Lesson plan:

Narrative: transferring book to screen

This episode of Round the Twist, like most, provides a useful way of comparing the changes which occur when a short story is adapted for a television program. This episode is based on the story "The Gum Leaf War" in Unbelievable by Paul Jennings. Read the story first and then watch the video episode.

As a whole class

View the episode. Discuss the ways in which the story has been adapted to fit in with the Round the Twist series. Specific points to examine are:

• the changes to the plot (for example the cause of the accident)
• the changes to some of the characters (Grandfather McFuddy becomes Grandmother)
• how thoughts in the written version are translated into actions in the filmed version.

Themes

This episode provides a useful way of introducing the concept of theme in narratives. Early in the episode Linda says "Its what's inside that counts. It doesn't matter what people look like."

Discuss whether Linda's subsequent behaviour and her dream indicate that she really believes this? Encourage students to share their own views on the importance or otherwise of physical appearances.

Camera: point of view

The trolley and operating theatre scenes at the beginning provide a useful illustration of the use of point of view in film and television.

After watching, replay these scenes and examine how they create the impression of Linda's point of view. Look at the physical positioning of the camera and the sequence of close-ups. Ask students to suggest how the shots would have been changed in order to create the impression of another character's point of view.

Story derivation

The Gum Leaf War draws heavily on a range of well-known traditional Australian texts and conventions. It is therefore useful in showing how texts draw on existing texts for ideas and storylines.

As a whole class

After watching read the poems "Said Hanrahan" by John O'Brien and "The Fire at Ross's Farm" by Henry Lawson and discuss the way in which the writers of the episode have drawn on the ideas in these poems.

Narrative conflict

This episode can be used to develop understandings about narrative conflicts.

Class discussion

Identify the various conflicts developed in the episode. How is each conflict resolved? Is a feud a conflict? Discuss some famous feuds from literature and history.