In Year 7, we have been studying adaptation from page to screen using A Series of Unfortunate Events as our text. Written by Lemony Snicket, the first book titled The Bad Beginning was published in 1999. The film, released in 2004, draws on the first three novels in the series and was directed by Brad Silberling.

After watching the film, we viewed the opening sequence, Stephano and the reptile room as well as the marriage sequence. Students took notes in a simple TEE table:

Technique + Example + Explanation

before writing triple TEEEL paragraphs to explore the use of different film features and explain their effects on the audience.

In class, we collaborated on writing sample paragraphs. The key idea that must be contained within each topic sentence are

1. opening sequence: setting and characters
2. reptile room: Count Olaf as dangerous – the plot complication
3. marriage sequence: climax and resolution – Baudelaire orphans as resourceful protagonists

Textual evidence from each TEE table can be written into sentences by reading across the table and including details in the following pattern:

Technique + Example + Explanation THEN Example + Explanation + Technique THEN Explanation + Technique + Example THEN REPEAT or change the order of this pattern so that there are a variety of different sentence starters. Sentence starters can also be checked when editing.

Putting analytical paragraphs into an extended response or essay requires an opening paragraph, or introduction, and a final summary or conclusion. These are best framed by a personal response to the question being asked:

How have the books in A Series of Unfortuante Events been adapted into film?

Your introduction should be structured according to these points (in order)

1. Thesis statement – personal response to question
2. Textual details – titile, composer, genre, form …
3. Elaborate / key ideas from text and thesis
4. Evidence and evaluation

Your conclusion should be structured according to these points (in order)

1. Re-state / re-word thesis statement or question
2. Summarise key ideas from topic sentences
3. Elaborate
4. Evaluate key idea – adaptation in this case