Assignment

Overview

You read a book called Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry. Soon after that, you saw a performance of Gathering Blue as adapted for the stage from the book. This assignment asks you to think about some of the differences between the story as written in the book and as enacted as a play on stage. Such differences might include the order of events in the plot, the inclusion or exclusion of some events or characters, the actions a character takes, or something about the environment. There are other possible examples.

For this assignment, we are going to focus on the end of the story.

Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to afford you the opportunity to make observations with regard to a work of literature and a work of live theatrical performance, to share your observations, and to write clearly and succinctly about your observations.

Instructions

In a Word document, copy the questions that appear below under "Questions". Then, after each question, provide your answer. Save the document.

Quality of Answers: Your answers should be complete, accurate, clearly written and presented, and concise. Use complete sentences.

Length of Answers: Each question specifies a range for the number of words you should use to write your answer. The range of numbers refers to your answers only.

Presentation: Use 1-inch margins on all four sides of the page, black ink and one of the following fonts: Time New Roman, Arial, or Cambria. Use font sizes 11 or 12. Use double spacing.

Assessment: Each question is worth a certain number of points as indicated in parentheses. You can gain points by following instructions; writing thoughtful, accurate, concise, and clear responses; and using full sentences.

Questions

1. Describe with succinctness and clarity two major examples of differences you notice from the end of the book as compared to the end of the play as enacted on stage. State each of the two differences in 40 to 60 words, using full sentences to communicate clearly.

First Difference (40 to 60 words):

Second Difference (40 to 60 words):

2. For each of the two differences above, use 60 to 80 words to describe how you imagined it when you read the book and before you saw the performance of the play.

First Description (60 to 80 words):

Second Description (60 to 80 words):

3. Choose one of the differences you described above and a) describe how it changed the story, b) state which version (book or play) you preferred, and c) describe why you preferred that version. Use 90 to 120 words to answer all three questions--a, b, and c--dividing up the words as you wish.

4. Describe why you think these changes were made for the stage adaptation. Write your answer using from 80 to 100 words.