Books Turned Movies: Its Effect to Literary Appreciation of Students

A Library Paper Presented to the Faculty of the

College of Liberal Arts, English Department

Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Subject English Proficiency 2

By

Abuan, Mary Jude Marby Faith

Corpuz, Alexandria Jirah

Mamangon, Joyce Merniel

Ramos, Erine Marella

March 2013
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Acknowledgement

A library paper like this is never the work of anyone alone. Apart from the efforts
of our group members, the success of this project depends on the encouragements and
supports of many people. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all people who
have given their effort and time to make this research project become possible.

First and foremost, we thank God for the knowledge, guidance, and
perseverance that he has been bestowed upon us in making this research project. We
could never have done this without the faith and love we have in him.

Second, we would like to express our deep gratitude to our Professor, Dr. Rissa
P. Asuncion, PhD. for reading and checking our research every meeting. It could not
have been completed without her professional assistance, sustained diligence,
suggestions, and motivations for this research. We also would like to thank her for
showing examples related to our project. We are lucky to have a professor like her who
cared so much about our research. Aside from the research specifics she imparted to
us, she taught us a lot of essential things that will be useful in different stages of our life.
She inspired us to work well especially for us to become future researchers and
hopefully to become successful doctors.

Finally, we would like to offer our special thanks to our families and friends for
inspiring us, for our stressful moments that they’ve catered to our needs. Thanks to
them for understanding us and giving us their endless love and encouragement that we
can complete this project. Without their support, we would face many difficulties in doing
this.

Our heartfelt thank you!

The Researchers
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Table of Contents

Title Page ……………………………………………………………………………….. iv

Acknowledgment ……………………………………………………………………….. v
Outline …………………………………………………………………………………… vii

I. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………… 1
A. Definition of Literary Appreciation ……………………………………………. 1
B. Stages of Literary Appreciation ………………………………………………. 2
C. Development of Literary Appreciation ……………………………………….. 4

II. Importance of the Study …………………………………………………………… 6

III. Importance of Books to Teenagers ………………………………………………. 7

A. Popular Books for Teenagers ………………………………………………… 7

IV. Importance of Movies to Teenagers ……………………………………………… 9

A. Book-based movies ……………………………………………………………. 10

V. Film Adaptation ……………………………………………………………………… 13

A. Movie Reviews ………………………………………………………………….. 13
B. Effects of Movie Adaptation to Literary Appreciation ……………………….. 17

VI. Positive and Negative Effects of Novels Turned Movies to Literary Appreciation
of Students ……………………………………………………………………………… 20

Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………. 24
Recommendation ………………………………………………………………………. 25
Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………. 26
Curriculum Vitae ……………………………………………………………………….. 29
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Outline

Thesis Statement

Novels provide entertainment to readers as much as movies to movie-goers.

With boundless technological advancements in cinematography and special effects in
the present generation, great novels are now transferred on screen drawing more
teenagers to watch is as well as influencing other teenagers to read the original novel.
However, watching the film is just watching someone else' comprehension of the novel.
It hobbles the ability of teenage readers to process their own understanding (or
imagination) of the novel because a much better version is already in their screens with
vivid effects and graphics. Many agree that the book must be read first before watching
its movie, for the readers to know the original ideas of the story and even the story itself,
developing the literary appreciation and skills of teenage readers.

I. Introduction

A. Definition of Literary Appreciation

B. Stages of Literary Appreciation
C. Development of Literary Appreciation

II. Importance of the Study

A. To teenagers
B. To literature teachers
C. To future researchers

III. Importance of Books to Teenagers

A. Popular books for teenagers

IV. Importance of Movies to Teenagers

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A. Book-based movies

V. Film Adaptation

A. Movie reviews
B. Effects of movie adaptations to literary appreciation

VI. Positive and negative effects of novels turned movies to literary appreciation
of students

Conclusion

Recommendation

Bibliography
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I. Introduction

Novels provide entertainment to readers as much as movies to movie-goers.

With boundless technological advancements in cinematography and special effects in
the present generation, great novels are now transferred on screen drawing more
teenagers to watch is as well as influencing other teenagers to read the original novel.
However, watching the film is just watching someone else' comprehension of the novel.
It hobbles the ability of teenage readers to process their own understanding (or
imagination) of the novel because a much better version is already in their screens with
vivid effects and graphics. Many agree that the book must be read first before watching
its movie, for the readers to know the original ideas of the story and even the story itself,
developing the literary appreciation and skills of teenage readers.

A. Literary Appreciation

Literary Appreciation is simply the ability to understand, enjoy and evaluate

works of literature. Evaluate here means to make judgment about the quality or value of

literary work. It is the understanding and mastery of the form and content of a literary

work.

Ogenlewe (2006) posits that “literary appreciation refers to the evaluation of

works of imaginative literature as an intellectual or academic exercise.” In this process

the reader interprets, evaluates or classifies a literary work with a view to determining

the artistic merits or demerits or such a work. Literary appreciation focuses on the

adequate grasp of the definitions and applications of traditional literary devices which

may be encountered within texts. The appreciation of literature is almost unanimously

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considered to be an important part of both language learning and a good education in

general.

B. Stages in Literary Appreciation

The only explanation that can sufficiently take into consideration the preferences

of the students, are the different stages of development and their level of literary

appreciation.

According to Donelson and Nilsen (2009), literary appreciation occurs in seven

stages.

Level 1: Pleasure and Profit (literary appreciation is a social experience)

Level 2: Decoding (literacy is developed)

Level 3: Lose yourself (reading becomes a means of escaping)

Level 4: Find yourself (discovering identity)

Level 5: Venture beyond self (‘going beyond me’, assessing the world around

them)

Level 6: Variety in reading (reads widely and discusses experiences with peers)

Level 7: Aesthetic purposes (avid reader, appreciates the artistic value of

reading)

Margaret Early proposes five stages of growth in literary appreciation:

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Level 1: Understanding that Pleasure and Profit Come from Literature (Ages 0-5)

The main concept in this stage is that of interaction. Children take pleasure in

listening to and singing nursery rhymes, songs and trying to make sense out of the

depictions in the children’s books. They prefer to be accompanied by an adult who

supports them while they are watching, reading or singing. Adults should look after their

children, it is important that they are aware of the need for communication. Through

social interaction, children are introduced to the pleasures of reading.

Level 2: Learning to Read (Decode) (Ages 6-8)

At this stage, a child is trying to understand what literature means only by

themselves. They have experience enjoyment in reading and able to make sense out of

the different codes, symbols, and convections. And if they fail to understand those, they

will show no interest of reading the book again.

Level 3: Losing Oneself in a Story (Ages 9-11)

Children at this stage are becoming imaginative. They begin to model their

actions based on the characters in the story or even imagining the stories. They

become interested in reading material that appeals to them, reasoning for some children

to get influenced by the stories they are reading.

Level 4: Finding Oneself in a Story (Ages 12-14)

As they reached the beginning of adolescence period, they read to escape

experiences through the literature of other people. They begin to discriminate in

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selecting books that they like. The story is needed to be more realistic because

teenagers prefer believable characters. Moreover, they question character moves and

they become more interested to the characters that has relevance with them.

Level 5: Venturing Beyond Self (Ages 15-18)

The focus of the teens is no longer on learning to read but on responding and

talking about what they read, assessing and going beyond the text. Furthermore, they

try to make sense of the social structure and ‘explore issues surrounding conformity,

social pressures, justice and other human frailties and strength.

Margaret Early’s stages of growth in literary appreciation determines that the

personal attitudes, reading and observing skills are all part of literary appreciation.

Stages which readers go through are added unto without dropping the previous stages.

Thus, literary appreciation is a lifelong process. However, occasionally students are ill-

equipped to handle transition from childhood literature to adolescent literature and fail at

establishing literary appreciation. This may occur as a result of a student’s late or early

cognitive maturity.

C. Development of Literary Appreciation

Appleyard’s states that

The adolescent has become what the juvenile was not, an observer and evaluator of self and

others, so it is an easy step from involvement in the story to reflecting about it. For adolescents,

one of the most important criteria for judging a book’s quality is whether it makes them think
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about themselves and the world. In this way, the exploration of literature can be linked to

personal growth and development.

The younger readers usually judge stories according to their realism and tend to

believe in them as accurate representations of the world, adolescents start to discern

different points of view and ways of feeling and become aware of a need for evaluation.

Adolescents start developing an awareness of their own thoughts and feelings

while reading, and think about the storyline, the characters, their motives, and feelings

solely in relation to their own personality. It is important to take into account that

“reflecting about the story” is an essentially personalize phenomenon for them. Their

reactions to stories are usually characterized by some ways like subjective evaluations,

emphasis on feeling and more.

Literature is a representative art. The reader untaught in technique judges

literature from the point of view of material. A reader likes a piece because the content

pleases him. But in addition to the appreciation of content, there is an appreciation of

technique which is capable of cultivation.

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II. Importance of the Study

This section will provide brief description on the various significances of the study

given the three categories teenagers, literature teachers and future researchers.

A. To Teenagers. The proposed study will allow them to understand and assess the

effects of watching book-based movies and enhance their skills in appreciating

literature. It will inspire them to be media creators, not just consumers. By

reading a novel, conducting a video project, and watching the movie, students

can improve their language competence in a holistic and highly satisfying

manner.

B. To literature teachers. The study will serve as an aid for teachers in instructing

their students on the positive and negative effects of novels that have been made

into movies. Teachers can use movies as a springboard for subsequent literary

analysis of characters, setting, plot, etc. Moreover, watching movies in

conjunction with reading books enables comparative analysis between the two

which will enable them to guide their students in understanding what literature is.

C. To future researchers.This research will benefit the future researchers as

reference and for further development of this study.

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III. Importance of Books to Teenagers

Different types of books abound that deeply encourages reading. Not only can

reading enhance creativity in a teenager, but it can also broaden one’s knowledge

especially when school activities such as essay writing, story writing, and other literary-

based skills are given to students. As the storyline are etched onto the reader’s minds,

ideas will flow more easily because the students already have a grasp of the

construction and stringing of words in a particular sentence as well as the adaption of a

plot.

Shao Fen quoted in Tanshiying (www.createdebate.com) “reading improves our

emotional quotient (EQ) and it is very important in allowing us to learn to understand

where other people are coming from and makes us better people.”

A. Popular Books for Teenagers

Goodreads Choice Awards conducted an online poll. With over a million of

voters, the winners for the Goodreads Choice Awards 2012 are the following:

 Best Young Adult Fiction Book: Fault in Our Stars by John Green

 Best Young Adult Fantasy Book: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Amazon announced the top ten online bestselling books of 2012. The following

appears on the list below.

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1. The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

2. The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney

3. Insurgent by Veronica Roth

4. The Serpent’s Shadow by Rick Riordan

5. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

6. City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

7. While it Lasts by Abbi Glines

8. The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

9. Wonder by R. J. Palacio

10. Nevermore: The Final Maximum Ride Adventure by James Patterson

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IV. Importance of Movies to Teenagers

In a FILMCLUB Press Release (2006), the survey found that teenagers who

watch films regularly visit the cinema more often than those adults who do not. In

addition, watching films at an early age increases the cinema attendance of people

when they grow up.

There are some examples in which movies impact our lives:

Increases social skills

Teenagers are exposed to various cultures and it helps them to make new

friends, they allow even unknown people to mingle with each other.Their opinions about

movies help in socialization through conversation and debate.

Relieves stress

Aside from the main purpose of movies which is to entertain, movies also

enhance an individual’s mental health. They enable people to take time to relax and

momentarily forget about problems.

To Educate

When watching educational movies, individuals can learn any new vocabulary

and therefore enhance their knowledge. Documentaries provide educational benefits. A

historical film gives vital data about how life was in the past.

To Inspire
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There are movies that may make people cry, sing, laugh, or make one a better

person. Films inspire one to be brave, clever, insightful, loyal and positive, along with

other virtues.

Movies have certain disadvantage aside from the above benefits. The common

disadvantage of watching movies is that they are time consuming and Increases

incidences of violence. Teenagers can make their own movie that can help them

develop critical thinking, social, technical and artistic skills.

A. Book-Based Movies

When a film is made from a book it is called adaptation. Film producers hope that

the popularity of a novel will ensure popularity of the film. Adaptations of books vary

from being very faithful to the book to being loosely based on the book (www.kvenno.is).

Like any film that gets made, there has to be a remarkable convergence of

elements, an idea, screenplay, creative team, onscreen talent and, most critically,

financing. If the underlying property is a book, the chances of the other elements falling

into place are typically a function of the success of the book. But a successful book is

not sufficient by itself because a great many more people likely need to buy tickets than

bought the book itself to justify a large budget (Stiffelman, 2011).

People have been fanatic about books and movies since they both have been

around. Despite this, there have been many famous books adapted into movies. Some
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people say that film adaptation ruins the book based on it, as they are not original

version. Lovers of book need to accept that movie adaptations, even bad ones can help

gain books recognition with those who no longer finding books entertaining enough

(Mandell, 2012).

There have been many successful movie versions of books; one good example

is the Lord of the Rings set of movies that raised the quality of the original story by

simply being well-made movies. Originally published in 1954, it took 47 years for

filmmakers to adapt it but the wait was clearly worth it as the films received 17 academy

awards and reported earnings of $2.91 billion (Rees, 2010). Another successful

adaptation of a book is the Harry Potter series, which has seen its seventh book being

turned into two movies; the jury is still out on whether the films will surpass the books in

popularity, but it is apparent that they have made billions of dollars, made J.K Rowling

one of the wealthiest women in the world and encouraged a large chunk of the

population to read the books.

Corliss, Schickel, Grossman, and Luscombe (2005) studied the 5 book- based

movies and found that the winners are either the book or movies itself.

Memoirs of a Geisha -- Winner: Movie

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe-- Winner: Book

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -- Winner: Movie

The Ice Harvest -- Winner: It's a Tie

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Pride and Prejudice-- Winner: Book

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V. Film Adaptation

Adaptation is an introduction to an audience’s perception and as such, film

adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a movie (artandpopularculture.com).

Stated in an online article by Florida International University [FIU], popular film is the

result of applying cinematography to a work of fiction, or fact that has been famous for

the readers long before the film was thought of. Novel and film both serve the same

purpose which is to narrate, or recount, a series of events.

An adaptation is always an interpretation, involving somebody’s personal views

of the book and choices of the elements to retain, change, remove, or reproduce. In

adaptating a book, some things have to be left out and some have to be added for the

movie to be more effective on screen (www.kvenno.is).

A. Movie Reviews

A movie review is an honest and specific opinion about a film one has seen, and

is supported by familiarity with its context (Danesco, 2013). In his article, “How to Write

a Film Review,” Danesco gave out certain steps on how to give movie reviews.

1. After you have selected your movie, be familiar with its context
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This includes doing a background check on the director, screenplay,

actors and actresses in the movie. Knowing this adds more insight into the

story element.

2. After you see the movie, formulate a specific opinion in one sentence

The opinion made will be the foundation of the whole movie review.

3. Create a good lead

To catch the reader’s attention, one may start with the a quote from the

movie, a description of an intense scene, or an explanation of one’s

expectation.

4. Recap briefly but don’t give away anything big

Telling the premise of the movie is a must however, one must not include

the intense parts as well as the ending for it will give away the essence of

the movie review.

5. Back up your main opinion with specifics

Talk about the specifics and compare the film with the book. This will

make the readers understand the reviewer’s point of view.

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6. Be interesting

7. Be honest in your appraisal

An example of a movie review by David Denby (2012)

Suzanne Collins’s “The Hunger Games” (the first book in a best-selling young-adult

trilogy) is a sensational piece of pop primitivism. Years ago,it was post-apocalypse

already when a virtuous commoners rose up, unsuccessfully, against their decadent

rulers, and they’ve been both cosseted and terrorized ever since by a yearly lottery in

which two teens from each of twelve districts are selected, trained, and turned into

media stars. They are then set loose in a controlled wilderness, where they must survive

hunger and one another, until only one of them is left alive. The survivor will bring home

to his district both glory and food, and everyone, rich and poor, watches the events on

television.

Her idea seems to be derived from the bloodier Greek myths and Roman gladiatorial

contests. Collins’s strategy of putting girls and boys (some as young as twelve) at the

center of a deadly struggle adds tense, nasty excitement to the old tales and tawdry TV

rituals she draws on.Collins understands her audience well, and she can write. Her first-

person narrator, KatnissEverdeen, who hails from a shabby coal-mining area, is a tough,

resourceful girl, a huntress who protects her family.

As for the casts, Jennifer Lawrence demonstrated a convincing strength in some of her

other movies while in “The Hunger Games,” as Katniss, she is more dynamic. She has a

lightly burnished copper complexion, and when she’s still, there’s something luminous,

slightly otherworldly about her. Her gravity and her steady gaze make her a fine heroine.
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Nineteen-year-old Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, the other competitor from Katniss’s

district, who adores her; he has a lost look, an engaging not-quite-handsomeness. In

true young-adult-fiction style, Katniss has a second admirer—stalwart, gentle Gale,

played by Liam Hemsworth. Among the adults, Stanley Tucci and Elizabeth Banks,

wearing enormous wigs, camp it up as the rulers.

But the rest of “The Hunger Games” is pretty much a disaster. Disjointed, muffled, and

even, at times, boring. Collins herself labored on the script, along with Gary Ross and

Billy Ray, the directors. Working with the cinematographer Tom Stern, Ross shoots in a

style that I have come to despise. A handheld camera whips nervously from one angle to

another; the fragments are then jammed together without any regard for space. You feel

like you’ve been tossed into a washing machine. Even when two people are just talking

calmly, Ross jerks the camera around. As the sense of danger increases, he has nothing

to build toward. Visually, he’s already gone over the top. And the action itself is a

thrashing, incoherent blur—kids tumbling on the ground or wrestling with each other.

Katniss stalks various kids with her bow and arrow, but she kills only one intentionally—a

domineering sadist—and you don’t see the arrow hit him; you don’t even see him fall.

Ross consistently drains away all the tensions built into the grisly story. The growing

wariness and suspicion that each teenager must feel as the number of those still alive

begins to diminish, or the horror that some of them experience as they commit murder.

The camera rushes through the wilderness, but, in the end, the movie looks less like a

fight to the death than like a scavenger hunt. Katniss is always finding something useful

in a tree or lying on the ground.

“The Hunger Games” is a prime example of commercial hypocrisy. The filmmakers bait

kids with a cruel idea, but they can’t risk being too intense or too graphic, the books are

more explicit. After a while, we get the point: because children are the principal
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audience, the picture needs a PG-13 rating. The result is an evasive, baffling, unexciting

production—anything but a classic.Maybe the reason for its success is simple: it makes

teens feel both victimized and important.

B. Effects of Movie Adaptations to Literary Appreciation

Literature is magical in that it stimulates the reader to use the power of their

imagination in that it places the readers in a defined reality. Writers take time in focusing

on characters and plot to ensure that these will be memorable for the reader. When

studios attempt to adapt literature, they are like forcing themselves into a secluded

place. Audiences of the new generation have lower attention span and thus a movie

must move fast such that scenes that were originally in the book have to be edited to

improve the pacing. These details and scenes might not be of great importance to the

film but they are to the world of literature. With regard to novels, these minor particulars

are what build and add character to the structure and plot of the book (Peters, 2008).

A good film requires careful attention, just as does a good novel but it’s quite

different in movies because it can provoke one into the world of movement through

editing. Fiction requires a visual imagery registering in one’s mind through the phrases,

sentences, words, dialogues written (Green, 2007). Quoting the same author,

Our imaginations then have to finish the job the writer has started. We have to mentally transform

the words, phrases, and sentences into the "actions" or "thoughts" or "emotions" of the "characters"

we agree are being brought to a kind of life. (Films, of course, do this work for us.) And we have to

keep straight the way in which the characters and their actions are being presented to us in a
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particular sort of formal arrangement, an arrangement that is again mostly a phenomenon of our

mental engagement with the text. Sometimes--as in some modernist and postmodernist fiction--this

formal arrangement overrides our immediate connection to the characters and the actions and has

to be processed before we can even comprehend the characters and actions.

Alan Pulverness (2001) pointed out that novels are adapted for the screen in three

ways. The first is the literal translation where the film-maker tries to render the novel as

faithfully as possible; the second adaptation is reinterpretation wherein changes are

done not just superficially but the novel was also given additional and different

interpretations; and the third adaptation is the imitation in which the novel serves as an

inspiration and springboard for a movie that may be loosely based on it.

While the three types are used in many different ways, it is the faithful translation

that complement’s most of student’s reading of a novel as well as the one that poses

the most problems. A faithful translation sticks close to the original since the similarities

are close to the descriptions on the novel. However, it is the one-to-one relationship

between the books’ narration and the reader that makes reading a novel a personal

experience. Compared with the movie adaptation, the effects of language are used to

reach out to viewers. (Pulverness, 2001).

The problem with faithful translation suggests that a film adaptation is bound to

suffer diminishment if it would appear to basically simplify the novel. But students of the

21st century have an advantage and familiarity with film for they grew up in a visual

culture and they develop an ability to ‘read’ films. It is through this ability that students

enhance their appreciation for literature- the original novel- and gain the opportunity to

consider film adaptations as independent texts that have their own style and
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interpretation that are different from the book it is based on as well as their own

(Pulverness, 2001).
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VI. Positive and Negative Effects of Novels Turned Movies to

Literary Appreciation of Students

According to Barrett (2001), books to movies are a literacy link. In the age of

heightened films, cable televisions, and video sales, the society’s appetite for stories

keep growing. As such, filmmakers took advantage of this appetite and made countless

of book adaptations into movies that are well-loved and enjoyed by most teenagers

around the world. However for books, especially those that have been made into

movies, one must realize that one half of the book belongs to author, and the other half

to the reader. It is the author who gives the words, the settings, the time, the characters,

and the technicalities of the novel but it is the reader who controls the visual

interpretation of the novel, who gives appearance and life to the characters, and one

who expands the aspects of the book. Pulverson (2001) stated that literary texts provide

a vein of raw material which is already tested: stories which work and are popular, and

offer the ‘respectability’ conferred by the notion of 'literature' in itself, as well as the

cache of certain writers.

Reading activates parts of the brain that would otherwise remain dormant, even

when watching films, or television. It stimulates the brain and helps keep it active and

improves concentration, memory, and the confidence to deal with a wide range of

situations and discuss a variety of topics (London, 2013). Reading also increases

vocabulary level, improves writing skills, and deepens a reader’s comprehension (Terry,

2013). Reading is a physically passive activity for it does not require much movement
 26

conversely, it is an active mental activity, keeping the brain working. Books easily

convey things to the reader that are much difficult for films to express such as a

background history of the characters, history and nature of the character’s relationships,

and even what the characters are thinking (Christensen, 2013). A movie, on the other

hand is a passive activity in itself because everything is laid out for the viewer. The

sights, sounds, story, and plot are all given out to them to just watch (London, 2013).

Imagination is the keyword to every reader. Films and books are two entirely

different medium of literature and yet both are linked to one another in entertaining and

informing an individual. Films leave little to the viewer’s imagination especially in the

advent of high-end technology that creates vivid visual and audio graphics. The process

of imagining and interpreting while reading is a creative process that is involved in

developing one’s literary appreciation, and is distinctly different from viewing a film

(Christensen, 2013).

Turning books into movies give a concrete identity to the novel, apart from its

identity as a novel in itself. Real faces are put to characters; dialogues are more

effective, appealing, and striking; concrete actions are shown; the setting complexity-

that is often overlooked in a book- appears; and the plot visually unfolds before one’s

eyes (Rebekah, 2012) but those things would not suffice to reach the depths of a reader

in ways a book would (Albano 2011). The ability to think freely would be limited because

the vision of the story is directly on screen, thus making the mind lazy. Literary

appreciation will not be achieved if one possesses the lack of knowledge about the way

the literature is written, if one fails to read and wholly place oneself in the story, and if
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one fails to analyze what certain element of the book made it appealing such that it had

to become a movie (Terry, 2013).

Christensen pointed out that interpretation is also a ground for differences with

the effects of books made into movies. No two persons have the same interpretation for

every literary material given to them so in the end, no director would fully satisfy a

reader’s expectation and interpretation of the book. Each person creates a mental

version while reading a book and no film version can live up to everyone’s mental vision

(2013).

In a survey posted in answerbag.com, a member who goes by the name Former

Member answered that book-based movies and the original books are what define a

reader. Everything that one reads becomes a part of him or her. Learning something

new or feeling a new emotion is mostly brought by the books, through the significant

marks they leave on one’s mind firstly before movies do. To a lesser degree, the

respective movies also have the same effects.

Online forums such as frihost.com, targetstudy.com, createdebate.com, and

answerbag.com contain questions and answers from vocal teenagers regarding

whether a book should be read first before watching its movie adaptation or vice versa.

The answers are all a mix of both and one cannot completely say that books should be

read first, or that movies should be seen first because every teenager has his/ her own

preferences to reading and viewing.

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In Charlotte Philby’s article in The Independent, Kaui Hart Hemmings, the author

of The Descendants, gave her opinion about her book that has been made into a movie.

There have been benefits and one of those was that her book has been read and

reviewed by more people, and e-mails have been sent to her saying that they loved the

book and they never would have had it not been for the movie. Movies give second

chances to the ‘quiet’ books (2012).

Literary professor Addie Albano notes that more adolescent readers are flocking

to the cinemas to watch the movies only after they have read its counterpart novel. Over

the past ten years, the literary world has erupted with massive readers of popular novels

such as “The Twilight Saga,” “Harry Potter,” “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” and “Hunger

Games” while the cinema world has made these into best-selling films. As a result of

these booming movies, hesitant readers willingly take on thick novels without complaint

just to allow themselves to understand it before participating in the hype of the movie.

This develops within a teenager the love for reading and the unconscious knowledge

that books present better versions than that of their movie counterparts (2013).

In conclusion, no book and movie would ever be alike because it cannot be. On

screen, showing is more important than on the book which is telling (Harris, 2012).

There are clearly many aspects of the novel that cannot be replicated in the cinema and

there are clearly many aspects that only the cinema can offer (Pulverness, 2001). Each

of these aspects becomes a part of the reader and it is the reader who determines the

limit of their appreciation for the differences in the film and in the novel.
 29

Conclusion

Literary appreciation, as defined by Ogenlewe (2006), is the evaluation of works

of imaginative literature and the ability to understand and enjoy it. There are stages an

individual must go through in developing one’s skills for literary appreciation and these

will not be done without the actual exposure to forms of literature-books- as well as the

changes brought to it by the changing times.

With the demand for by a fast-paced, highly technological culture, books have

been made into films and are called book-based movies. These are adaptations which

are suited for 2-4 hours of viewing for audiences.

Books and their films have their separate identity, element, and charm however,

they are same in that they have the same narrative purpose and that is to tell a story. It

is the interpretation of the readers and the filmmakers that create a divide on the quality

of the book and movie with regard to the viewer and/or the reader.

Through the research, it can be concluded that book-based movies have certain

positive and negative effects on the literary appreciation of students. Books and their

respective movies are made too differently. In general, these two mediums are forever

linked through the reality of popular culture but will forever be separated by the idea of

imagination.
 30

Recommendation

This library paper entitled Books Turned Movies: Its Effect to Literary

Appreciation of Students discusses literary appreciation, books, movies, their

adaptations and their overall effects to teenagers. These recommendations are then

suggested:

Teenagers should be more active themselves in seeking more information through

books and grabbing the opportunity to read them thus enhancing their skills. In doing

this, they not only show that books give knowledge, but also books are still important

and are a handy tool in this advanced generation full of computers and ‘instants’.

Literature teachers should use innovative techniques that will build a balanced

opinion of students on book-based movies such that they will think of the movies as a

different form that is not superior, nor inferior to the book, but rather still based on it

(Pulverson, 2001).

Future researchers should utilize and find more sources, not only online, but also

published works. Difficulty to find paper-back versions of movie reviews accounts for the

lack of book sources in this library paper. Enhancement of each introductory part before

diving on to the specifics is also recommended to the researchers who wish to continue

this work.
 31

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