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

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?

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 the choices the author believes must be made concerning the performance of an audio book?

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?

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

Irwin’s “Audio Books vs. Printed Books” Important things to consider: 1)“The quality of the performer’s voice and his/her talent in doing character voices adds to the experience” (363). 2)“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).

Sample 1 Read the first text in your handout. Listen to its audio book version. 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.

Sample 2 Read the second text in your handout. Listen to its audio book version. 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.

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?

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?