fandomhigh | Traditional Fairy Tales, Class Five

Monday, February 5, Period Two

"Today, for the first part of the period, work in pairs or groups to review the material we covered in the previous classes. I will be available to take questions if you have them. When the review period is over, Miss Lang and Miss Halliwell will pass around your exams, and you'll have the remainder of the period to complete them. Before you leave today, I will need absence excuses from Armony Eiselstein and Phoebe Halliwell."

Class One (01/08): Introduction
Class Two (01/15): Character Archetypes I
Class Three (01/22): Character Archetypes II

EXAM 1:
Choose two of the following and write a short essay in response to each.

1. In "Jack the Giant Killer", the central character achieves status and riches. In "John the True", the central character sacrifices himself for another. Examine the differences between the two characters, and explain how both still fit the model of "hero".

2. Using the examples provide by "Molly Whuppie" and "The Sleeping Beauty", examine the "active heroine" versus the "passive heroine".

3. Discuss how the three hermits of "The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird" fit the archetype of "helper".

4. Examine the differences between the parent/family figures in "The Sleeping Beauty" and "Mr Fox".

HOMEWORK: Your reading assignment for next week is "The Rose Tree" and "Brother and Sister".

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Post your two essay questions here, or handwave them and just tell me how you did.

Neil had spent much of the weekend studying for this test and as such he turned in two essays with meticulous detail and threading of the work they'd gone over in class, the texts themselves and his own opinions supported by the text subject matter.

Grammer and punctuation were impecable.

Liz's two essay questions were well structured, full of relevant evidence and she convincingly backed up the evidence that she had. Overall she did a ~~handwavily~~ very good job.

Nadia's exam isn't half-bad, but it's obviously not her best work, either. This might have something to do with the fact that she spent a good chunk of time for the exam staring vaguely down at her paper, her eyes half-shut.

Still, she does get it all done, and it's probably at least C worthy work.

1. In "Jack the Giant Killer", the central character achieves status and riches. In "John the True", the central character sacrifices himself for another. Examine the differences between the two characters, and explain how both still fit the model of "hero".

Well, I guess both of them will get a good spin on the ten o'clock news. Because we all know that it's just the stuff on the highlight reels that gets covered, and it doesn't matter how many times you turn the ball over or play really, really solid fundamental ball in between the highlights. All the people watching the news are going to see is the cool flashy highlight stuff.

So they both come out looking like heroes.

2. Using the examples provide by "Molly Whuppie" and "The Sleeping Beauty", examine the "active heroine" versus the "passive heroine".

The active heroine is the kind my friend Kira will write a song about. The passive heroine is the one I get to hear her complain about for hours on end, and that gets really tiring after a while.

Marie had spent most of her weekend studying for her two exams, so she did a really good job on her essays and knew the material well.

Cedric, having discovered an enjoyment of fairy tales, did quite well on the test. He might've written a little more than necessary but he wanted to cover all his bases, after all.

Kaylee understood the material but wasn't a big fan of essays. She likely managed a low B, at least.

Studying wasn't something he'd gotten around to, but despite that, Jack's essay was really quite good. He still hadn't let go of his insistence that the Jack from Jack the Giant Killer wasn't a hero, at least not until the very end, but his contention was very well argued.

Lana wrote two very detailed and well-thought out essays - despite the fact that she was worried about where Phoebe might be for the second week in a row. ~~Since Phoebe has been stolen away to the Underworld - not that Lana knows that.~~

Layla's essays were clear, though possibly lacking in as much detail as she could have gone into.

1. First of all, the motivations of each charector was vastly different. Jack the Giant Killer seemed motivated primarily by personal gain, whereas, John the True's sole concern was in protecting and helping his friend.

However, Jack could also fit the bill of hero, because there are many ways one can gain riches and position without risking one's life, or even helping other people, which he did.

2. The passive heroine seems to mostly fill the role of Damsel in Distress. There primarily as a reward for the handsome prince after completing some task. Whereas Molly Whuppie ~~dirty?~~ as an active heroine performs the type of feats that Jack the Giant Killer did, and was rewarded with a handsome prince.

As a side note both rewards for male and female charectors appears to be marraige to an attractive member of the opposite sex. Despite many examples of bad parenting, family values appear to be prevelant in these stories.

Angela *handwave* answered the first and fourth essay quiestions, earning what was probably a high B.

River wrote essays on subjects 3 and 4. Her arguments were clear and concise, although possibly a little surprising, and there were references to literary works from her own time.

There's a reason Jude failed most of his courses back home. He knows the answers, he's just . . . bad at getting them down. Thus, his essays are composed of long, convoluted sentences and backtracks in logic while Jude tried to figure it out on paper and hoped it made sense to someone else.

2. An active heroine, like Molly Whuppie, not only takes actions that can be interpreted as clever and brave, but she moves the plot along by making decisions for herself. She decides to save herself and her sisters; decides, at the king's offer, to take actions to secure her sisters' and her own future. She offers defiance to the 'villain' of the piece, and does not seek help from others, instead handling her problems herself.

Sleeping Beauty, on the other hand, is so passive she's unconscious. She does nothing; is instead acted upon instead of acting-- she is cursed, stabbed, and rescued without being able to offer anything to the tale aside from beauty and her own presence. One could substitute a corpse or possibly a nice horse into her part in the story, and it would be unchanged. The same can not be said for Molly Whuppie.

As you might guess, I much prefer the 'action' heroine versus the 'passed-out' heroine.

2. The difference between the two families is more in the sanguinary nature of the tales than in any family feeling between those in Mr. Fox and Sleeping Beauty. Princess Rosamund's father takes all measures he can to protect his daughter by eliminating all agents of the curse laid upon her in the kingdom. Lady Mary's family immediately takes her part when she accuses her fiancee of being a murderer, and hacks him to pieces. The King and Queen assume all is well, once all the spinning wheels were eliminated; Lady Mary's family remains more vigilant. What if the Prince who found Sleeping Beauty had been a Fox? They may not have known there was a problem, until too late.

Families make the heroines within them, as much by teaching them to save themselves as by trying to save them, I think.

Turtle's answers are cleverly vague around the points she doesn't know, but hits the ones she does know spot on, with a little bit of snark and informal writing. It's probably upper C to low B work.

Once again, Matilda's computer of a brain was able to recall everything about the stories and she wrote two overly long essays.

Miley took her test and did about C level work. B- if Phale was feeling overly generous.

Armony does a ~~handwavily~~ decent job, for someone who missed last week's class ~~on account of her mun being blind, apparently~~. She passes, at least, and that's really all she was worried about.

Traditional Fairy Tales, Class Five

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