fandomhigh | Traditional Fairy Tales, Class One

Monday, January 8, Period 2

Aziraphale was in the classroom bright and early, to make certain everything was ready for his new class. With the assistance of Lana and Phoebe, he had quite a nice spread of pastries and hot tea, coffee and cocoa. As it had been last year, the classroom was arranged with comfortable furnishings rather than desks and chairs, and the walls held shelves full of books.

Once everyone was assembled, he stood near his armchair and smiled at the class. "Good morning, and welcome to Traditional Fairy Tales. For those of you who are new to the school, my name is Aziraphale. However, I do realize that's quite a mouthful, so you may shorten it to 'Mr Phale' or 'Professor Phale' if you like. Let me also introduce your TAs for this class: Lana Lang and Phoebe Halliwell. They'll be assisting me, and will also be available to help you should you need it."

With a wave of his hand, he indicated a stack of papers on the table by his chair. "This is your syllabus. All of the reading materials you'll need are available here in the classroom, and I'm certain also in the library. If anyone needs assistance in finding a text, please let me know. Also, I'll be holding office hours on Tuesdays during third and fourth periods, if any of you need to speak with me outside of class. And you're all welcome to stop by my office hours for any reason at all.

"Today, we're going to briefly discuss how exactly a fairy tale is defined. And then I'd like each of you to introduce yourself, tell me why you signed up for this class and what you hope to learn here, and tell us your favorite fairy tale.

"First, however, I want to explain just a bit about my expectations for you as students in this class, and also I want to take a moment to discuss the required Group Project.

"Attendance is mandatory, and you must sign at the beginning of each class. If you are unable to attend a class, do your best to inform me or one of the TAs in advance. If you miss more than one class without an excuse, you will receive detention. If you miss more than five classes without an excuse, you will receive a failing grade for the course."

Group Projects: "I have assigned each of you to one of four groups. Each group, as your final "exam" grade, will choose a fairy tale that is not on your assigned reading list. Working together, you will identify the elements of character type, theme, symbolism, and gender roles in that tale. You will then update the tale for a different type of setting, remembering to maintain those the elements so that they are still transmitted in the retelling, and then you will present the tale to the class on our final day."

Project Groups

LECTURE:
What is a fairy tale?
"For our purposes, we'll be studying mostly English and European tales, but I've also included a couple of Indian tales in your reading list as well. For your group project, however, you are more than welcome to choose a tale from any source you like. While fairy tale elements are present in a number of literary types -- Shakespearean drama is a good example, as well as many mythologies -- the tales we'll be discussing are separated from other literary traditions by two main features. First, fairy tales deal with religion in only a very general sense, as an element present in the environment but not as a central focus, as with mythologies. Second, fairy tales originate in the oral tradition, created to pass along advice and morals from one generation to the next. They are not created out of whole cloth, but rather evolve and change as they are told and retold. For this reason, you'll find numerous examples of common stories that are told in a wide range of styles. The well-known "Cinderella" tale, for example, has probably hundreds of variations.

"In addition, when possible, I've tried to choose versions of the stories for our reading list that are closer to the oral tradition than you might find in a publication by Perrault or the Grimm brothers. Many of you may recognize the central plots of the tales from more well-known sources. I've done this to try and maintain the oral history tradition of these tales, and to avoid as much of the more literary rewriting done by the professional publishers."

CLASS DISCUSSION:
"Please tell us your name, why you enrolled in this class and your expectations for it, and your favorite fairy tale." [ooc: Characters from non-21st century Earth societies are welcome to make up the name of a favorite story.]

ASSIGNMENT:
"For next week, please read "Jack the Giant Killer" and "Molly Whuppie".

[ooc: Not all of the posts will be this long, I promise! Lots of housekeeping to get done in the first class. ~~Please wait for the~~ OCD threads are up! *rings bell*]

Syllabus
Class Roster
Project Groups
Linkdrop for classes

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Nadia thought for a moment, then remembered. "Be bold, be bold, but not too bold. I remember. I'm glad it did some good."

"Yes, that's it exactly," Aziraphale replied, pleased that she remembered. "I only hope that the class proves interesting to everyone. Did you get all the other classes you were hoping for?"

"Yeah. I was surprised, I got all the ones I signed up for, even the Doctor's class. And I know some people didn't get that one."

"That's excellent! From what I hear, it sounds to be an interesting sort of class. And probably full of things that will come in useful here in Fandom."

"And, he told me I should take it when I asked him about the class. Something about showing that women who work with him don't always sprain their ankles when running from a threat."

That didn't make much sense to Aziraphale, but he was rather used to that when dealing with the Doctor.

"Well, er...I do hope that the class doesn't result in sprained ankles for anyone. Or any other injuries, for that matter. It's probably too much to expect, but I would very much like to see an entire term where we don't have the clinic full of students being treated for injuries."

"That would be nice. But the injuries don't usually happen in classes."

"Oh, I know. I was hoping that we might be able to avoid the outside-of-class injuries. Although I know that you students are the adventuresome type, and it's not likely I'll be able to turn you all into quiet homebodies." Aziraphale smiled. "I could load you down with so much homework that you don't have time to go out and be adventurous, of course..."

"Then we'd just fail your class," Nadia said cheerfully. "Which would reflect badly on you as a teacher."

"Now, that doesn't seem quite fair!" Aziraphale exclaimed, laughing. "But I suppose that since I don't want all my students to fail, I'd best stick with a reasonable amout of homework. But I expect you to stick with a reasonable amount of trouble-seeking in return."

"I'm always reasonable. I don't go looking for trouble, it just kind of seems to like me."

"That does seem to be a trait that quite a few people here share. I suppose it's to be expected, since we've all managed to find our way to Fandom."

"Exactly. I think it takes a certain type just to find this island."

"I suppose, being included in that group, I should protest," Aziraphale replied with a smile. "Could I possibly plead that I was assigned, and didn't technically find my way here?"

"So was I, but I include myself in that first group, so, nope."

"Ah well then," he chuckled. "If I must be lumped into a group labeled 'trouble-finders', I can't imagine a better lot of people to be joining."

Nadia grinned. "We're almost never boring, if nothing else."

Aziraphale returned the grin.

"I'd be inclined to leave off the 'never' in that statement, my dear. Although I would also assert that boring isn't always a bad thing. And neither, contrary to what people may tell you, is stuffy. Or tweed.

"But if I didn't say 'never' in it, I'd be saying that people around here are 'almost boring', and that'd be really untrue. And I don't think I'd look that good in tweed."

"Well, I suppose you have a point. Neither the people nor life in general here is anything even close to boring. Although I could stand for it to be a bit more so every now and then. And as for the tweed...no, you're quite right. Really it's 'old British fellow' sort of look."

"But there is nothing wrong with being an old British fellow, if that's what you are."

"Quite. Which is why I entirely agree that tweed is probably not the best look for a young lady. Although apparently, according to James, it isn't the best look for middle-aged-looking professor, either."

"Well, ~~dammit, captain,~~ he's a doctor, not a fashion designer."

"But he does admittedly have a bit more fashion sense than I do," Aziraphale pointed out. "I've always been notoriously out of date. Crowley always used to say that I could never manage to get within less than a hundred years of any given fashion."

"Crowley?" Nadia thought. "Didn't he used to own the hotel?"

Re: Talk to the Professor

a-phale.livejournal.com - 2007-01-09 04:37 (UTC) - Expand

nadiathesaint - 2007-01-09 04:44 (UTC) - Expand