Your Task
Your project will be comprised of multiple parts that culminate in a large piece of writing. Yur task is to pitch an adaptation of Dracula to an appropriate publisher, director, film studio, comic studio, etc.; your pitch will include a formal letter that argues why you’re qualified to undertake this adaptation, why you’ve made certain rhetorical and creative choices in your adaptation, and why your adaptation will be successful. Your job is to convince the other party to take interest in your adaptation and secure future possibilities to work on this project. Your pitch will also include one adaptation artifact.
The largest portion of your project will be your pitch letter to a publisher, producer, or director. You should research a specific recipient for this letter. Examples would include film studios like Warner Brothers; directors whose aesthetics or directorial style you think would suit your vision well; comic companies; record labels; producers likely to invest in your adaptation; book publishing companies; etc.
Note: You cannot adapt a general concept of a Vampire but has to have meaningful grounding in the Dracula novel that we read. Your adaptation must be noticeably distinct from its original in some aspect of its rhetorical situation or genre.
Your pitch letter should be 5-6 pages that includes:
A cover page with your adaptation’s title.
A short introduction page with your vision and/or summary for the adaptation.
A strong, persuasive, meaningful argument with a complex claim that your reader should greenlight, publish, or fund your adaptation.
An analysis of your understanding of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, its theme, its cultural and historical context, and its rhetorical techniques; how is its claim and purpose communicated in your adaptation?
Your adaptation artifact and explain how it is associated with, inspired by, but also diverges from the original text. Explain how your adaptation conveys your stakes and purpose.
Reference at least three outside sources (not including your original text)
– These may be scholarly articles, magazine articles, interviews, statistical information (like box office figures or audience surveys), etc. that build your credibility and help you argue why your adaptation should be made.
Your adaptation artifact should showcase your actual adaptation and help persuade your audience that your adaptation will be successful. This could be the entirety of your adaptation if your genre is particularly short, like song lyrics, or it could be an excerpt, a detailed outline, a casting list, a prop, a scene from a screenplay, a graphic novel’s concept art, a cookbook, a web series, etc. Be creative here! Again, your artifact should differ in some substantial way, or at least rhetorically, from your original text.
Your final draft will include your pitch letter and your adaptation artifact.
Your Rhetorical Situation/Audience:
You will choose your own publisher for your adaptation, but across the board, your letters should be formal, business-professional in tone. Your artifacts will vary in rhetorical situation based on the genre of your adaptation, your intended audience, your purpose, and the context of your adaptation. These elements, while they’re your choice, should be consistent.
Format:
Your letter should be formatted like a business letter, but with full MLA citations. This will
include in-text citations as well as a Works Cited page. Your letter should be in Times New Roman,
12 pt font, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins.
