ABSTRACT
In this essay, Martha Stoddard Holmes explores the challenges of including film in Jane Austen courses, acknowledging that including film does not necessarily mean teaching film, except in an implicit way, with unintended messages about the relationship between novel and film. She draws on experience engaging this challenge with the help of a number of print and video resources and shares insights gleaned from working with six groups of enthusiastic students over twelve years of teaching. Her essay advocates for the benefits of using film not just as a sweetener, transitional object, supplement, or conversation starter, but also to deepen students’ ability to observe, read, and write critically and deeply. She provides practical guidance on how to scaffold film into courses that are primarily focused on literature, showing how to bring film into the classroom in a way that is integral to the process by which we teach students the skills of critical analysis of literary works.
