Lights, Camera, Fiction: From Books to Hollywood
Movie Ratings and Permission Slip for Viewing
This class is designed to make analysis fun! Students will be reading a minimum of two short stories or one
novella each week. Additionally, two novels will issued as outside reading, the first being due as a midterm, and
the second as a final for the class. Following the reading of each piece, the movie adaptation will be viewed in
class. The class will then analyze each via discussion and written essays. Due to the elective nature of this class,
selections have been chosen specifically to target the teen audience. Additionally, these stories and their movie
adaptations are ideal to generate both the joy of reading and illicit critical thinking and analytical skills. Five of
the movies are rated R, eleven are rated PG or PG-13 and three are rated G. The R movies that we will be watching
are important to the course. If you have any problems with your child reading any of the material or seeing any of
these movies please call the guidance office to request a schedule change. The course material follows:
Week One- Two:
I. Introduction to Fiction
A. Review the Elements of Fiction:
1. Freytag’s Pyramid
2. Types of Conflict
3. Characterization
4. Universal Themes
B. Review Elements of Drama
II. Assignment of Novel One – Jurassic Park
III. Read Short Story One: “It Had to be Murder” by Cornell Woolrich
IV. View Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window starring Grace Kelly and James Stewart,
1954, PG
V. View Disturbia starring Shia LeBeauf and directed by D.J. Caruso, 2007, PG13.
VI. Critical discussion.
VII. Look at models of Critical Analysis Writings.
VIII. Direct instruction on how to write a Critical Analysis paper.
IV. Write critical analysis comparing and contrasting the three pieces.
Week Three (Sci-Fi):
I. Read “The Sentinel” by Arthur C. Clarke
II. View 2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by Stanley Kubrick, 1968, G.
III. Read “Supertoys Last All Summer Long” by Brian Aldiss.
IV. View A.I. Artificial Intelligence, directed by Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick, 2001, PG13.
V. Critical Discussion and Critical Analysis Paper – due the following week.
Week Four(Sci-Fi):
I. Read “Minority Report” by Philip K. Dick.
II. View Minority Report, directed by Steven Spielberg, 2002, PG13.
III. Read “Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa” by W.P. Kinsella.
IV. View Field of Dreams, directed by Phil Alden Robinson, 1989, PG.
V. Critical Discussion and Critical Analysis Paper – due the following week.
Week Five (Novel One – Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton):
I. Discussion of Novel One
II. Viewing of Novel One’s movie adaptation. PG13.
III. Midterm – Write major critical analysis comparing and contrasting Novel One to its movie
counterpart.
Week Six (Children’s Lit):
I. Read “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak.
II. View Where the Wild Things Are, directed by Spike Jonze, 2009, PG.
III. Read “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss
IV. View How the Grinch Stole Christmas, directed by Ron Howard, 2000, PG.
V. Critical Discussion and Critical Analysis Paper – due the following week.
VI. Assignment of Novel Two – The Firm by John Grisham
Week Seven (Stephen King Literature):
I. Read the novella, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King. (96 pages)
II. View The Shawshank Redemption, directed by Frank Darabont, 1994, R.
III. Critical Discussion and Critical Analysis Paper – due the following week.
Week Eight (Stephen King Literature):
I. Read “Fall from Innocence: The Body” by Stephen King (182 pages)
II. View Stand by Me, directed by Rob Reiner, 1986, R.
III. Critical Discussion and Critical Analysis Paper – due the following week.
Week Nine (Suspense)
I. Read “Momento Mori” by Jonathan Nolan.
II. View Momento, directed by Christoper Nolan, 2000, R.
III. Read “The Birds” by Daphne DuMaurier
IV. View The Birds, directed byAlfred Hitchcock, 1963, PG13.
V. Critical Discussion and Critical Analysis Paper – due the following week.
Week Ten (The Classics)
I. Read “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving.
II. View Sleepy Hollow, directed by Tim Burton, 1999, R.
III. Read “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
IV. View The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, directed by David Fincher, 2008, PG13.
V. Critical Discussion and Critical Analysis Paper – due the following week.
Week Eleven (Novel Two- The Firm by John Grisham)
I. Discussion of Novel Two
II. Viewing of Novel Two’s movie adaptation. R.
III. Final – Write major critical analysis comparing and contrasting Novel Two to its movie
counterpart.
Week Twelve (It’s Christmas!):
I. Read “Red Ryder Nails the Hammond Kid” by Jean Shepherd
II. View A Christmas Story, directed by Bob Clark, 1983, PG.
III. Read “The Polar Express” by Chris Van Allsburg.
IV. View The Polar Express, directed by Robert Zemeckis, 2004, G.
V. Critical Discussion and Critical Analysis
Date
Dear Parents/Guardians,
During the course of the 2010-2011 school year movies listed below will be shown in full or as excerpts to
enhance the class curriculum of Lights, Camera, Fiction: From Books to Hollywood.
Rowan County Senior High School requires parental permission for your student to view movies that are
used in curriculum, or selected by teachers, which are rated PG-13 or R.
Movies, along with hands-on activities such as reading, in-class discussion groups, and research projects,
give students a well-rounded opportunity to discover the world of critical analysis. This skill is necessary for
successful participation in the world beyond high school. This class allows students to build and strengthen
these skills in a medium in which students are familiar and engaged in innovative ways that the core content
classes’ specialized curriculums do not allow. St
Be assured that we will use proper discretion when showing these movies.
Thank you for taking the time to read and sign this permission form.
Sincerely,
________________________
_________________________
_________________________
Kay M. Hedrick /Instructor
Debbie Howes, Principal
Penny Alderman, Asst. Principal
Student Name___________________________________________________________________
____ Yes, I approve my child’s viewing of the movies listed above.
____No, I do not approve of my child’s viewing of the movies listed above. Please reassign my
student to a different class.
Guardian signature/date___________________________________________________________