Essays on Fairy Tales

According to Andersen and Taylor (2008), "through gender socialization, men and women learn the expectations associated with their sex" (305). Speaking from the perspective of my own upbringing, I consider play, clothes, fairy tales, schooling and mass media to be the major socializing agents in my childhood. Obviously, the fundamental source of this process are parents, who encourage children to play with particular toys, choose clothes that they consider to be appropriate for their children, and educate children by means of fairy tales. Speaking within the context of toys, as on the fundamental socializing agents, the first thing that ...

Introduction

Sociology and gender studies are both expansive subject areas. In this paper, the author aims to identify and examine the existence of gender stereotyping in some famous works of literature, notably fairytales. This paper is a research proposal that outlines the research problems that the author hopes to identify, a contextualized background of the study (i.e. gender stereotyping in fairytales), a review of relevant literatures (focusing on some of the well-known fairytales that may contain evidences of gender stereotyping, a discussion about and the objectives and methods that will be used in the actual research paper. Gender stereotyping is ...

INTRODUCTION

Everyone remembers stories beginning with “once upon a time” and ending in “happily ever after.” Some people see fairytales as antiquated ideologies that are not beneficial in the modern era. Others believe that they are harmless tales intended to spark children’s imagination. Fairytales can establish ideologies about good and evil and right and wrong. They are, also, filled with pointed gender role ideals and gender stereotypes that are, today, ethically questionable. In the last few decades, there has been a literary movement of taking classic fairytales and attempting to update them and eliminate many stereotypes. This leads to ...

Across his journey of fifty years as an artist, Pinkney has succeeded in viewing the world from a different and better perspective and coming up with outstanding images that reveal his love for life, race, community and culture. His works of art offer a significant proof that good acts, no matter how minute are never a waste when displayed in beautiful images (Llanas 45). Initially created for product advertisements, greeting cards, covers and pages of periodicals, postage stamps and well-travelled historic sites, Jerry’s have also been displayed in more than one hundred illustrated books. One of the most ...

An analysis of the problems associated with the word "Troll" require a study of the words etymology in relation to its origin and the way in which it has evolved and developed throughout the years. An analysis of the research available on the etymology of the word suggests Scandinavian origins that can be traced deep into the Scandinavian folklores. The word "troll" is, therefore, quite ancient as well as complex and contradictory in nature. The various Scandinavian countries identify trolls as mythological creatures in their literary cultures. However, trolls do differ in their nature from the various countries, meaning ...

Identifying the main problematics of the word "troll requires recalling its etymology, i.e. the very first time when it was used and its transformation over the centuries. An accurate analysis of the specific sources suggests that this word is quite ancient, multi-valued, and most notably, very contradictory. The word has Scandinavian roots and its etymology goes deep into folklore. The word "troll" has a direct relationship with nature because trolls, as mythological creatures, represent nature. On this basis, one can say that trolls from Denmark differ from trolls in Sweden, Norway, and Iceland. Despite the fact that the geographical ...

Fairy tales lure children with their simple and easy to understand style and magic in the story.

The common character in any fairy tale is an imaginary being with magical powers. For Example, in “the Cinderella” story, the protagonist, Cinderella gets gold dress and jewelry out of the blue from the fairy godmother in one version or the tree near her mother’s grave in another version of the story. These supernatural powers do not represent the real world. Inculcating this false view of the world through fictional fantasy in children, who are very impressionable in the young ages, causes insidious harm to them. Instead of fostering spirit of scientific thinking, they are doing the exact ...

Romanticism. Introduction. As many got tired of regularity and rationality of Classicism, people of art started to try to find a way to express their emotions and attitudes through methods more free from canons. They found such possibility in Romanticism. Romanticism replaces the Age of Enlightenment, and coincided with the industrial revolution, that was marked by the advent of the steam engine, locomotive, ship, photos, and factory suburbs. While education was characterized by the cult of reason, and was based on its principles of civilization, romanticism advocated the cult of nature, senses and all the natural in man. It ...

La Jetée (1962) is a short science fiction film by Chris Marker. It is twenty-eight minutes long, totally in black and white, and it is comprised of a series of photos. The film describes a post-war experiment using time travel from the past to the future and vice versa in post-apocalyptic France. The director uses time travel by employing two techniques: the power of memory through a fairy tale’s illusion and the effect of photography. Like ‘Snow White’ and ‘Briar Rose’, La Jetée is a fairy tale, a political fairytale. It begins with a story of ...

Most often, Fairy tales contribute to the cultural stability in the society by creating and implementing certain perceptions and ideas regarding the ideal behavior specified for women. In most of the fairy tales the women possess certain virtues which include the core notions of passivity, dependency, and self-sacrifice for the well-being of the males. It can be stated that women are portrayed to fulfill the needs of the male figures in the society. It is a regrettable fact to note that women characters from fairy tales always depend on the males for seeking any material possession in their lives. ...

Most often, the Fairy tales contribute to the cultural stability in the society by creating and implementing certain perceptions and ideas regarding the ideal behavior specified for women. In most of the fairy tales the women possess certain virtues which include the core notions of passivity, dependency, and self-sacrifice for the well-being of the males. It can be stated the portrayed role of women is supposed to fulfill the needs of the male figures in the society. It is a regrettable fact to note that women characters from fairy tales always depend on the males for seeking any material ...

The May Fourth Movement and Chinese Literature

China has a long and rich history that stretches over several centuries. Part of that history, naturally, is a rich cultural history that includes a fine literary tradition. Unfortunately, most of that literary tradition is not well known to the West. Modern Chinese literature, that which is popular in the Western world, developed as a result of the cultural revolution that began with the May Fourth Movement. The May Fourth Movement was part of a cultural and political revolution in China that led to the birth of a new intellectual class in China as well as an opening up ...

Most often, the Fairy tales contribute to the cultural stability in the society by creating and implementing certain perceptions and ideas regarding the ideal behavior specified for women. In most of the fairy tales the women possess certain virtues which include the core notions of passivity, dependency, and self-sacrifice for the well-being of the males. It can be stated the portrayed role of women is supposed to fulfill the needs of the male figures in the society. It is a regrettable fact to note that women characters from fairy tales always depend on the males for seeking any material ...

Fairy tales contributes to cultural stability in the society since they implement certain perceptions and ideas of how women are supposed to behave. In most fairy tales, women possess certain virtues which include passivity dependency and self-sacrifice. The role of women is to fulfill the needs of the male figures. It is regrettably to note that women from fairy tales always depends on a man for material possession. The male figure is perceived as a superior being responsible for making decisions in a family setup while the woman is expected to submit to her husband. Since I was a ...

Fairytales play an important role in the formation of personality in childhood. Knowing this, most parents read stories to their children. In fact, every fairy tale has a moral lesson that is presented in the form of a narrative. And children, by reading stories, automatically learn certain truths. However, some fairy tales might be more than instructive stories. Sometimes they can have quite ambiguous subtext. This paper analyzes the fairy tale "Red Riding Hood" by Charles Perrault. Probably everyone used to read this story as a child. It seemed that everything is clear in it. This paper presents a ...

Fairytales play an important role in the formation of personality in childhood. Knowing this, most parents read stories to their children. In fact, every fairy tale has a moral lesson that is presented in the form of a narrative. And children, by reading stories, automatically learn certain truths. However, some fairy tales might be more than instructive stories. Sometimes they can have quite ambiguous subtext. This paper analyzes the fairy tale "Red Riding Hood" by Charles Perrault. Probably everyone used to read this story as a child. It seemed that everything is clear in it. This paper presents a ...

ARTE 480

Midterm Essay In November 18, 1928, Mickey Mouse was presented to the world by Walt Disney, which eventually ruled the popular culture among the younger sector of the global society. In succeeding decades after its conception, the Walt Disney Company did not only create hundreds of cartoon characters, but also brought to the world a seemingly magical kingdom. The animations, characters, resorts, theme parks, and the merchandise owned by Disney have all became part of the popular culture and had become precious memories of every person’s childhood years. In this respect, this paper will discuss Disney as a ...

My Name

In the terms of modern society, the concept of child development tends to be interpreted as a really important one. In fact, that is true, because keeping the child healthy, socialized and ready to future life is the main task of parents. Fairytales is an indispensable attribute of childhood of any person and of any nation or the historical era. The tales are usually read to children from book, but adults often like to compose the story. Consequently, it is fair to claim that a fairytale is both a way of kids’ development and self cognition for adults. The ...

“Fairy Tale is Form, Form is Fairy Tale”

1. According to K. Bernheimer, as fairy tales belong to the realm of classical literature, they are the source of many writing forms and techniques applied by representatives of both mainstream and avant-garde literary movements. Stating that fairy tales connect all people “in the act of living” (Bernheimer 71), she expresses the idea that they influence the way we perceive the world and react to it. These ideas seem to be well-grounded: the four elements mentioned by the author, namely “flatness, abstraction, intuitive logic, and normalized magic” (Bernheimer 64), are indeed found in both realistic and experimental literature, some ...

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by Joanne K. Rowling is the first book in a series of novels about Harry Potter, a young magician. The book is commonly referred to as children’s literature, though a deeper insight into its plot and symbols used by the author reveals much more essential, even encyclopedic, knowledge about British history and folklore as well as ancient mythology. Something that may initially seem to be just products of Rowling’s imagination turns out to be real things rooted in history and traditions, fairy tales and myth. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’ ...

Fairytales generally offer children a very limited choice of heroes and villains, and they cast men and women in stereotyped roles, because they are meant to socialize children according to the values of the society and according to their expected gender roles. Two feminine characters found in many fairytales are the wicked stepmother and the young and beautiful heroine, who is often a princess. In such fairytales as Grimm brothers’ “Snow White”, “Cinderella” and “Mother Holle”, the stepmother is an intruder who occupies the role of the good mother and persecutes the young, beautiful and kind heroine. She is ...

All children grow up in the magical world of fairy tales that have been so gripping and inspiring. Most of the legends are about challenges and tough times plus how the main character deals with injustices in their lives. Although the primary motive behind telling those fairy tales is pure entertainment for children, the tales are well known as a literary genre. Thus, there is a lot more to those fairy tales as they have a lot to offer to people of all age groups. The setting of the storyline sis simple in nature and magical. The characters are ...

Comparative Analysis of Grimm Brother’s Bluebeard and Fitcher’s Bird of (1812) to, A Tuscan Bluebeard by Isabella Anderton (1905)

Introduction

The comparative analysis of the fairy tales of Grimm Brother’s Bluebeard and Fitcher’s Bird of (1812) with, A Tuscan Bluebeard by Isabella Anderton, takes a feminist viewpoint. Therefore, the comparative attributes of this essay will be embedded on social issues including; marriage, gender, sex, various accords of violence, relationships, among other lenses that determine the mode and trend of a society. Similarity of these viewpoint mean commonality of the same topic discussed in these book, while ...

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And they lived happily ever after. Several fairy tales that we row up with end up this way. The prince and the princess fall in love with each other as soon as their eyes meet, and soon enough, they find themselves vowing to be together for the rest of their lives. From fairy tales, novels, and movies, we have been exposed to the concept of being attracted and falling in love, and these ideas are almost always believed to be matters of the heart. Often, we think that fate calls our heart and guides as to find ...

Introduction

Mythology or myths in the current American society are associated with outdated and insensible tell-tale stories that do not have a place in the modern scientific world. The mythos are viewed as the tales similar to the ancient fairy tales that were relevant based in the manner of the lives at that time. Many of the Americans argue that the myths have no place in the current American societies and clinging to them would be the most stupid thing to do. However, that assertion could be misleading for the myths form a critical part in the formation of the ...

Victim and villain is a concept that is largely dependent on a societal view and understanding that is sourced from a common social practice. The image created by the society members is what is taken to represent the true villain and victim of a situation or occurrence, in this case a crime. The ideas and knowledge built up and shaped by the society’s tales, beliefs, and perception is what is used in the judging of a person and understanding their criminal deeds. There are many issues and aspects that fall into play while victim/villain concepts are being explained and decided by upon ...

History of Children’s Literature

In the time when there were no books and not everyone could write and read, mothers and grandmothers were able only to tell their children or grandchildren stories and fairy tales. Even when people became more literate, they did not begin to write down folklore for youngsters. It was Charles Perrault, who collected and published folk tales for children in 1697. However, speaking about folklore, people imagine more often not Charles Perrault, but the Brothers Grimm (Zipers, 2002). They are considered to be the first collectors of both folk and fairy tales. The reason for this is their ...

Feminism is a complex concept that is not easy to define. It is an ideology that brings together several different subcategories that uniquely differ from one another. The stylish and radical author of the twentieth century, Angela Carter, exposes her feminist view through her various writings including Fairy Tales, The Sadeian Woman and The Bloody Chamber. As observed by Anna Katsavos in her interview, Carter believes that the view of the female gender is negative with their role being less than ideal to an extent that does not please nor give them glory (Carter and Katsavos 12). In her earliest ...

In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka has generated serious debate on the importance of justice and the deeper meanings in the story. Revolving around an explorer who has come to assess the “apparatus” or the executive tool in the penal colony, the tale is of extreme condemnation and violence of inhumanity. However, going into the depth of the story may lead the reader to believe that the author has provided a setting which was devoid of the concept of justice in humanity. This can further be understood by the references made to the Old Commandment which may be ...

The world of fairy tales is a world of black and white, good and evil, where the villain is perceptibly malevolent, his actions mirroring his wicked soul and he is eventually punished, righteously so in the end. Simultaneously, heroines are the ones who enjoy the symbolic protection of the fairy tale universe and it is this that proves to be their salvation, and not their own survival skills. However, one heroine rises above all of these passive damsels in distress and takes her fate into her own hands. At first, Gretel is obedient and passive, listening to her brother’s ...

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” has been a beloved children’s fairy tale, as presented by Walt Disney, who stripped it off of its innate, shocking cruelty and ideas which did not appeal to the general public’s idea of what a fairy tale is supposed to sound like. The original story, as captured on paper by the Grimm brothers is one of violence and unnecessary bloodshed, of villains being punished in unimaginably cruel ways, all in order to appease the black and white world of the fairy tale universe.

Most parents believe that children would prefer being told ...

In many ways this story is an inverted fairy tale – beginning with “once upon a time.” In what ways does the fairy tale motif inform the tale?

The fairy tale motif that informs this story does so in two main ways: firstly, it affects the way Godwin writes and the choices of language and descriptive detail that she uses; secondly, because of the mythic qualities that we associate with fairy tales – the notion that they embody some sort of moral message – the woman becomes an archetypal figure, not an individual, but a type or Everywoman. Finally, because ...

Reading: In the first week, students will ask and answer questions about the salient details of a text. For example, students may be read to from the Corduroy series, a series of children's books about the adventures of a stuffed bear, and be asked questions based on the text. They may interact with a stuffed bear to personalize their experience of the story. Writing: Students will learn the basics of simple sentence construction using objects, subject, articles, and verbs (for example: The boy kicked the ball). They will use word banks to guide their sentence writing. Speaking and Listening: Students will ...

The discipline of children has been a growing concern for the parents and educators as well as authorities. Parents are constantly striving to shape the discipline and gender roles of their children through different initiatives. Additionally, educators and policy formulators are striving to ensure that, these gender roles are reinforced as well as learned in the schools. Different studies have indicated that, most parents in the United States and in different countries of the world do not spend much time with their children. These children are either left at home with their care takers or sent to day care facilities. ...

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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 they are normally ...

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 is changed, afterwards. Because of ...

Introduction

Oscar Wilde lived a short life: it was shortened, blighted and humiliated - social hypocrisy, the letter of the law and the arrogance of decadent behavior of the poet. Oscar Fingal (according to some sources - Fringal) O'Flaherty Wills Wilde was born on October 6, 1854 in the family of Sir William Wilde, Dublin ophthalmologist with the world-famous author of dozens of books on medicine, history and geography. "The dirtiest man in all of Ireland" this was saying about him. However, in England, he was appointed court surgeon, and later made a lord. In Stockholm, he was given the Order ...

Literature is a powerful tool that has the ability to take readers to different worlds and different eras. Literature has a way to change readers’ perspectives and teach valuable lessons. From the beginning of time the world has known stories. As time passed stories developed into pieces of literature that have lived for thousands of years, and the most recognizable of that literature that has survived this long will continue to flourish readers’ imagination. Literature has the power to access one of the greatest forms of relaxation and stress relief; it has the power to help readers escape. Most children have ...

- 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 ...

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 ...

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 hour of ...

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 were involved in the ...

Fairy tales are stories that characteristically feature folkloric fantasy characters like dwarves, ogres, and witches among others to communicate a story. They are employ use of fear and violence to illuminate disparities of differences in the society. Studies from educators and sociologist are shown supportive evidence that the fear and violence in folk tales contribute to a better educated and safer society, therefore, supporting the point that fairy tales serve to or give a life lesson.

The happy prince

This was a story about a prince and a swallow who fell in love with each other. Before he died, he lived in a palace where sorrow was not allowed, ...

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 good ...

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 modern ...

Thesis statement

Cinderella fairy tales have evolved with time, incorporating plot elements in different ways. Introduction The ancient Cinderella tales have evolved to a complex state nowadays. The evolution has brought about changes in the modern literature, leading to the depiction of a very different Cinderella from that depicted in the old untrue tales. These changes are in the character portrayed by Cinderella, point of view, theme, and the setting (Parsons 135).

Character

‘The politically correct Cinderella’, ‘a feminist view’, and ‘America’s Cinderella’ versions of tales differ in how they present the character of Cinderella (Parsons 135). However, Cinderella in all the ...

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 civil argument for quite a ...

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 of stones is intriguing. In the ...

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 and ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 since ...

The place where people would like to visit is Disneyland in California. This is because of the recreational experience that people get in this place. The place is designed in such a manner that the visibility is perfect and also the accessibility for the audience is well designed. One attraction to Disneyland is the social value it brings to the people who visit there. There is social control and social connection with this place. Another aspect with Disneyland is the way color has been used. There is the perfect use of color. One experience with many people who visit Disneyland ...

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, events, ...

The aim of this essay is to present you with an argument on the invaluable power of mythology as a positive influence on the world today. Mythology, like a number of other fields holding a legendary past, has provoked lots of heated debate concerning the usefulness of something which has remained throughout the centuries more thanks to its past rather than its present evolution. But what seems to slip lots of people’s minds involved in such arguments is that any kind of progress made in humanity’s life is not made with an aim at rejecting the past. It is ...

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 ...

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 as much into the experience of reading as ...

The forest is full of mysterious and frightening places but a walk through it may reveal the innermost secrets. Who walks there? Is it the ghosts of the past who make their homes in the deep recesses of the trees which have stood there for centuries? Or is the dull secret of the past where several women were burned alive for adultery? No one will ever know since the secrets are closed up and the voice is silent. I walk with trepidation into the darkness. The grass appears soft and green beneath my feet as I decide to walk ...

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 actors ...

Counseling is a tool for development and enhancement of life. In a counseling process, a skillful counselor is able to help patients who want to develop themselves and make changes in their lives. Counseling with children is a beneficial concept in the field of counseling as it helps in the development process of a child becoming an adult. This ranges from a young kid, through adolescence, youth, and finally becoming an adult. It is necessary to apply exceptional care in child counseling as the patient may seem undemanding, but have complex issues. The nature of handling and acquiring information on the problem from the client ...