Standard Lesson

"Roused by the Change of Scene": Analyzing a Film Adaptation of Jane Eyre

Grades
9 - 12
Lesson Plan Type
Standard Lesson
Estimated Time
Five 50-minute Sessions (plus additional time for students to create their adaptations)
Publisher
NCTE
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Overview

As part of their study of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, students read selected sections of the novel closely and compare their representation in the text to representations in the 2007 Masterpiece adaptation of Jane Eyre. They use the concepts of time/pacing, character, and theme to focus their analysis and to plan an adaptation of a scene of their choice.

Featured Resources

From Theory to Practice

Even highly skilled high school readers need support as they encounter longer canonical texts with challenging language and background knowledge demands.  The NCTE Policy Research Brief Reading Instruction for All Students affirms the value of exposure to complex texts and the practice of close reading, but argues for their use as part of a repertoire of “multiple approaches [and] instructional practices that call upon a variety of effective strategies” including

  • foster[ing] students’ engagement with complex texts by teaching students how different textual purposes, genres, and modes require different strategies for reading.

  • demonstrat[ing], especially at the secondary level, how digital and visual texts including multimodal and multigenre texts require different approaches to reading.

This lesson develops students’ capacity to read both print text and film closely, using the specialized vocabulary of each to consider the benefits and limitations of adaptation from one medium to another.

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

  • 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
  • 2. Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.
  • 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
  • 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
  • 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
  • 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

Materials and Technology

  • Access to a computer with Internet connectivity and projection capability

Printouts

Websites

This PBS website offers a wealth of resources related to the 2007 adaptation of Brontë’s novel.

This searchable database contains a range of teaching resources, including the streamable scenes from Jane Eyre used in this lesson.

Students can use this website to learn about the layout and terminology associated with a screenplay.

Though not written by the screenwriter for the Masterpiece adaptation of Jane Eyre, this online resource can serve as a model for students’ own screenplays and offer another view on how to adapt the text.

Preparation

  1. Read the suggested excerpts carefully and watch corresponding film clips to develop an understanding of the nature of the adaptation.  Use the Film Terminology and Cinematic Effects Handout to develop a critical vocabulary for the choices in the film adaptation.

     

  2. Make copies of the Film Terminology and Cinematic Effects HandoutJane Eyre Scene Adaptation Analysis & Planning Sheet, and Jane Eyre Film Scene Close Reading Guide.

     

  3. Make sure the video assets from the Masterpiece adaptation of Jane Eyre (First Impressions, Meeting Mr. Rochester, and The Governess) are available and playable on your school’s computers.

Student Objectives

Students will

  • develop a deeper understanding of selected excerpts through close reading activities.

  • apply specialized vocabulary from film/cinematography to describe scenes from a literary adaptation.

  • analyze how filmmakers manipulate time, alter characters and point of view, and convey theme as they adapt to film from a textual source.

  • select a scene from the novel and adapt it in ways similar to the adaptation viewed in class.

Session One

  1. Explain to students that as they read Jane Eyre, they will focus on certain scenes of the novel to study more closely and to compare with the Masterpiece film adaptation.

  2. Ask students to discuss in pairs or small groups recent book-to-film adaptations they have seen and to try to consider why filmmakers might have chosen to make the changes they did.

  3. Explain that even relatively faithful adaptations of literature have to make changes because of the of meaning-making resources/possibilities of film as compared to print text (for example. film combines images and spoken word simultaneously in a way that text, more linear and uni-modal cannot; however, film has difficulty sustaining a first person point of view that written text can do easily). For this particular lesson, students will look for ways in which the film makes changes in


    • time, with some elements condensed or deleted to expedite storytelling and with some elements drawn out to focus attention on key images or moments.

    • character and point of view, with characters exhibiting different traits or revealed in different ways and with the narrative point of view altered or emphasized differently.

    • theme, with key ideas or concepts from the book developed at different times or in different ways.

  4. Ask students to think about the changes they discussed earlier in the lesson and to consider how those fit into any of these categories. What other categories of change did they notice?

  5. Distribute copies of the Jane Eyre Scene Adaptation Analysis & Planning Sheet and point out how it provides structure for an analysis around time, character/point of view, and theme, with space for students to consider facets of adaptation beyond those categories as well.

  6. After reading Chapter 4 of the novel, have students return to the text, re-reading it and answering the relevant questions from the Jane Eyre Film Scene Close Reading Guide.

  7. Facilitate a discussion of the questions in small groups or as a full class, preparing students to view and critique the scene in adaptation.

Session Two

  1. Have students review their responses to the questions and in small groups predict how this scene might be portrayed in film.  Have them use their Jane Eyre Scene Adaptation Analysis & Planning Sheet to consider ways the film might make alterations in time, character/point of view, and/or theme.

  2. Distribute copies of the Film Terminology and Cinematic Effects Handout and go over the terms, explaining to students that they will have the chance to watch the scene multiple times, looking for what is maintained, emphasized, and changed.  Encourage them to use language from the Film Terminology and Cinematic Effects Handout to describe what they are seeing.

  3. Play the scene First Impressions and ask students to turn and talk about what they noticed, Remind students that they will get to watch the scene again, so they do not need to try to address everything  they notice on the first viewing.

  4. After students have had time to talk, play the scene again, explaining that they will jot notes on the Jane Eyre Scene Adaptation Analysis & Planning Sheet as they view this time.

  5. Facilitate a discussion of what they notice, encouraging them again to use language from the Film Terminology and Cinematic Effects Handout to explain their examples.

  6. On a projected screen, board, or chart paper, make a T-Chart that separates “Elements Altered” and “Elements Kept/Emphasized,” and record student responses to help them see how different the film, scene was from the novel passage.

  7. Ask students to discuss or write about how they think the scenes are improved or diminished in the adaptation.

  8. For homework, ask students to re-read the passage and reflect on what details and language they notice or see differently after viewing the adapted scene.

Sessions Three and Four (timed at the appropriate places in the novel)

  1. Repeat the close reading and viewing process from Session Two with other selected scenes, Meeting Mr. Rochester and The Governess.

  2. As the class works through the different scenes, support their developing understanding of how different scenes contain significant changes in different aspects of the text.  Meeting Mr. Rochester, for example, makes alterations around character traits while The Governess addresses theme more explicitly. All of the scenes alter point of view, however, since the film is not shot from exclusively from the perspective of Jane. Discuss how the different scenes adjust to that different point of view throughout the film.

Session Five

  1. After finishing the novel, brainstorm with students a list of scenes from Jane Eyre that would be interesting to adapt into film version of approximately 2-3 minutes.  Encourage students to think of scenes that would allow for a similar emphasis in adaptation as they have been studying in this lesson: either a key plot moment that they could extend or contract, a key moment for characterization or shifts in point of view, or a key moment when theme is built or developed.

  2. Form groups and invite students to select a scene, asking them to use the Jane Eyre Scene Adaptation Analysis & Planning Sheet to facilitate conversations around what would need to be adapted or changed and what would be kept and/or emphasized.

  3. Share with students students Web resources such as The Writers Store “How to Write a Screenplay” to explore the conventions for page set up and communication of intentions in a screenplay.  Students may also be interested in reviewing Moira Buffini’s Screenplay for Jane Eyre to see how another screenwriter imagined an adaptation, as well as for more practice with formatting and conventions.

  4. Give students time in and out of class to work on adapting their scene and sharing the adaptations with classmates.

Extensions

Student Assessment / Reflections

  • Ask students to write about the three adapted scenes, explaining what they feel the film adaptation improved or diminished from the text version.


  • Have students reflect through discussion on what they noticed about the text by re-reading it after viewing a film adaptation.  What new details or choices in the text stood out and why?


  • Student groups should write a reflective piece for their screenplay, answering some or all of the following questions:

    • Why did you select this particular scene to adapt?
    • What are the most important changes you made to the text through your adaptation?
    • What elements of the text were you able to convey, and which were more difficult?
    • Which elements of the text did you choose to keep and/or emphasize, and why?
    • Which elements of the text did you choose to alter or eliminate, and why?
    • What do you view as the challenges a filmmaker would face in filming your adapted screenplay?
  • Evaluate the screenplays for their creativity in using time, character/point of view, and thematic development to transform the text to a new medium.