Essays on Fairy

Esteemed literary critic Vladimir Propp, in his essay "Fairy Tale Transformations," breaks down the essence of the fairy tale into a series of elements and functions, all linked inexorably to religious practices found in past traditions. According to Propp, fairy tales are an amalgam of the functions and roles of religion and culture in various societies; the tropes of fairy tales are reflections of these customs. These functions all exist in some form or another in the vast majority of fairy tales, allowing Propp to organize and codify the structures and natures of fairy tales. "We observe that the Continue reading...

For centuries, the fairy tale has been the cornerstone of imaginative children's fiction - the genre provides a canvas by which amazing tales can be told. The fantastic becomes possible in fairy tales, and for many, childlike wonder can be recaptured by the simple act of reading one. However, in many children's books, there is a pervading theme of maturation, and "growing up"; in these stories, the fairy tale land the characters inhabit is shown to be fleeting and transient. Two such fairy tales - Ursula Dubosarsky's The Red Shoe and Neil Gaiman's Stardust - frame the fantastic story Continue reading...

Introduction

Literary critical theory is a complicated process - there are many different ways from which one can look at a story. The question remains, however, whether or not these readings are valid. Is the process of literary criticism a means of mental gymnastics, where theorists can force a reading into a text like a child pushing a square peg in a round hole? Looking at the various theorists who make up the most prominently observed members of the literary critical canon, it becomes clear that the act of reading itself is an interactive one, with the reader bringing just Continue reading...

Wondrous, magical, fantastic, wonderful, fascinating – those are the indications of fairy tales, narratives unusual and frequently irrational. Their world is grasped by one’s intuition, a world flourishing in liveliness, spirit and possibilities of role play, due to the fact that it brandishes a different kind of reality, a less arduous one, with an utterly positive outlook on life, in which life is reminiscent of a wonderful dream, but still not without its troubles and obstacles. Through imagery and potent symbolism, fairy tales express human life experiences and the potentiality of solutions to human troubles. According to Annette R. Continue reading...

English

Aimee Bender’s fictions are symbolic of human emotions and struggles largely analogized and formed through fairy-tale representations. The Girl in the Flammable Skirt is by and large in the same vein and is a collection of short stories that seems to suggest a narration by a teenage girl. On reading The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, in each of the short stories, the one common moral and that is one of trauma interlocked with pittance. The story about a young girl who comes home to find her dad carrying a backpack which seems to resemble a bag made Continue reading...

Child development psychologist Bruno Bettelheim once wrote that the true significance of folktales for children lies in their underlying, or “hidden,” meaning. Fairy tales pose “existential dilemmas,” and communicate either a solution or punishment that emphasizes some moral point, the reasoning out of which not only facilitates the expansion of imagination but helps develop rational and critical thinking skills (Zipes, p. 182). As such, “the fairy tale liberates the child’s subconscious so that he or she can work through conflicts and experiences which would otherwise be repressed” (Ibid). Simply put, they provide a means through which a child Continue reading...

English

Thesis Statement and Introduction
Has it ever occurred to you that children love reading comics and watching fairy tale movies more than reading story books? Ask them what they’ve understood from a fairy tale that was screened on TV recently and they’ll keep talking about it till you fall dead. On the contrary, ask them to read a story book and see what happens. I’ll bet that they wouldn’t get through to the second page. Pictures and color attract children and adults alike, and while adults like to watch movies, children love to watch cartoons Continue reading...

Fairy tales are types of stories that characteristically feature European folkloric fantasy characters like dwarves, giants or even witches and magic among others. They take place once upon a time rather than real time. Pan's Labyrinth a Mexican-Spanish fantasy film is one such fairy tale. Although some claim that Pan's Labyrinth is not a Fairytale, there are sufficient reasons to support that indeed it is a fairy tale (Zipes 15).
The story takes place during the early Francoist period about five years after the Spanish civil war. It is starred by a character Ofiela haunting the Spanish maquis who Continue reading...

What does the term “fairy tale” mean to you? Can you remember the first fairy tale you heard or read? What did you like or dislike about it?
Fairy tales are short stories that contain European folkloric characters with an aim of teaching morals and exiting children. The first fairy tells that I first read is “the ugly giant”. I liked it so much because it has a successful ending. The other reason I may have not liked it is because it was scaring to imagine the huge ugly giants.

My favorite fairy is “Rappunzzel”, it had a very Continue reading...

While there is no all around acknowledged meaning of a fairy tale, for the most part they are stories of charm and entertainment. Fairy stories are some piece of ordinary lives, and are frequently used to show youngsters standards. Individuals utilize fairy tales to show adolescent youngsters ethics a fable is ordinarily a tale about something that might not typically happen in genuine living, for example, creatures that can converse with people. A fable will dependably end cheerfully with the legend or courageous woman living joyfully ever after. The careful meaning of "children's story" has been a matter of Continue reading...

The invention of animation and progress of the film industry allowed the creation of the animated films, and Walt Disney became its central figure. He changed the original fairy tales not only to suit and reflect the social life of America, but also to reflect his own identity and beliefs. The themes of the fairy tales were Americanized and reflected the society of individualism and patriarchy. For example, his cartoon Puss in the Boots changed the main character of the story: now it was a young man, instead of the Puss. The setting of the story was in the Continue reading...

Collodi Carlos, a stage name for Lorezini Carlo wrote Pinocchio in 1883. The initial publications of this story were serialized in Italian prior to its publication as “The Adventures of Pinocchio”. In 1892, the novel was first translated from its original language to English language. From this time of the translation, several editions have been published. The most notable version of the novel is the version published by Sweet M. M, which was published in 1927. Walt Disney made the story into a movie in 1940. The story talks about a wooden marionette, which is named Pinocchio. He spends Continue reading...

Introduction: My favorite hobbies are gaming, movies, animals/pets. I am at MSU to study social work. I am in the MSW program. One thing that I’d like others to know about me is that I love animals of all kind. I have a Russian Tortoise, three freshwater aquariums. I also have 2 min pins or miniature pinchers which are a cross between a German pinscher Italian greyhound and dachshund.
The Monster Under My Bed: The monster that lives under my bed is about two feet tall and looks like a short, squat goblin with bat wings that fold Continue reading...

Claim: Teaching methodology greatly affects the way story books are utilized to teach morality to children.

Claim: Morality might become questionable due to the way teachers teach children.
Claim: Children should be taught different pieces of literature in the form of folklore, fairy tales, fables so that they understand the diversity in moral values across culture.
Neuroscience research states that by the first four years of life, the intelligence of a child develops to about 50 percent whereas by the age of eight years, their intelligence reaches a maximum of 80 percent. Developmental theorists like Piaget and Kohlberg have all stressed upon the excellent learning abilities of individuals during their childhood which forms the basis Continue reading...

Introduction

Fables and fairy tales have various inexplicable origins and they have been aesthetically transformed over the years to suit the cultural representations of various countries which have added their patina to it. They seem to be slices of life, and have some core values as well as mythical elements in them.
Cinderella is one such tale which has seen its circuit across the world. The women in the talks seem to take multiple roles such as ‘maiden, matron or crone.’ In this tale itself, you have the various representations - the step mother is the crone, the elder sisters Continue reading...

Introduction

“Animal Farm” was written by George Orwell. It is a satire and political literature. The original title of the novel is “Animal Farm: A Fairy Story” that proves it as a fable written with a purpose. However, the author did a wonderful attempt to present the political crisis and tyrannical government through a story of animals in a farm. It is a dystopian and allegorical novel. Orwell’s intention is to reflect Russian Revolution and reign of Stalin in Soviet Union. The novel is about the life of animals in a farm. They wanted to rebel and save themselves Continue reading...

Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. Oskar Wilde
Children have difficulty sharing, understanding and minding other people`s interests, especially young ones. This is a normal part of the development process. Knowing and accepting this is the first step in helping the child to grow up to be person, not a living being.
True sharing implies empathy, the ability to get into another’s mind and see things from the other points of view. Consequently, the question comes on: “How to teach the child to Continue reading...

Influenced by the Brothers Grimm’s German fairy tale ‘Rapunzel’, Tangled is an amazing animation movie. Dan Fogelman turned the story into a screenplay for Walt Disney. Walt Disney Animation Studios produced the animation movie as the fiftieth piece in the Walt Disney Animated Classics Series. The shooting production of the movie began in 2007. The film was released on 24 November 2010 at the El Captain Theatre. The initial directors of the movie were Dean Wellins and Dean Keane. However, they stepped down as the directors in 2008. Nathan Greno and Bryon Howard took over the directing role Continue reading...

The Brothers Grimm are responsible for some of the most famous fairy tales that are still read to children to this day. Although many of the fairy tales have been sanitized and changed for today’s children, the original stories are still masterworks of literature, often referenced and alluded to in other pieces of fiction and nonfiction. In “Rapunzel,” “Hans and Gretel,” and “The Little Peasant,” the Brothers Grimm utilize different types of symbolism, but regardless of the type and purpose of the symbolism, they use symbols that are easily grasped by the reader and serve to further the Continue reading...

Abstract

This paper is an examination of some of the psychological aspects of the child/parent relationship. Hansel and Gretel has been analyzed by many, who put forth the notion that it offers a model for understanding the psychological roots of child abandonment, abuse and neglect. As such, this essay offers an overview of a preventive approach that may be applicable to the plight of families, particularly impoverished families such as Hansel and Gretel’s.

Continue reading...

Research is indicative of the fact that we form more positive impression of physically attractive people as compared to unattractive people. But, the advertisements, movies, and fairy tales play a significant role in making some adjustments in order to facilitate positive feeling about unattractive individuals. For example, the advertisements, movies, and fairy tales present some beautiful characters that are attractive and some ugly characters that are not attractive. They present such a story that sometimes the beautiful characters betray people, but the ugly characters help them. The ugly characters mostly remain ready to assist and support people in the Continue reading...

Introduction:

The Cinderella story has been translated to over 500 different versions. This literature paper will, however, focus on three versions and attempt to use them as a basis of comparison. The comparison seeks to determine how these three versions attempt show that low circumstances can raise to good fortune. The three versions are "A Chinese "Cinderella" by Ch'eng-shih, "Cinderella" by Perrault and "Ashputtle" by the Grimms. Folks and fairy tales are the stories that are told to children. Children around the world get familiar with them mostly from infancy to their 2nd grade. They are used to entertain, educate Continue reading...

This essays deals with the idea of violence in nursery rhymes and fairy tales that have been (re)told to children over the past several centuries. The idea is that the violence is disguised by the veil of revenge and righteousness, making it appear less conspicuous, but it is nevertheless present, and as such, a possible threat to the child’s psyche. Some of the stories mentioned in the following essay show that they condone violence, for whatever reason, depending on the circumstances under which this particular violence occurs.

Keywords: violence, fairy tales, fables, nursery rhymes

In today’s society, the average human is surrounded by Continue reading...

This fairy tale has a lot of versions, authored by different people. One of the most well-known and popular versions was the one written by Charles Perrault (1697), which will be discussed first followed by the other versions. There is a general agreement in all the versions that Cinderella was mistreated by her stepmother and her two daughters, and that by a stroke of luck, or through magic, she gets the Princes’ attention and they eventually get married and live happily ever after.

Charles Perrault’s version

In this version, Cinderella gets her big break when the Prince invites all the young ladies Continue reading...

Structuralism and Semiotics within Film

Abstract
Many works of film theory utilise the tools of structuralism and semiotics to imbue a work of art with meaning. Films in this paper will be defined broadly to include matter (celluloid), technique (from camera style, cutting, and editing choices), and final product (the end result which is a movie). Structuralism is the employment conventions, similar to the way language builds meaning in communication, to convey a purpose or meaning. The components of film that can be used in structuralist film theory include, but are certainly not limited to, lighting, cultural references, symbolism, angle and shot duration. Through Continue reading...

One of the most fundamentally important literary devices used to develop a short story is the element of pathos, or the empathy that the reader feels for the characters of the story. Without pathos, the reader is not engaged with the characters of the story, and is left apathetic to the eventual outcome of the storyline. Without characters that engage the reader in some way-- whether their existence drives the storyline or not-- the reader is left without any kind of emotional connection to the story. This is especially true for short stories, as they must convey significant actions, Continue reading...

If one could use one word to summarize “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” it would have to be “love.” Love is displayed with all its trials, triumphs, and heartbreak. We see two ill-fated crushes with Helena and Hermia, neither of which is free to act upon them. When Puck steps in with his love potion, we see how love causes insanity and chaos, much like a drug. Relentlessly the two pursue their loves to the dismay of the men. This insanity is apparent in Helena's quote "The more you beat me, I will fawn on you" (Shakespeare, 205). Eventually Continue reading...

What I especially enjoyed about htis poem is its comic and sarcastic tone. The title ‘Cinderella’ leads us to expect a poem that deals with the world of fairy tales and a vaguely medieval setting, but Sexton achieves humor by defeating our expecatations in the first four verses. The first four verses reveal a recognisably modern world and this creates humor – modern details are juxtaposed with a very well-known fairy tale. In each of the first four stanzas Sexton describes a rags-to-riches story. Someone who is poor and unimportant, by a simple twist of Continue reading...

Invisible Men Controlled by Women:

The 2011 movie Beastly is a contemporary retelling of the classic fairytale “The Beauty and the Beast”. It is about a vein and arrogant young man, that is turned into hideous-looking creature by a witch, with a spell that can only be undone if he gets someone to love him within a defined period of time. Due to the fact that fairy tales are some of the first encounters that children have with fictional stories, many theorists suggest that these strongly influence the way people in which perceive the world at the beginning of their life, and, unless it Continue reading...

The new live action movie of Maleficent is reworking of the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty with the villain taking the main role and the ever happy Princess Aurora taking a backseat. It slowly delves into the background story of why Maleficent came about to be the way she is-an evil witch who cast a spell on baby Aurora. Without getting into the details of every dialogue here we are going to look into some elements, character relations and compare the review of two critics.

The elements/relationships that are going to be written about here are

- Setting of the movie
The movies boundaries are between two worlds, the Kingdom Continue reading...

IMAGINARY FIGURES OF EARLY CHILDHOOD

Background
According to, Prentice, Norman. M. (1978) (page 618), ‘Examination of the developmental progression of the child’s belief in the fictional characters was the aim of this study.’ Brain of a child is susceptible to the attractive stories and adventurous imaginations. Fairy tales were a conduits to teach the children the moral lessons of life. These are the learnings that the parents or teachers can impart in the minds of the children. The learnings descending from our ancestors and wise people helps us finding a comfort of happy endings to every story. However, the stories are all about Continue reading...

Throughout the entire play, Shakespeare shows that sleep is important to the development of the events in the story. Arguably, sleep serves as the channel that runs through the life of each character in different ways. As the characters sleep, they become unaware of the events that happen. In turn, the characters attribute the events in their sleep to dreams as they are unable to explain the events in their sleep. Sleep and dreams overshadows the main idea in the play and lead to the theme of dreams versus reality. The title of the play suggests that the events Continue reading...

Why "Tangled" (Film) is Post-modern

Studies of Modern Media are required to be comprehensive in their analysis of the varying main approaches used within the field. Through inclusion, these studies require individualized active engagement, with regard to research and analysis. They are crucial in enabling students improve their understanding on the prevailing contexts under which modern media exists and functions. Consequently, as provided in the text – Media Studies: Texts, Production, and Contexts (2nd Ed.) – by Long & Wall (2012), current contexts require individuals to actively analyze with the prevailing forms of existing media. This should be at both the intellectual and practical levels, with extra Continue reading...

Neil Gaiman's children's novel Coraline is a tale of mother and child, of belonging, and of the difference between fantasy and reality. Moving into an apartment made from a divided home, Coraline finds a way to escape her boring, disinterested parents into the "Other World," a place of what appears on the surface to be Coraline's ideal world. Her Other Parents are exciting and pay attention to her, she has much more exciting toys and games, and even the elderly neighbors are exciting to be around. However, as Coraline learns, there is a heavy price to pay for being Continue reading...

The work of literature that surprised me the most when a child and has been carrying on its impact on me till this moment is Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Being born and raised in Austria, I could perceive both - national and, at the same time, international spirits of their series of stories. The Grimm brothers’ perfect understanding of child’s inner world and way of thinking let them cultivate the best traits of character in me, simultaneously enriching my imagination.
At the same time Grimm’s Fairy Tales provide the readers with a set of challenges every child Continue reading...

History, which is taken as a basis for the movie appears to be both mythical and at the same time full of vividness. This story is about a man named Ed Bloom, about the surprising man having in his stock a mass of stories and histories. Many people, and in particular his son believe that most of what Ed Bloom tells is nothing more than his imagination. However it turns out in fact that almost all events that he describes in his stories have occurred in the life. Even if something was embellished it were just little things that, Continue reading...

I Political allegory and satire in Orwell’s books “Animal Farm” and “1984”II Plot of the books
III Animal Farm as a fairy tale;
IV A reassessment of Animal farm and 1984;
V Scholars’ arguments on symbolism and understanding of totalitarian state in the 21st centuryVI. Conclusion
Often fiction books become a source for historical and political debates. Usually it is because of the allegories used by the writers to point to the real prototypes of their plots. The question drawn for a discussion in this essay is about the relevance of Orwell’s allegories on the Soviet Continue reading...

Introduction

Cinderella is a story that resonates with most people in one way or another within the course of their lifetime. This is because the story explores a fable-like element of unexpected success amidst oppression and unfair treatment (Orenstein 50). The story, a European folk tale, is about a beautiful young girl, Cinderella, who lives in a household where she gets mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters. She does not get new thinks such as items of clothing and other necessities and has to rely on “hand-me-downs” from her siblings. To add to her misery, she is subjected to hard Continue reading...

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Introduction

The teaching process is indeed quite delicate and involves a considerable amount of planning and preparation. The educational unit which is being prepared within this paper reflects numerous factors which have to be considered for a comprehensive and positively influential educational process. The topic that has been selected is “British Literature for Children”, and it takes into account national educational standards, innovative teaching techniques as well as the issue of interaction between peers in a classroom.

Rationale

The target audience for this unit is schoolchildren in the first grade. At this stage of learning Continue reading...

- Who is the author and where does he/she live?
The given author is a famous historian, literary critic, English folklorist and writer Joseph Jacobs. He was born in Sydney, Australia, then left this place and went to England. Later he also studied at the University of Berlin and then he moved to the United States to live there till the end of his life.
2. Write a paragraph describing the author's background information.
Joseph Jacobs is an outstanding writer and adapter of children’s fairy tales. He has been a resident of 3 continents: Australia, England and The Continue reading...