Arts and culture

Time allowed: 40 minutes. Write one essay in English. First read the brief introduction to the issue and the three perspectives that follow it. Essay Task: Answer the question posed in the introduction in a single, well-organized essay. Make your own perspective on the issue clear and develop it, and analyze how your perspective relates to at least one of the perspectives given (it may agree with one fully or partly, combine elements of several, or differ from all three). Support your ideas with sound reasoning and specific examples, present them in a logical order, and write in clear, correct standard written English. The position you choose does not affect how your essay is evaluated. Planning Your Essay (optional; notes are not scored): What might a film gain or lose by changing a book's story? Whom does a film version owe the most: the author, readers who love the book or viewers who have never read it? Are some parts of a story more important to keep than others?

From Page to Screen

Many popular movies and television series are based on novels, comic books or other written stories. When a book is turned into a film, the filmmakers often cut characters, combine events, move the story to a different time or place, or even change the ending. Some readers are disappointed when a favorite story appears on screen in a changed form, while others say that changes are necessary to make a good film. Should movies and television series based on books stay faithful to the original story?

Perspective One People who love a book go to its film version to see that story. When filmmakers change the plot or the ending, they disappoint loyal readers and give viewers who have never read the book a false idea of the author's work. Filmmakers who want to tell a different story should write their own.

Perspective Two A book and a film are different art forms. Long descriptions and a character's private thoughts may work on the page but fail on screen, so filmmakers should change whatever will make the best film. The book remains unchanged for anyone who wants to read it.

Perspective Three Details such as settings, minor characters and the order of events can be changed, but the heart of the story cannot. A film that keeps a book's title should keep its main characters' personalities and the meaning of its ending.