CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.7
The Standard
Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literature
What This Standard Means
Students need to compare how different performances or versions shape the meaning of the same literary work. They should notice choices in acting, staging, pacing, music, camera angles, cuts, setting, and tone, then connect those choices back to specific lines or scenes in the text.
Mastery looks like a student saying, “This version makes Hamlet seem calculating because of the pause before this line,” and backing it with evidence. Students often get stuck summarizing differences instead of explaining their effect. They may also judge which version they “liked” without tying that judgment to the source text.
Ways to Teach It
- Show two filmed versions of the same soliloquy, then have students annotate a printed script for pauses, gestures, tone, and camera choices.
- Prompt students to write: Which interpretation changes your view of one character most, and what exact performance choice causes that shift?
- Use an exit ticket asking students to name one difference between versions and explain its effect using one quoted line.
- Connect the skill to film adaptations by comparing one scene from a novel students know with the same scene in its movie version.
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.7
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Related Standards
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- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.3
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Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each med...