Olivia Manke 12-5-13 B1

The Heart of the Mystery: Summative Writing Task

The book, The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is very similar and very different to the movie, The Hound of the Baskervilles, directed by David Attwood, in its plot, characters, and theme. Though they are the same story the movie could not do some of the things that the book could do. The director of the movie had to leave some things out of the movie and add other things in their places. When the book was written it was not written to be made into a movie. The plot of the movie and the book had many similarities and differences. In the book, Laura Lyons was the one who sent the note to Sir Charles to meet at the gate. In the movie there was no Laura Lyons. Instead there was Mrs. Stapleton, who was in both the movie and the book, but only sent the note to Sir Charles in the movie. In the movie there were other things in place of the scenes that could not happen in it. For example, in the book the story began with Holmes and Watson in their home. In the movie the story begins with the autopsy of Sir Charles. They did this because it made the story more interesting and gives it a better beginning to grab the attention of the watchers. It also helps introduce the story easier. Along with the plot, the characters and their development are similar and different. In the movie, as noted above, there is no one named Laura Lyons. In the book, Laura Lyons is the one who invites Sir Charles to meet her at the moor gate. The movie has no need for Laura Lyons. She would cause more problems to the movie making process than she would be helpful to it. At the end of the movie Mrs. Stapleton dies, but in the book she is found tied, so swathed and muffled in the sheets which had been used to secure [her] that one could not for a moment tell whether [she] was that of a man or a woman. (Doyle 205) Sherlock Holmes is consistent in both.

Olivia Manke 12-5-13 B1

He notices much more than others in both the movie and the book. He looks at the painting of Hugo Baskerville and sees not only, Sir Henry, but notices Stapleton in the painting as well. Holmes notices things that other people do not, [his] eyes have been trained to examine faces and not there trimmings. It is the first quality of a criminal investigator that he should see through a disguise.(187) Like the characters, the theme similarities and differences in the movie and the book. In the movie the theme is more creepy and thrilling. In the book it is mysterious and suspenseful. The theme in the movie is shown by the music and lighting. These are two things that the book does not have. The book has other ways of showing the theme, such as, the voice and diction of the author. He uses phrases about the moor, describing it as dark against the evening sky, a long gloomy curve broken by the jagged and sinister hills. (76) The movie is able to show the scenes while the book must describe it with figurative language and imagery. In the end, the book, The Hound of the Baskervilles, as well as the movie, The Hound of the Baskervilles, are similar and different in many ways. Both have plot, characters, and theme, though they show it in very different ways. The movie is able to show things the book cannot and the book gives you a bigger idea of the story. References Attwood, David, dir. The Hound of the Baskervilles. British Broadcasting Corporation, 2002. Film Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Hound of the Baskervilles. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1959. Print.

Olivia Manke 12-5-13 B1