Fairy Tales 2010

Into the Woods and Fables: Are they Fairy Tales? What parts of the fairy tale tradition are kept?

2010-04-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

The blog this week, which should still be written on the same schedule as always, and will be discussed on Friday, is a response to the viewing of Sondheim's Into the Woods and Willingham's Fables. How do these two interact with the fairy tale tradition? What do they keep? What do they leave out? What does this reflect about the times in which they were produced?

Read an additional literary fairy tale from "Spells of Enchantment". In what ways is it a fairy tale?

2010-04-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

You're free to look at any of the fairy tales in the book. Be sure and look up the author in the brief biographical notes starting on page 791 to learn something about the context of the author and the fairy tale itself.

Magic and Storytelling in Kunstmärchen - What makes it a fairy tale?

2010-04-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

Think about the roles that magic and story telling play in the two texts we are reading this week. What is important for calling these stories "fairy tales"?

What do the Iron Hans stories tell us about the education of boys to men?

2010-04-01T21:04:00.000-07:00

This week we are looking at Iron Hans/Wild Man stories. What do the various versions tell us about how boys are taught to be men? What is valued?

Snow White Variations

2010-03-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

This week, select one character from the Snow White story and trace significant changes through a couple of variations, either textual or filmic. The Queen? The Woodsman? Snow White herself? A dwarf or two? You choose.

Respond to one of the versions of Bluebeard that we have read or seen this week

2010-03-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

For this week, write a response to one of the versions of Bluebeard we've read. What stands out to you? What is most interesting?

Dear Disney

2010-03-10T12:56:00.001-08:00

As mentioned in the email, here is a link to the discussion about an upcoming Disney movie.

Dear Disney

What do you think? Feel free to comment here on this post.

Happy Spring Break!

Jessica

Beauty and the Beast and their inlaws: Why does this story have parents? (Click for more information)

2010-02-24T07:22:00.000-08:00

Even though the discussions of these stories of transformation tend to focus on the changes that the beauty or the beast go through - there is hardly a version out there that doesn't involve the parents of one or both of the figures. What kinds of different roles do the parents play in these tales, and how do they change the story?

Video Interpretations: Little Red Riding Hood. Find one on YouTube, include it in your post, and explain what is interesting about it!

2010-02-16T06:11:00.000-08:00

You can either include the link to the video, (here's the how to)

or embed it

Here is a link on how to embed a video:

Remember, not all of you have to find a new clip - if you want to interpret one that someone else found first, that's fine - but be sure and take a look around and see what's out there!

The brother as bird: animal or human? Somewhere in between? (Click link to see full prompt)

2010-02-08T14:47:00.000-08:00

The transformation of the brother into a bird and back into a boy is important to the story of The Juniper Tree, but leaves a lot of questions. Where does he fall on a scale between totally human and totally animal? What about his song? And how can he come back from the dead? How does this transformation compare to others we've read about?

Open Blog - Respond to what interests you in what we've been reading.

2010-02-01T13:36:00.000-08:00

Since we're covering so much material right now, just respond to whatever idea or theme in the reading is the most interesting to you. Has there been something you've really wanted to write about that hasn't quite fit in the previous topics? Now's your chance to get it off your chest!

Cinderella and Donkeyskin - Do they belong together?

2010-01-25T07:54:00.000-08:00

This week, engage Maria Tatar's argument that "Cinderella" stories and
"Donkeyskin" stories should be studied together. Draw upon at least one
story (off the syllabus) from the Ashliman site for your entry.

Robert Darnton and Bruno Bettelheim (Click to read full prompt)

2010-01-19T20:01:00.000-08:00

Respond to Darnton's and Bettelheim's articles. How do their perspectives differ? Which do you find more convincing? Do you have to take sides on this debate, or can the two complement each other?

Welcome and Introductions

2010-01-15T12:50:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, welcome to your Fairy Tales blog.

I'm Jessica Riviere, in my fourth year here at Vanderbilt and working on my PhD. I'm really looking forward to being your TA this year.

Take a moment and introduce yourselves to your group members.