Objective: Explore the use of figurative and hyperbolic language in storytelling. Compare text to film medium.
Materials: Sample passage from The Princess Bride
Audio Clip of a Sports Broadcast
Video Clip The Princess Bride
1. Independent Reading
2. Introduce figurative and hyperbolic language, using examples from everyday life. Together, listen to the audio clip and ask students to help make a tally of the figurative words and phrases used. Write some common expressions on the board (i.e. he "blew up" at the group) and compare the literal meaning of the phrase to the figurative meaning intended.
3.Identify examples in The Princess Bride. In pairs, ask students to highlight all the examples of figurative or hyperbolic language in their (photocopied) text, and replace them with words and phrases chosen by the students, "madlibs" style. Examples can be shared in class.
3. Show the video clip, asking students to compare their textual images of Buttercup and Westley with their portrayal in film. Are they similar? Are some details exaggerated? What details are different from the text or the film, and why?
4. Ask students to write a response (about 1/2 a page) about literature translated into film. What are the advantages and disadvantages of telling a story visually? What do they think of The Princess Bride film so far? This journal should be finished for class tomorrow.
