Language in Use 71
Like Cl, this unit is concerned with the relationship between speech and writing,
but here the procedure is reversed. The class start with 'written' and
work towards 'spoken'. The aim is to show what features of a written text
require adaptation if the meaning of the text is to be conveyed in speech.
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[1] The aim of this session is to produce a number of scripts from passages in novels which can be prepared and presented in the next session. The class should work in groups and each group should choose a passage from a novel as the basis for their script. It should be eventful, and contain at least one passage which describes character. Possible kinds of script include, for radio, a narrator with actors or a dramatisation that does without a narrator; for television, a script for a small-budget production which can only use one simple set.
[2] This session should be given to preparing and presenting the scripts.
The scripts, to-ether with the passage from which they were taken, should be
circulated after the presentation. The subsequent class discussion should focus
upon the following points:
(a) the degree to which a narrator solves problems of description
(b) the ease with which voices can set and maintain tone, and convey attitudes
to an audience non-verbally
(c) the kinds of instruction put into the script to guide the performers
(d) the aspects of the passages from the novels which were lost by the need
to use voices only
(e) the ways in which the dialogue tries to indicate that the characters are
speaking spontaneously.