Unit 4: TEXT Transformation

1. Unit 4: TEXT Transformation LO: to understand what the outcome of this unit of work is.

2. What you will be required to do • You will choose two literary works from a selection of prescribed authors and transform them into different genres. • You will also have to provide a commentary for each transformation. • The commentary will reflect upon your work, demonstrating greater understanding of the creative process.

3. What does a ‘transformation’ mean? • You will take an aspect of theme, character, social commentary etc. that you think is relatively undeveloped or merely implied in the course text(s) and develop this within a different genre or sub-genre that is appropriate for revealing this aspect. • The idea is that the resulting transformation adds a new perspective or gives novel insight into the source text(s), whilst remaining true to the source text’s original concept and purpose.

4. You may choose to compose either Two transformations based on two single texts chosen from two of the lists of prescribed authors, plus the associated commentaries, or One combined transformation based on two single texts chosen from two of the lists of prescribed authors, plus the associated commentary. Word count: Total length of the transformation(s)= 1500-2500 words. Total length of the commentary or commentaries= 1000-2000 words.

5. Assessment objectives and weightings:

6. Transformation and Commentary • NOT a springboard!!! • The transformation must be a different genre- but there is no requirement for it to be a literary genre. • It can also be a sub-genre of a genre, eg: a prose romantic text (Hardy) could be transformed into a detective story in the style of Raymond Chandler. • The transformation must cast new light on the stimulus text- it cannot be loosely based via theme, like your previous coursework.

7. Preparation for your transformation • AQA: ‘the need to ‘apply the knowledge, understanding and insights gained from literary and linguistic studies.’

8. Writing your transformation • Your strategy should include: • Be clear in your own mind about precisely what you are trying to achieve, and maintaining a sure focus on your central purpose. • Creating a structure that will ensure a clear sense of direction or unity in your writing, and coherence to ensure that the relationships between parts or sections serve that unity of purpose. • Exercising judgement in the language choices you make: your choices of lexis and grammatical structures, and your awareness of their likely impact on readers. • Drafting your writing, so that the process of composing and improving is recognised from beginning to end.

9. Examples of modern transformations • Film adaptations of Shakespeare’s Macbeth include: • Maqbool, a 2003 Indian version of Macbeth, set in the criminal underworld of Mumbai. It includes two corrupt cops who predict Maqool’s rise and fall, echoing Shakespeare's three witches. • Macbeth 3000: This time, It’s Personal! A Canadian film released in 2005 that transforms the story into a cross between the Shakespearian play and a James Bond 007 movie. • Macbeth, a 2006 version, directed by an Australian, that places the action against the backdrop of gang warfare in Melbourne.

10. Literary transformations of Macbeth: • Light Thickens, a 1982 Inspector Alleyn mystery novel by Hngaio Marsh, which concerns the five weeks of rehearsal for a London production of the play. • Wyrd Sisters, a 1988 novel by Terry Pratchett, whose plot combines those of Macbeth and Hamlet. It is one of the many novels set in the Discworld fantasy world. • MacBeth, a 1999 Finnish comic book, adapted by Petri Hannini with artwork by Petri Hiltunen. • The Third Witch, a 2001 novel by Rebecca Reisert, told from the point of view of one of the witches in the play.

11. What is a commentary? • It should • ‘reflect upon your work, demonstrating greater understanding of the creative process.’ • focus on explaining and evaluating some of the most significant decisions and choices you made as a writer in your transformation work. • weak commentaries tend to become bogged down in description and generalisation of the sort we see in the following sentence, ‘I used mainly simple sentences so that the reader would be drawn into the action.’

12. Your commentary must explain the precise link between: • The writer’s intentions and language choices • The effects which have (or have not) been achieved. • It must also demonstrate the following: • A perceptive awareness of how structure, form and language shape the meaning in the transformation • Systematic and informed comments on a range of salient features, including lexical choice and the use of grammatical structures and particular stylistic features • Clear and assured awareness of the creative interplay between the source text and the transformation • An understanding of how the transformation achieves its own identity as a text that moves beyond the base text.

13. Your commentary will need a brief introduction so that you can establish the context of your transformation, including… • The genre and sub-genre conventions, and the implications of your transformation choices (eg: transforming an Elizabethan revenge tragedy into a 20th Century crime novel.) • The context of the transformation within the structure of the base text as a whole (eg: the opening chapter of a novel, or the final scene of the third act of a play.) • The target audience, if the transformation is aimed at a group or sub-group that differs from that of the base text. • The purpose or rationale for transforming the base text in the way you have decided, which is inevitably closely related to your choice of genre/sub-genre forms.

14. This says nothing of value and could be inaccurate. Eg: did the writer use mainly simple sentences or were there short compound sentences that the writer failed to describe accurately? If the writer did use mainly simple sentences, was this the only device employed to draw the reader into the action?