After reading all of my blogs over the course of the semester, I've honestly learned a lot. I've learned the different cultural perspectives on folk and fairy tales. Culture plays a big role in determining the origins of fairy tales and how they've changed over the course of centuries. From Kenyan tales, Arabian, Jewish, Native American, etc., we know that there are different ways for a story to be interpreted. The language, the way they are composed, and the lessons are the most important part of analyzing a story and its parts. The most interesting part of learning about all of these tales/stories is that they all included some important motifs & archetypes and they all eventually appear in other stories. They all reflect each other and send similar messages to readers, but they're written in different ways to incorporate culture.
I also think the most interesting part about the importance of fairy tales is the psychoanalytical factors. We can conclude that fairy tales are just collective images in our subconscious that we piece a story together with. We can use our beliefs from what we read and turn our dreams into reality. I don't really think there was anything challenging throughout the semester. As long as you kept up with reading and classwork, everything was self explanatory. I felt like I spent enough time everyday thoroughly reading through each story to expand my knowledge of fairy tales as a whole. I honestly don't think there were any stories that I didn't learn anything from. Even if I didn't like the story or its message, I still learned from it. All of the material was a part of a larger understanding of what folk and fairy tales are and I really enjoyed the class. I would recommend this class to anyone interested in expanding their knowledge on the books and movies they encounter when they're young. It's fun to learn and find the origin of the stories we read as children come to life.
Arabian Folk and Fairy Tales were primarily used for entertainment of people who were illiterate. This resembles Kenyan stories because those stories were used as entertainment and as a way to bring people together. But the difference between Arabian stories and others is that there may be a moral, but it's not necessary. Authors like Charles Perrault often felt that there had to be a moral, so that readers would know right from wrong, but Arabian stories require one. They would pay to hear them and the storytellers were primarily poets and musicians who were men. They differ from other stories because they start with "It was or it wasn't" instead of the traditional "Once Upon a Time...". They also have a longer introduction, also known as the "mattress" of the story. The stories shed light onto human behavior and they vary in style, which can relate to the most of the different stories we've read so far. The most important think about these stories is that they are frame stories spinning into a web to tales. The stories normally originated or derived from tribal and national heroes. I found this interesting because most of the American or Kenyan stories are original in form and they don't come from other stories. Where in Arabian stories, when someone makes one story, the others may come from the same framework of it.
Oscar Wilde has a distinctive way of writing his stories. All of the stories we read ended in death, which alludes to the idea that sometimes there isn't a happy ever after in a story. But they all could have a deeper meaning about death and it's symbolism.This criticizes the main points of the Brothers Grimm and Perrault stories always have a happy ending and that things are just handed to you. Children definitely wouldn't be able to read his stories, as they have dark and thought provoking message within them. This isn't the traditional way of writing because it challenges one of the main motifs in all fairy tales, which makes his writing very memorable for readers. His stories have moral and they tackle the challenging topics of the real world.
I read John's blogs about Hansel and Gretel, Kenyan folktales, and Cinderella. The thing I like most about his blog's is that they are very clear and concise. He not only mentions the main point of everything, but he elaborates and his analysis is easy to understand. He also has great diction, videos and pictures that add a great effect to the blog's. My favorite blog to read was about Kenyan folk tales because he introduced Dr. K'Olewe and explained how he came to our class and expanded our knowledge on a new topic. Overall, I don't think I have any critiques and he as done a great job so far. Keep up the good work!
In Louisiana Folktales "The Singing Bones" and Perrault's "Little Thumbling", the children are seen as the heroes because of their ability to think fast and save their siblings from danger. These stories are prime examples of children outwitting their enemies in order to save their loved ones and grow as people in the process.
In "The Singing Bones" the mother of the 25 children killed her children for food and fed them to her husband. At the end, when the father was looking for the children, she told the father that they were at their grandmother's house. Later on, when the father went outside, the children spoke to him saying, "Our mother killed us, Our father ate us..." He then killed his wife and buried their bones in the cemetery in front of his home. If the children never would've spoke to their father about what their mother did to them, he never would've found out that they were dead.
In "Little Thumbling", the father was the first one to come up with the idea of abandoning his children, which was different from all the other stories. He couldn't afford to feed all his children, so he wanted to have them sent out to the woods and that way he would only have to feed himself and his wife. Little Thumbling heard their conversation of course, and made a plan for them to come back home the first time, but the second time the crumbs were eaten. They stumbled across a house unknowingly, only to find out that an ogre who eats little children.
After outwitting the ogre and escaping, the children got back home safely all because of the bravery and courage of Little Thumbling. He outsmarted the ogre and his wife in order to get his siblings back safely. In the end of the story, Little Thumbling found a position in a kingdom as the king's messenger and made enough money for his family to live comfortably.
In Bettelheim's "The Uses of Enchantment". he mentions that "Hansel and Gretel", the child must learn to let go before their parents force them to encounter pressures and obstacles. They must overcome certain challenges. Specifically, these challenges are related to a maternal figure in the story, which is why in most of the tales of "Hansel and Gretel", the mother was the one to abandon the kids in the forest. Children have to face their fears and must be able to overcome certain tasks in order to gain independence to be able to survive amongst themselves.
Kenyan folk and fairy tales are similar but different from regular, traditional stories. African Oral Literature is making a normal story your own and inviting others to participate. There are refined and changeable parts to make the story unique. They're different from the stories that we read in class because they add more interactive parts and it's easier to imagine some components.
For example, the story about the ostrich and the alligator at the only drinking pond. One can imagine what the pond, alligator and ostrich looks like and them having a conversation with each other. The alligator asks the ostrich to help him get something out of his teeth and the ostrich was nice enough to help. But only the readers knew what was going to happen if he did, so it was a bit of situational irony. We knew the alligators intentions, but of course the ostrich thought he was being nice and trying to help. The alligator tried to eat the ostrich, but it's head got stuck in between the alligator's two teeth. As the ostrich and alligator started pulling away from each other, the ostrich's neck stretched and that's why their necks are so long. This story is a great example of how a Kenyan folk story can be brought together by one's own imagination, so that the story will be more memorable. Another characteristic that makes Kenyan folk tales significant is that they have a common understanding of phenomena. It helps readers understand why things are the way they are and how it happened. Most people don't know why an ostrich looks the way it does, but this story explains why. Even though it may be an exaggeration or not true at all, Kenyan stories give readers the ability to make a story real enough to believe.
"Rags to Riches" is a common term we often hear for people who move up in the world or becoming nothing into something. This is a fantasy that almost everyone has who wasn't born into it already and it may be hard for some to accomplish. I think that "rags to riches" through marriage or success is obtainable because if you stay true to yourself, work hard, and stay genuine everything will work out in the end.
In "Cinderella", despite her ugly step sisters and her stepmother mistreating her and destroying her clothes, she remained unmoved and she didn't change her character. She always showed herself and was always amicable and gentle towards everyone around her. Most people would've stooped to their level to get revenge, but that would just make things worse. She found her true love, which she deserved, and ending up winning in the end anyway. Cinderella was a good example of the saying "Good things come to those who wait." Her prince came and she moved from "rags to riches".
In "Pretty Woman", Vivian was a prostitute in Hollywood looking for way out of her stressful life. Her roommate used their rent money for drugs and she happened to run into Edward, a very wealthy businessman. He asked her back to his hotel only for week, but that was enough time to get everything to fall into place. They fell in love, even though it was 'just business'. Both Vivian and Edward realized that they couldn't live without each other. It was almost like fate had brought them together because they both were looking for the thing missing from their lives. They both ended up with each other in the end and Vivian went from struggling to make ends meet to having her true love and moving up in the world. In conclusion, the "rags to riches" motif can be realistic if you're a good person. If you work hard and are a genuine person, things will always fall into place in the end. It may not happen right away, but "good things come to those who wait" will always be an accurate statement.
