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Housekeeping:
- Syllabus Contract
- CHOCOLATE
- Attendence
Agenda:
First Group Project: Group 3 Bottigheimer
Due to the change in schedule, Group Three will be presenting on the article "Gold into Straw: Fairy Tale Movies for Children and the Culture Industry" by Donald Haase (an article we did not read as a class)! Their overview will provide everyone with information on another source that could be VERY useful for final projects. We will discuss Bottigheimer's article together.
Tricksters and Pranksters At Home and Abroad
Recapping Tricksters and the Search for Home
"Hansel and Gretel" is a narrative that empowers children to overcome their adult oppressors. In Once Upon A Time's variation of this fairy tale, "True North," the children save themselves from the evil witch. However, they are unable to save themselves in the real-world parallel narrative. They must be rescued by adults. What is the significance of this shift?
In "Hansel and Gretel," the family and its most basic stabilities: the child-parent bond. In "True North," the family is threatened by the state. Why is this evolution in the tale significant? What does it demonstrate about evolving beliefs surrounding the family and society?
In Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion, Zipes discusses the evolution of fairy tales. Let's take Zipes' observation a step further. How does the evolution of "Hansel and Gretel" keep this tale alive?
Structuralism and the Hero's Journey
Vladimir Propp is a structuralist. He identified thirty-one functions in the hero's journey. He claims that not every function is present in every narrative about a hero's quest, but these functions (whichever ARE present) always occur in this order.
I. Member of family absents self from home:
II. Interdiction announced:
III. Interdiction violated: 
IV. Villain tries to meet: 
V. Villain receives information: 
VI. Villain attempts trickery: 
VII. Victim deceived: 
VIII. Villain harms family: A
VIIIa. Member of family lacks or desires: a
IX. Hero approached about lack: B
X. Seeker decides on counteraction: C
XI. Hero leaves home: 
XII. Hero tested: prepares for magical agent: D
XIII. Hero responds to test of donor: E
XIV. Hero gets magical agent: F
XV. Hero transferred to object of search: G
XVI. Hero and villain in direct combat: H
XVII. Hero branded: J
XVIII. Villain defeated: I
XIX. Initial lack liquidated: K
XX. Hero returns: 
XXI. Hero pursued: Pr
XXII. Rescue of hero from pursuit: Rs
XXIII. Unrecognized, hero arrives home or other country: o
XXIV. False hero: L
XXV. Difficult task: M
XXVI. Task resolved: N
XXVII. Hero recognized: Q
XXVIII. False hero exposed: Ex
XXIX. Hero given new appearance: T
XXX. villain punished: U
XXXI. Hero marries and ascends throne: W
Discussion Question:
How is the hero's journey resemble Hansel and Gretel's journey? How is it different?
Group Project: Mapping the Hero's Journey in "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Tom Thumb"
Break into groups of 5.
Find Propp's thirty-one functions in these two fairy tales.
Think about the significance of these functions in these fairy tales. How do these functions transform Jack and Tom into (unlikely) heroes?
Spend 10 minutes discussing this, and we'll regroup and talk about everyone's findings.
“Jack and the Beanstalk”
Discussion Questions:
- Context
- Who wrote this literary version of "Jack and the Beanstalk"?
- When and where was it published?
- Summarize the narrative in a couple of sentences.
- Analysis (Close Reading)
- How do illustrations compliment and modify the text of this fairy tale?
- What is the significance of the color red in this fairy tale?
- What are the gender power politics in this narrative? What is the significance of this (ethically, sexually…)?
“Tom Thumb”
Discussion Questions:
- Context
- Who wrote this literary version of "Jack and the Beanstalk"?
- When and where was it published?
- Summarize the narrative in a couple of sentences.
- Analysis (Close Reading)
- How do illustrations compliment and modify the text of this fairy tale?
- What is the significance of the color red in this fairy tale?
- What are the gender power politics in this narrative? What is the significance of this (ethically, sexually…)?
- Scholarship
- Bottigheimer Bad Girls and Bold Boys.pdf
- How do Jack and Tom resemble Bottigheimer's "Bold Boys"?
- How do you think these narratives would differ in the protagonists were female?
- How does this reinforce Zipes' claims about establishing societal norms?
Tricksters and the Search for Home
The trickster is an archetypal figure that is featured (to various degrees) in all of the fairy tales we are studying in this section.
The trickster has been defined by structuralists (such as Stith Thompson) as a character who plays tricks and subverts conventional rules of behavior. This archetype has primarily been explored as a feature of Native American myths, but (as these tales demonstrate) this character appears in tales around the globe.
In the tales we have analyzed this week, the trickster is connected with the (idea of) home.
Discussion Questions:
- How is the home defended by cleverness?
- How is it threatened by cleverness?
- What does this say about cleverness as a virtue in German (and French) society?
- How are the trickster's actions abroad related to the search for home (can we draw connections)?