Answer:
Many films are based on novels. However, each of them uses different ways to tell the similar
stories. The paper discusses the differences from several aspects in terms of their nature, ways of narration, as well
as the effect they bring about. It mainly focuses on the special benefits of using films in English language teaching.
Finally, a sample film-based activity which could be used to enhance language classroom is illustrated.
Key words: novels; films; English language teaching
In the twentieth century, there are two culturally dominant ways of experiencing fiction available to us: the
visual forms of film and the prose forms of novel (Montgomery, et al., 1992, p. 191). Indeed, these two different
media have gained millions of fans all over the world. Many literary masterpieces have been represented through
films. Victor Fleming’s Gone with the Wind (1939), Ann Lee’s Sense and Sensibility (1995), Joe Wright’s Pride
and Prejudice (2005) are all based on novels. Quite often, people like to compare the novel with the film that tells
the same story, and many people are inclined to agree with the opinion that films could hardly defeat the novels in
telling the same story. Presumably, on one hand, this is mainly because of the fact that it is the novel that
introduces the story to the readers first. Therefore, whatever the author writes in the story occupies the readers’
mind and become the only “correct” way of telling a certain story. On the other hand, the paper conceives that the
differences between novels and films by their very nature decide that these two forms of media will never create
the same effects on presenting stories.
Explanation:
