Angela is reading and analyzing a classical story that has been retold for children. She has identified elements of the story that are new. How could she further analyze the story to determine whether it is an adaptation?
Read the excerpt from The Metamorphoses by Ovid.The Nereids wonder at the groves, the cities, and the houses under water; dolphins get into the woods, and run against the lofty branches, and beat against the tossed oaks. The wolf swims among the sheep; the wave carries along the tawny lions; the wave carries along the tigers. Neither does the powers of his lightning-shock avail the wild boar, nor his swift legs the stag, now borne away. The wandering bird, too, having long sought for land, where it may be allowed to light, its wings failing, falls down into the sea. The boundless range of the sea had overwhelmed the hills, and the stranger waves beat against the heights of the mountains. The greatest part is carried off by the water: those whom the water spares, long fastings overcome, through scantiness of food.Read the excerpt from the adaptation "The Flood” by James Baldwin.And so when the rain began to fall, Deucalion drew from its shelter a boat which he had built for just such a time. He called fair Pyrrha, his wife, and the two sat in the boat and were floated safely on the rising waters. Day and night, day and night, I cannot tell how long, the boat drifted hither and thither. The tops of the trees were hidden by the flood, and then the hills and then the mountains; and Deucalion and Pyrrha could see nothing anywhere but water, water, water—and they knew that all the people in the land had been drowned.
Read the excerpt from "Deucalion and Pyrrha” by Carla Nappi.The man and the woman found themselves in a library. And they began opening the books. They scooped out phrases like small stones and threw them out the window. As each one landed on the ground or in the water, or as it took flight, it grew into a being that could inhabit this new world and populate its then, its now, and its to-come.First they made the past. . . .And then they opened their eyes, and made the present.He gave "a spreading wilderness of sudden waters” to the air. Each word grew liquid in a wet way that took on its character: sheets of moisture that bled out over the earth, and fogs of water that grew wild worlds inside them, and flashings of saturation. And in this way, he made the rain. (And it was a living, languaged thing.)
Why do authors often adjust elements in modern adaptations?
Read the excerpt from The Metamorphoses by Ovid. "You would suppose that men had conspired to be wicked; let all men speedily feel that vengeance which they deserve to endure, for such is my determination.” . . . .Soon as Jupiter beholds the world overflowed by liquid waters, and sees that but one man remains out of so many thousands of late, and sees that but one woman remains out of so many thousands of late, both guiltless, and both worshippers of the Gods, he disperses the clouds; and the showers being removed by the North Wind, he both lays open the earth to the heavens, and the heavens to the earth. . . .. . . [Deucalion said,] "Now the mortal race exists in us two alone. Thus it has seemed good to the Gods, and we remain as mere samples of mankind.”Read the excerpt from the adaptation "The Flood” by James Baldwin.No one but Deucalion, the son of Prometheus, was ready for such a storm. . . . Once every year he had gone to the land of the Caucasus to talk with his father, who was hanging chained to the mountain peak."The day is coming,” said Prometheus, "when Jupiter will send a flood to destroy mankind from the earth. Be sure that you are ready for it, my son.”And so when the rain began to fall, Deucalion drew from its shelter a boat which he had built for just such a time. He called fair Pyrrha, his wife, and the two sat in the boat and were floated safely on the rising waters.
What is a common element of Greek myths?
Read the excerpt from "The Flood” by James Baldwin.After that, it was only a short time until the whole country was laid bare, and the trees shook their leafy branches in the wind, and the fields were carpeted with grass and flowers more beautiful than in the days before the flood.But Deucalion and Pyrrha were very sad, for they knew that they were the only persons who were left alive in all the land. . . .And so they walked on, down the steep slope of Mount Parnassus, and as they walked they picked up the loose stones in their way and cast them over their shoulders; and strange to say, the stones which Deucalion threw sprang up as full-grown men, strong, and handsome, and brave; and the stones which Pyrrha threw sprang up as full-grown women, lovely and fair. When at last they reached the plain they found themselves at the head of a noble company of human beings, all eager to serve them.So Deucalion became their king, and he set them in homes, and taught them how to till the ground, and how to do many useful things.Read the excerpt from "Deucalion and Pyrrha” by Carla Nappi.Finally they made the future. But they pressed their backs to the windows after giving tomorrow its language, to spare themselves from knowing what would be made from "clouds of butterflies,” from "stamp on the penthouse” and "hardly all glamour,” from "not just up and down but also sideways.” From "that bullet had something to do.” From "who he was and where,” and "made of stardust,” and "scrounge through trash for materials,” and "looking for the door.” But they could hear the gentle beating of distant wings, and quiet closings, and the pulsing of blood that was where it should not have been.
Ana is comparing two adaptations of a classical text. She has determined how each author adapts the text and how the adaptations are similar. What is the next step she should take?
What is a theme in literature?
Ayla is analyzing the effects of the author’s choices in an adaptation of a Greek myth. What should she do first?
Read the excerpt from The Metamorphoses by Ovid.Then, too, as soon as it touched the lips of the God dripping with his wet beard, and being blown, sounded the bidden retreat; it was heard by all the waters both of earth and sea, and stopped all those waters by which it was heard. Now the sea again has a shore; their channels receive the full rivers; the rivers subside; the hills are seen to come forth. The ground rises, places increase in extent as the waters decrease; and after a length of time, the woods show their naked tops, and retain the mud left upon their branches.Read the excerpt from the adaptation "The Flood” by James Baldwin.After a while the rain stopped falling, and the clouds cleared away, and the blue sky and the golden sun came out overhead. Then the water began to sink very fast and to run off the land towards the sea; and early the very next day the boat was drifted high upon a mountain called Parnassus, and Deucalion and Pyrrha stepped out upon the dry land. After that, it was only a short time until the whole country was laid bare, and the trees shook their leafy branches in the wind, and the fields were carpeted with grass and flowers more beautiful than in the days before the flood.
Read the excerpt from The Metamorphoses by Ovid.Jupiter, not thinking the punishment of Lycaon sufficient to strike terror into the rest of mankind, resolves, on account of the universal corruption, to extirpate them by a universal deluge. . . .. . . The weapons forged by the hands of the Cyclops are laid aside; a different mode of punishment pleases him: to destroy mankind beneath the waves, and to let loose the rains from the whole tract of Heaven.Read the excerpt from the adaptation "The Flood” by James Baldwin."These men,” [Jupiter] said to his mighty company, "are nothing but a source of trouble. When they were good and happy, we felt afraid lest they should become greater than ourselves; and now they are so terribly wicked that we are in worse danger than before. There is only one thing to be done with them, and that is to destroy them every one.”So he sent a great rain-storm upon the earth.
Read the excerpt from "Deucalion and Pyrrha” by Ovid.Here is the worldwith its glorious lands from east to west; and here are we,an inglorious crowd of two. All else belongs to the sea.As yet, indeed, we can hardly be certain the life that we haveis safely assured. These clouds still fill me with fear and foreboding.How would you now be feeling, my poor dear love, if Ihad been lost and you had been snatched from death?Read the excerpt from the adaptation "The Flood” by James Baldwin.But Deucalion and Pyrrha were very sad, for they knew that they were the only persons who were left alive in all the land. At last they started to walk down the mountain side towards the plain, wondering what would become of them now, all alone as they were in the wide world.
Which phrase best describes an adaptation?
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