Tales from Denmark (Andrew Lang) Week 11: More European Fairy Tales - Assignments - Reading - Resources - Images

Reflections Essay

Choose one of the essay topics for this week. You will find the topics listed down at the bottom of this page; scroll down to find them. If you want to write on a different topic, contact the instructor first (make sure you do that at least one day before the deadline so that you can receive an answer back in time).

Links to stories. You need to provide a link back to each of the specific stories that you discuss in your essay.

Image. You are required to include at least one image with the story, along with a link to the webpage where you found the image, plus information about the image. You are free to re-use the images you find at the course website, or you can choose some other image to use that you find on the internet. Remember: even if you are re-using an image from the course website, you need to provide image information about it.

Title. You need to include the words "Essay for Week ___" in the title you give to the post, along with a title for your actual story (for example, "Essay for Week 2: Dangerous Magic in Egyptian Legends")

Length. Your Storytelling post needs to be a minimum of 300 words long (maximum 1000 words). Make sure you do a spellcheck and a word count, and that you proofread your post by reading it out loud.

When you are done, complete the Gradebook Declaration.

Children's Stories. Do the stories you read this week seem like "children's stories"? In general, what kinds of stories do you think that children like? What kinds of stories are "good" for children to read? What aspects of this week's stories would be really appealing to children? Do you think the language is appropriate for children? Did you read any of these stories when you were a child? What can you remember about your experience of these stories from your childhood? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.

Our Fears. Many myths and folktales are "scary" stories that play with things that we are afraid of. Did any of this week's stories qualify as "scary" stories? What are the fears that these stories used in their plots? What were the sources of fear in these stories? How did the characters in the story react to these frightening situations? Why do you think people like reading stories on topics that are frightening? Do these stories somehow calm our fears, or exploit them and make them worse? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.

Wisdom. Is the "quest for wisdom" an important theme in this week's stories? Are any of the characters in the story especially curious about the world? What kind of knowledge do they want to acquire? How do they go about seeking knowledge? Do they succeed in this quest, or fail? Does this story of a quest for knowledge contain any message about education in general? Does this story provide a kind of example for us to imitate (or a negative example to avoid)? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.

Tricksters and Fools. One of the most popular figures in folklore and mythology around the world is the "trickster" character. The "fool" is a related character. Who are some of the tricksters and fools you saw in this week's readings? Are there characters who combine "trickster" and "fool" into a single character? What kinds of adventures do the tricksters and fools have? How do the other characters in the story interact with the tricksters and fools? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.

Comedy and Humor. What were some of the comic elements in this week's stories? Did you appreciate the humor in the stories? What are the characters and/or situations that were supposed to be humorous? Was the humor based on surprise? exaggeration? making fun of someone or something? Did any of the stories make you laugh out loud? Which story did you think was the most humorous? How does the kind of humor you found in these stories compare to the kind of humor found in television and movies today? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.

Magic and the Supernatural. Magic and supernatural elements are important for many mythological and folktale traditions. What examples of magic and supernatural elements did you see in this week's stories? What kinds of characters used magic? What did they use magic for? Were there supernatural characters or events in this week's stories? What role did these supernatural characters or events play in the plot of the stories? Would you say that magic and supernatural motifs were dominant elements in this week's readings? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.

Women's Roles. Many storytelling traditions are male-oriented, with the female characters appearing in clearly subordinate roles. Sometimes the stories are explicitly misogynistic, treating women with contempt, suspicion or fear. In other storytelling traditions, women (or girls) emerge as the central characters, and they are represented in a more positive light. What did you think about the way women and girls were represented in the stories that you read this week? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.

Parents and Children / Brothers and Sisters. Many myths and folktales are about the relations between parents and their children, or between brothers, or brothers and sisters. What impression did you have of the parents (mothers, fathers) and siblings (brothers, sisters) from this week's readings? Do you think that these parent-child or sibling relationships were an important theme for the stories? Were there some specific family behaviors that were being promoted by the stories? Some specific family behaviors that were being discouraged? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.