 

Write a detailed and carefully organized essay on the topic you chose, taking care to be much more searching and systematic than was expected in the initial assignment itself.  (See below for the difference in purpose, and therefore in expected result, for the essay you'd be writing now.)

Option Two — Contrasting Porter's "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" with Haines' film adaptation of it.:

One of the reviewers of the film at Amazon.com says this: 

The story would have been nothing special were it not for the stream of consciousness technique. Instead of trying to express Granny's feelings, Haines simply gives us static reenactments of events in her past, filmed in such conventional ways that we do not get much of Granny's attitude toward how she remembers things.

What do you take to be the most important feelings on the part of Granny that Porter's story communicates?  (Be sure to indicate how, specifically, the story does this.)  In what does the importance of these feelings lie, for the overall meaning of the story as you understand it?  (Explain, please!)  Does the film make it impossible for the viewer to detect feelings on the part of Granny?  Explain how, or how not. Or does it lead us to imagine different feelings on the part of Granny than Porter's story does?

If you wish, you could focus your essay on Granny's feelings towards George.  Or you could focus your discussion on Granny's feelings towards her life and achievements in the wake of her jilting by George.  Or you could focus it on her feelings towards Cornelia. 

Option Three — Contrasting Porter's "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" with Haines' film adaptation of it.:

In your view, does Granny Weatherall come across as a more sympathetic character in one of the versions (original story, film adaptation) than in the other? 

If so, explain how exactly.  Be sure to point specifically to the features of the two works that are responsible for this divergence.

Alternatively, it may strike you that Granny is sympathetic (or unsympathetic) in both versions, but that the reasons for this are different in each case (e.g., the way in which she earns our sympathy, or alienates it, is different in the story from the way in which this happens in the film).

If so, explain precisely how the divergent characterizations you see at work are communicated -- i.e., what specific details are responsible this different kind of sympathy (or different kind of negative reaction) to the protagonist of the two versions.

Option Four — Contrasting Porter's "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" with Haines' film adaptation of it.:

Here's what one viewer of Haines' film adaptation took to be the thrust of the film:

      This adaptation of Katherine Anne Porter's story shows us the dynamics in a woman's life when she abandons her dreams and substitute them for being a work horse. A vibrant young woman's folly turns into the bitterness of an old woman still holding a grudge over the man her left her and those who died on her. What is she left with after all of these years of sacrifice?
      Such a snapshot of a woman's life give us pause to wonder about the meaning of our lives as we determine what is important. Are we to become the work horse grannies or the dutiful daughter called Cordelia[†] who is ever faithful but unappreciated. Porter's story causes us to reflect upon this and this cinematic portrayal will make you think twice about your life. This is an enjoyable presentation with a profound message about living fully.
[†] [Note:  The writer here makes an interesting slip.  The name of the character in both the film and short story is Cornelia, not Cordelia.  But the slip is quite aptly motivated:  Cordelia is the dutiful daughter (foil to her two evil sisters Goneril and Regan) in Shakespeare's play King Lear.]

If you believe this to be the thrust of the film, and if you believe that the thrust of the story is something different, you could write an essay in which you explain how this is so.  You would need to paraphrase the view above, for the film, and explain what the facts of the film are that support it.  And you'd need to state clearly what you take to be the (different) overall meaning of Porter's story, and point to the key features of the story that point the reader in that direction.

Option Five — Contrasting Walker's The Color Purple with Spiegelberg's film adaptation of it.:

In the novel, when Samuel, Corrine, their children, and Nettie arrive at the village where they are to run the mission, they are greeted with a welcoming ceremony centering on the Roof Leaf, which plays a key role in the Olinka people’s conception of their identity.  What is the gist of the story concerning the Roof Leaf that is recited in this ceremony, and what is some important part of the meaning the Olinka see in that story?

Option Six — Contrasting Walker's The Color Purple with Spiegelberg's film adaptation of it.:

What is some change that takes place in Nettie’s conception of God, in the course of the novel?  What are some factorsthat contribute to this change?  What are some important effects of this change?   Explain what you think the novel invites us to think about this change.  (How are to evaluate it:  as positive?  as negative?  How so?)  How does it relate to the change that takes place in Celie's conception of God in the course of the novel?  Why do you think Walker thought these changes (n Nettie's and Celie's religious beliefs important in connection with what you see as the larger theme of the novel as a whole?  Why do you think Spielberg decided that the film would have to dispense with developing these changes? 

Option Seven — Contrasting Walker's The Color Purple with Spiegelberg's film adaptation of it.:

Explain how Walker's portrayal of Tashi contributes to the overall theme of the novel, and why you think Spielberg decided that the film, to be effective, would have to sacrifice the novel's development of this character.  (Here are some topics you will find useful to address in engaging this question:  What are some key decisions she makes, in the novel?  What reasons does she have for doing so?  What is the reaction of Adam and Olivia to one of these decisions?   Why?  How do the issues at stake in these conflicts relate to what you take Walker to be concerned about overall in her novel?)

Additional resources

You might find it useful to review the study guide provided for two of the stories, and some of specifics (including links) pointed to in the shorter writing assignments you've done so far.

You should definitely exploit opportunities for discussion with classmates.  

Format

How long should this essay be?

Answer:  however long it needs to be in order to meet the needs and demands of the reader described in “Writing with the Appropriate Reader in Mind -- Analytic Essays”.  Remember:  you're not just "describing what you think".  You are explaining why that reader (a reader with the particular traits described in that memo) should adopt your view as his or her own.

Mechanical matters

Please type your essay or give me a print-out of text that you've put into a word processor.  

For this assignment, you may use either single or double spacing.  Use 12-point type, however.  (That's standard on most typewriters.  If you're using a wordprocessor, as you probably are, set your font to Times Roman.)  Margins should be 1-inch all around.

In the upper right-hand corner of your essay, put your name, section hour, and e-mail adress.

Honor Code Certification

At the very end of your essay, write or type, and sign, the following statement:

"On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work."

Your signature to this statement signifies that you have read and understood the K-State Honor Code.  (If there is something you do not understand in this Code, I expect you to get in touch with me to clarify it.  Contact me at lyman@ksu.edu.)  

As explained at the conclusion of this Assignment, you are authorized to use any ideas that emerge in discussion with classmates or with me.  You are not to bother with research on the web, nor are you to undertake library research.  Instead you are encouraged to practice thinking things out on your own and in discussion with others in the course.

How this writing assignment relates to the writing assignments made so far

So far there have been 6 short writing assignments in our course -- one for each of the pairs of story or novella and film adaptation of it.

In each of those the purpose was fivefold:

  1. to get students to do some focused thinking about the implications of one or more differences they noticed between the fiction original and the film adaptation while the memory of the film was still relatively fresh in their minds
  2. to stimulate discussion and reflection in the first class session after the showing of the film.  This in turn was 
    • to put each of you on a footing to offer initial ideas already reflected on (i.e., not just "off the top of your head on the spur of the moment")
    • to sharpen your curiosity about and attention to what each other might come to class having to say
    • to enable you to read the text produced by 3 or 4 others, in order (in turn) 
      • to notice a variety of imaginations at work
      • to build confidence that your own thinking and writing however tentative and uncomfortable, incorporates important achievements, and that others in class are likewise working hard (and having to work hard) to increase their skills
      • to resolve to take these assignments seriously in the future, knowing that other students will be curious to see what you have managed to come up with
    • to give us starting points for further elaboration and discovery, in order to get practice (in class discussion) in the art of follow-up curiosity (that is, curiosity on the basis of our provisional answers to earlier questions)
  3. to give you an opportunity to practice expository writing -- in particular, 
    • to practice providing specific, concrete particulars that are the basis for your overall impressions and interpretive conclusions;
    • conversely, to practice thinking about how overall meaning is controlled by choice of the particular facts of a given work; and
    • to practice organizing in a logical and systematic way the presentation of an analysis in contrast
  4. to give me a text as a basis for doing some coaching about ways you as a writer might develop your ideas further if you were writing for a different kind of audience than you were implicitly asked to be writing in the assignment itself (the kind of audience, in fact, you will be addressing in the longer writing assignments required in the course)
  5. to give you important credit for demonstrating that you have done important work required in the course as the basis for your making progress in responding with appropriate complexity and depth to works of literature and film -- i.e., for having read the assignment and seen the corresponding film.

Accordingly, on these assignments, you received full credit (10 points) for submitting a mini-essay that demonstrated that you had thought through, however tentatively and incompletely, some contrast between the two works that was the subject of the assignment.  If your answer did not address the story, or did not address the film, or made it clear that you had probably not finished the reading assignment (because you attributed to the story facts that were exclusive to the film), I returned your paper to you with no credit, but offered you an alternative opportunity to demonstrate that you have finished doing the basic reading assignment and/or arranged to see the film.

What we're calling "Analytic Essay #2" -- the assignment on the present occasion -- is of course in some ways similar to, but in other ways importantly different from these earlier writing assignments.  As in "Analytic Essay #1," here:

Once again you will be doing an analysis of some aspect of contrast between the two versions.

I will be looking for a much more searching and systematic analysis than I did in these earlier initial probes.

I want to you to show me what you've picked up, and developed further, from the various discussions you've participated in, whether as contributor or active listener, about the differences in the ways the two works you discuss play out.  These discussions include

What must be your own is the organizational strategy and phrasing of the essay you present.

You should not resort to library research, nor to research on the web (except that, of course, you are encouraged to use any resources on our course website or linked to from it).

See above, in the section on Honor Code Certification, for the requirement that certify that you have not received unauthorized aid on this assignment.

Criteria for evaluation

I will be looking over your shoulder to see how logically and completely you develop your analysis, taking into account the needs of the particular audience I have specified for this assignment.

For a succinct summary of the kinds of things experienced readers are in the habit of looking for in a sound analytic essay, see "Criteria for evaluating essays & exams".  There is also a more detailed explanation of these features of sound analysis.

  Suggestions are welcome.  Please send your comments to lyman@ksu.edu .

   Contents copyright © 2004 by Lyman A. Baker. 

Permission is granted for non-commercial educational use; all other rights reserved.

  This page last updated 30 September 2004 .