Grade 7 · Story Craft and Voice · Comparing Versions
Comparing a Text and Its Audio or Film Version
Compare how two media present one scene.
Learning objectives
- Compare how two media present one scene
- Explain what sound or image adds
- Judge which version conveys theme better
AERO English Language Arts alignment
AERO.ELA.7.RL.7
Compare and contrast a written text with an audio, filmed, staged or illustrated version, analysing what each medium adds or leaves out. Grade 7 / MYP 2 emphasis: work independently with two related texts and explain how a writer's choices create effects.
AERO.ELA.7.RL.5
Analyse how an author's choices about structure, including the ordering of events and the shaping of a stanza, chapter or scene, contribute to meaning and effect. Grade 7 / MYP 2 emphasis: work independently with two related texts and explain how a writer's choices create effects.
AERO.ELA.7.RL.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a literary text and analyse its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary. Grade 7 / MYP 2 emphasis: work independently with two related texts and explain how a writer's choices create effects.
MYP criteria
- Criterion A — Analysing
- Criterion B — Organizing
ENGAGE
One Scene, Different Experience
Imagine a scene in which a student tries to recover an important page beside the mangroves. On the page, you can read the student’s thoughts and control your reading pace. In an audio or film version, music, sound effects, camera angles and pauses may guide your response. However, an adaptation can also leave out details from the original. In this lesson, you will compare two versions of one scene and judge how effectively each version communicates its theme.
Think about it
- What can sound reveal that written description cannot?
- Which details might disappear when a scene is adapted?
EXPLORE
Read and Compare the Two Versions
Version 1: Written narrative
At first light, Mariam reached the wooden lookout beside the mangroves north of Doha. Her class had spent a week recording birds, but the wind had scattered their final observation sheets. One page clung to the highest step. Below, shallow water flashed silver between dark roots. “Leave it,” called Hamad. “The tide is turning.” Mariam stopped. A heron lifted from the reeds, beating its wings slowly. She remembered their project question: How do small choices protect a place? Instead of climbing, she took the long-handled litter picker from the equipment box. The page slipped free, sailed once and landed near the water. Mariam stretched, caught its corner and drew it back. Only then did she notice a plastic bag trapped among the roots. She removed that too. On the walk back, no one spoke for a moment. Then Hamad held open the specimen folder. Their missing evidence had returned, but the lesson felt larger than the project.
Version 2: Audio adaptation script
[Strong wind; paper flaps.] HAMAD, urgently: Leave it! The tide is turning. [A heron calls. The wind becomes quieter.] MARIAM, softly: Small choices protect a place. [A metal handle slides from a box. Water moves among the roots.] HAMAD: You caught the page! [Plastic rustles.] MARIAM: And something else. [Footsteps begin. After a long pause, a folder opens.] NARRATOR: They returned with their evidence—and a larger lesson.
Think about it
- Which thoughts or details appear only in the written narrative?
- How does the pause near the end of the audio version affect its structure?
- What shared theme is communicated by both versions?
EXPLAIN
How to Compare Media Choices
Begin with what stays the same. Both versions include Mariam, Hamad, the missing page, the plastic bag and the mangrove setting. Both order the main events in the same way: warning, decision, recovery, discovery and reflection. This shared sequence builds the theme that responsible choices can protect a place.
Identify what each medium adds
- Writing can give precise description, inner thoughts and background information.
- Audio can add volume, tone of voice, silence, music and environmental sounds.
- Film can add facial expressions, movement, colour, lighting, framing and camera distance.
- Each choice directs your attention and shapes your emotional response.
| Feature | Written version | Audio version | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setting | Describes silver water and dark roots | Uses wind and moving-water sounds | The writing creates a visual contrast; the audio makes the place feel immediate. |
| Mariam’s decision | Explains what she remembers | Lets her repeat the project question softly | Both reveal her motivation, but in different ways. |
| Ending | States that the lesson feels larger | Adds a long pause before the folder opens | The pause gives the audience time to reflect. |
Do not only list differences
A strong comparison explains the effect of a choice. Instead of writing “The audio has wind”, explain how the urgent wind sound increases tension before Mariam acts.
Analyse structure
Structure means how parts are selected and ordered. The written version slows the decision by describing the heron and Mariam’s memory. The audio version shortens this moment but uses changing wind and a quiet voice. At the end, both versions delay the final lesson until after the action. This ordering moves the audience from a small problem—the missing page—to the wider idea of caring for the environment.
Make a supported judgement
Choose the version that conveys the theme more effectively, name a specific technique and explain its effect. A fair judgement can also recognise one strength of the other version.
MYP_PRACTICE
Build a Comparative Response
Write one organised paragraph comparing how the written and audio versions present Mariam’s choice. Explain what each medium adds or leaves out, analyse how the ending is structured, and judge which version communicates the environmental theme more effectively. Support every main point with a precise detail.
- State one important similarity between the versions.
- Select one written technique, such as inner thought, description or event order.
- Select one audio technique, such as sound, vocal tone or silence.
- Explain how each technique affects the audience’s understanding of the theme.
- Finish with a balanced judgement about which version is more effective and why.
EXIT_TICKET
Before you close this lesson
Think about it
- What did the audio version add, and how did that addition affect you?
- Which version conveyed the theme better? Give one precise reason.
Interactive practice · media comparison grid
From Evidence to Judgement
Use the grid and sentence frames to plan a focused comparative paragraph. Include evidence from both versions, analyse one structural choice and end with a justified judgement.
Rows to complete
Check your answer
Task
Complete each row before drafting your paragraph.
Sentence frames
Your answer
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Key vocabulary
- medium
- The form used to communicate a story or idea.
- adaptation
- A version changed to suit a different form.
- structure
- The way a text’s parts are selected and arranged.
- theme
- A meaningful idea explored throughout a text.
Practice questions
0/3 correct
Level 1 · Criterion A
Which feature appears only in the written version?
Level 2 · Criterion A
What is the strongest effect of the urgent wind and flapping paper at the beginning of the audio version?
Level 3 · Criterion A
Which comparison most effectively analyses what the audio version adds?
MYP criterion tasks
Level 2 · Criterion B
How does the ordering of events help develop the theme?
Level 3 · Criterion B
Judge which version conveys the theme more effectively. Organise your answer as a claim, evidence, explanation and balanced conclusion.
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