Research Materials for Fairy Tales

• Psychosexual Stages
• Psychosexual Stages Video
• Pleasure Principle and Reality Principle Video

• Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment. Vintage Books, 1989.
• Hansel and Gretel
• Little Red Cap
• Cinderella
• The Three Little Pigs

Discussion Questions for Bettelheim:

1. What is the central theme of "Little Red Cap"?
2. What are some of the differences between "Hansel and Gretel" and "Little Red Cap"?
3. How does 'sibling rivalry' fit into "Cinderella" and what can a child learn in the story?
4. How does the 'reality principle' manifest itself in "the Three Little Pigs"?
5. What does the wolf represent to a child?

Fairy Tale Assignment

Task:

Choose one of the fairy tales we have read and create a web page which persuades the audience (parents, educators, etc.) that the fairy tale should be read to children for their personal growth and psychological health.

Details:

• Include support from both the fairy tale and Bettelheim's The Uses of Enchantment.
• Cite both sources in MLA.
• Use both text and images to convey the message.
• Use Adobe Spark to create a Web Page and copy and paste the link into the document shared with you in Google Drive.
• 350-500 words
• Draft due: 3/5 (T/Th), 3/6 (MWF); Final revision due: 3/11 (MWF), 3/12 (T/Th)

More Fairy Tales

Read the following:

Little Red Cap
The Three Little Pigs
Cinderella

Fairy Tales and Meaning

What is a fairy tale?

Read the following:

"Hansel and Gretel"

Introduction to The Uses of Enchantment

"The Child's Need for Magic" p.45-53

Consider the following from Bettelheim: "Most of all, the child wants support for his still very tenuous belief that through growing up, working hard, and maturing he will one day be the victorious one. If his present sufferings will be rewarded in the future, he need not act on his jealousy of the moment . . ."

How do fairy tales help with this desire? What stories can you think of that exemplify this idea?

Theme Graphic Assignment

Spark Post

Select one of the texts we've read recently ("Experiment in Terror", the Symposium, or "Oh Baby") and create a graphic representation of a full statement of its theme ("Experiment in Terror suggests that . . .).

Use Adobe Spark to create a graphic, which should show your full statement of theme as well as an image appropriate to the statement, and paste the image in the Google Doc shared with you in Drive.

Constructed Response

In the same document underneath your graphic, write a constructed response explaining your statement.  Please use the following format for your constructed response:

1. First, explain exactly why the theme is important. Why should we be concerned with the issue or problem outside the story itself in our real lives? What could we gain from reading this text and understanding this theme?
2. Then, identify two literary elements in the text that contribute to your understanding of the theme. How do they contribute to the "argument" made by the text?

350 words; Due: 2/25 T/Th, 2/24 MWF

‘If music be the food of love, play on.’

Click here to read "Experiment in Terror" and discuss the following:

1. Where does the story take place? Why is this important?
2. What is the nature of the experiment? What does Professor Chadwick want to find out about and why?
3. Why does the couple decide to participate in the experiment?
4. Why does Horton attempt to free the couple? What does this say about his character?
5. What is the result of the experiment? What can it teach us about the nature of humanity in these conditions? About love?

Click here to read a portion of Plato's Symposium (Aristophanes's speech) and discuss the following:

1. Why did Zeus cut human beings in two? What does this say about the nature of humanity's relationship with the gods? What do the gods represent in this case?
2. If the story is not meant to be literal, why not? What does it attempt to explain? Why do we seek an explanation?
3. Why is it necessary to "share in a common fate"?
4. Do such modern concepts of "homosexual" or "heterosexual" apply here? How so or how not?

Watch the following and consider how the story is resolved. Where does the couple go? Why?

Initial Letter Exchange

Exchange letters with your peers. Read the letters and click here to view a series of questions to answer in your notebook.