"The Book was Better than the Movie" : A study of the relationship between literature and film in education

Abstract: This essay aims to explore the relationship between literature and film in education. A study was performed with upper secondary school students to determine their attitudes towards the two media and investigate if there were any differences in their reception of them. The results show that the students were generally more positive to films, found them easier to understand and were more able to answer closed, information-seeking questions about scenes from films than excerpts from texts. However, when it came to open questions, asking the students to reason for themselves, texts proved to provide a better basis. These results are discussed using literacy theory and the conclusion is that films can be a useful complement when teaching literature in school.