Audio Books vs. Printed Books

1. Audio Books vs. Printed Books How to adapt a printed text to audio

2. Warm-up Group Discussion • Have you ever listened to an audio book? • In your opinion, who would be interested in listening to an audio book? What is its target audience? • What are the advantages and disadvantages of listening to a book instead of reading it? • Which do you prefer: printed or audio books?

3. Let’s compare journals • What are for Irwin some of the differences between listening to an audio book as compared to reading a regular printed book? Think about characteristics, advantages/disadvantages, time constraints, audiences, etc. • What are some of thechoices the author believes must be made concerning the performance of an audio book?

4. Irwin’s “Audio Books vs. Printed Books” • Think about the way your parents used to read to you when you were young. What made it so interesting? Performance

5. Irwin’s “Audio Books vs. Printed Books” • “Audio book performers often perform different and distinct voices for different characters” (362). • “The clearest substantial difference between listening to na audio book and silently reading a book is that the audio book imposes a kind of interpretation on the text that is not your own” (363). • “With audio books, the performer’s interpretation is simply a matter of sound and emphasis” (id). • “The reader is like an actor playing a role, necessarily changing and interpreting to some degree even though the words remain the same” (id). • “Audio books are not performed in the way we would read a book out loud to ourselves” (id). → AUDIENCE

6. Irwin’s “Audio Books vs. Printed Books” • Important things to consider: • “The quality of the performer’s voice and his/her talent in doing character voices adds to the experience” (363). • “For some, a straight reading may be best;for others, a single narrator doing multiple voices for different characters; for others, a full scale production with different actors giving different voices. For some productions, ambient music may enhance the experience; for other texts music might be intrusive” (366).

7. Sample 1 • Read the first text in your handout. • Listen to its audio book version. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXFI12206A0 • Jot down some ideas about of the reader’s inflection and interpretation. • What are some differences between the written and audio texts that you can perceive? Discuss with a partner.

8. Sample 2 • Read the second text in your handout. • Listen to its audio book version. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNeoBxwCSrU • Jot down some ideas about of the reader’s inflection and interpretation. • What are some differences between the written and audio texts that you can perceive? Discuss with a partner.

9. In-class production • Read the first paragraph in your handout and think about ways to adapt it to audio. • Jot down some ideas about how you would make this text more suitable to an aural audience. • Read it to a partner. • Comment on your partner’s reading: how effective was it? Did you get all the meaning? Was your partner’s elocution good? What could have been different?

10. In-class production • Read the second paragraph in your handout and think about ways to adapt it to audio. • Jot down some ideas about how you would make this text more suitable to an aural audience. • Read it to a partner. • Comment on your partner’s reading: how effective was it? Did you get all the meaning? Was your partner’s elocution good? What could have been different? • Which reading was better: the first or the second? Why?