fandomhigh | Traditional Fairy Tales, Class Six (02/12)

Monday, February 12, Period Two

Aziraphale appeared to be a bit on the nervous side today, pacing quite a lot more than usual. Other than that, however, the classroom was as usual, with breakfast pastries and hot drinks laid out for the students.

"Today we're going to have a brief discussion, and then I'd like you to meet with your project groups to work on your final projects. I'll be setting up meetings with each project group to discuss your proposals over the next couple of weeks, so please be sure to sign up for a meeting slot on the sheet posted there on the wall. Also, I need to speak with Haruhi Fujioka regarding your absence last week."

LECTURE: "Today we move on from Character Archetypes to Themes. Specifically, today we'll discuss the themes of Death and Coming of Age. Many of the fairy tales you hear and read deal with the concept of death, generally as either a punishment or a tragic event. The hero or heroine may be taking action to avenge a death, or they may have suffered an attack by the villain or even an accident which puts them into a position where they are in need of rescue. Metaphorical death can also be found, especially in tales such as "Sleeping Beauty" or "Snow White", where the heroine suffers from a magical sleep. Death additionally can be seen as a punishment, usually in response to a crime perpetrated by the villain. We see this frequently in the fairy tales, sometimes brought about by the hero himself, sometimes by an act of God.

Coming of Age stories are also prevalent, and especially when the focus of the tale is on a young female character. Again, these stories can be rather straightforward with this theme -- such as "Sleeping Beauty", where the heroine's coming of age is the catalyst for the tales main events. Or, the tales can again be more symbolic in nature -- some people argue that "Red Riding Hood" is a coming of age story, showing the heroine as she moves from the innocence of childhood to gain the more worldly knowledge of an adult."

DISCUSSION: Last week's reading assignment dealt with these two themes, so for today's discussion I would like you to choose either "The Rose Tree" or "Brother and Sister" and explain how the Death or Coming of Age theme is portrayed in that tale. Don't forget that following the discussion, you'll need to meet with your project groups and sign up for a consultation meeting with me."

ASSIGNMENT: Read "Little Snow White" and "The Lambikin".

[ooc: ~~Please wait for~~ OCD is now up, and class is in session.]

Syllabus
Class Roster
Project Groups
Linkdrop for classes

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Get together with your project group and discuss your final project. (Don't forget to sign up in the thread below to meet with Aziraphale to discuss your project topic.)

Turtle looked around a little for her other group members.

"So, Rapunzel?" Evie looked around hopefully. "And how she should have climbed down her own hair?"

"Very carefully," Turtle said with a grin.

Evie giggles. "Maybe with braids. And loops."

"Hair is very strong," River commented. "But cutting it off should have made it more comfortable anyway, and especially for climbing down herself."

"I suppose that *does* make more sense, but oh! To lose all that pretty hair! Still, I don't think she could have carried it into the desert with her."

"She could have sold the hair to a wig maker and made some money," River suggested.

Turtle, clutching her braid, looked very distressed over the direction that the conversation was going. "I say she keeps the braid, and, what she does is kicks the prince's butt for touching it..."

True, it had little direct bearing on how Rapunzel could escape, but Turtle was working on that part.

Considering how business minded Turtle was, River found it amusing that she didn't like the 'selling of the hair' part. "But she could make lots of money on the hair," she added. "And invest in stocks. No need for the prince."

"Medieval cultures didn't have a stock market," Turtle argued, "and, besides, there are just some things that no amount of money can make up for." Cling. "Hair is one of them. But I definitly agree on the whole no need for a prince thing. She should maybe try to outwit the witch. Perhaps..." Turtle bit her lip, thinking.

Re: PROJECT GROUPS

bookyeve.livejournal.com - 2007-02-12 21:13 (UTC) - Expand

l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com - 2007-02-12 21:42 (UTC) - Expand

Angela reread one of the stories as she waited for her group.

Lana went over and sat next to Angela. "Hey," she said quietly.

"Hey back," Angela said, with a slight smile. "I haven't had time to think much about this, have you?"

"No," Lana said. "Things have been... busy. And I apologize in advance. I haven't slept well and I'm kind of distracted."

"It's been one of those months," Angela shrugged. "We have time."

Lana sighed and nodded. "We do, thank heavens."

Nadia leaned back in her seat, twirling her pen and looking for her group.

Conner wandered over and plunked into a seat. "I totally forget what our project was supposed to be."

"I have it in my notes somewhere," Marie said, flipping through her notebook.

[ooc: I have no idea either and no time to look through old posts.]

"Here it is," Nadia found the right page in her notes. "He told us the first day. We're supposed to pick a fairy tale that we're not reading for class, identify the elements, and then rewrite it for a different, updated setting. Then we're going to present it."

"Hmm, have we studied Little Red Riding Hood?" Marie suggested.

"I know I haven't," Cedric said. "It sounds fairly easy."

"It would be pretty easy to update," Marie said thoughtfully.

Kaylee sat down and then looked around for anyone in her group.