THE UNIVERSITY OF WINNIPEG
ENGL 2114/6-050: Fairy Tales and Culture
Term: Fall-Winter 2010-11
Time: M 6-9pm
Room: 2C14
Email: c.tosenberger@uwinnipeg.ca
Professor: Catherine Tosenberger
Office: 3C25B
Phone: 789-1472
Office Hours: T 3-5pm
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In this course students study fairy tales, focusing not only on original source material, but on
literature written specifically for children based on these borrowed forms. Students trace the
history of fairy tales from their origins in myth and folklore to their impact on contemporary
culture today. Students read and write critically about these tales and engage in comparisons on
multiple fronts, exploring major themes and characteristics of these tales as well as the social and
psychological aspects of them. The goal is to enrich our appreciation of these tales by
strengthening our critical understanding of them as well as to gain insight as to how these tales
function in our selves and our society.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Note: the bookstore tends to get rid of books by the middle of October. Buy these EARLY.
Afanas’ev, Aleksandr. Russian Fairy Tales. Trans. Norbert Guterman. Pantheon: New York,
1976.
Carter, Angela. The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories. London: Penguin, 1990.
_____. Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and Other Classic Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault.
New York: Penguin, 2008.
Dundes, Alan. Cinderella: A Casebook. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988.
McCarthy, William Bernard, ed. Jack in Two Worlds: Contemporary North American Tales and
Their Tellers. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994.
Pratchett, Terry. Witches Abroad. Corgi, 1991.
Tatar, Maria, ed. The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen. Trans. Julie K. Allen. New York:
Norton, 2007.
Zipes, Jack, ed. and trans. The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. 3rd ed. New York:
Bantam, 2003.
E-reserves
RECOMMENDED TEXTS
I highly recommend that you acquire a 2009 MLA style guide, a dictionary, and a thesaurus if
you do not have them already. All papers must be submitted in the most recent (2009) MLA
format.
RECOMMENDED ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
The following sites provide useful information for writers of research papers:
The University of Toronto’s Advice on Academic Writing website:
http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/advise.html
Purdue Online Writing Lab
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
ASSIGNMENTS
In-Class Reading Responses (in class throughout the year): 1% each x 15 = 15%
Group Presentation (4, 18 October; 8, 15, 22 November): 10%
Fairy Tale Autoethnography (27 September, 500-700 words): 10%
Tale Type Study (1 December, 600-800 words): 15%
Retelling Study (28 February, 800-1000 words): 20%
Final Research Paper (4 April, 1500-2000 words): 30%
Your course grade will be based on the following assignments. There are no exams; your entire
grade comes from your writing. This means that while you won't have to remember all of the
texts in detail, you will be writing about most of them. Because we have a lot to do in class, I
don't plan to devote class time to writing issues, but I'm available during office hours for help. I'm
always happy to read drafts.
I reserve the right to give unannounced quizzes if I feel that students are too far behind in the
reading or if discussion lags; should we have quizzes, they will be averaged with the reading
responses.
Reading Responses: 15 x 1% = 15%
Length: 1-2 handwritten pages
Due: In class over the course of the year, starting in Week 2
Over the year, you will write fifteen reading responses in class; these dates are marked on the
syllabus. The reading response is, as the name implies, simply a short meditation on the reading.
Your reading response should offer a response to the assignment (book, stories, articles) as a
whole; you may address a number of issues or focus more in-depth on one or two; just be as
specific as you can.
I do not expect you to have a thorough interpretation, but your reading response should offer
some kind of evaluation or analysis of the assignment. These responses are designed to stimulate
class discussion, and to help you remember the texts and generate paper ideas.
There are fifteen of these throughout the course of the year, and full credit will be granted if you
appear to have put some thought into your response; credit will be withheld if a) there is no
attempt at analysis, or b) it is clear you have not read the text. If you have not read the text, save
us all some time and simply turn in a blank sheet with your name on it, to be counted present.
Reading responses are ONLY allowed in class; if you are not in class, or arrive late, on a
day that we do a reading response, you cannot make it up. You MAY NOT turn in reading
responses at any time other than the class period in which they are assigned.
Fairy Tale Autoethnography: 5%
Length: 500-700 words
Due: 27 September
Write a brief analysis of your experience with fairy tales. Did fairy tales form an important part
of your reading and/or film viewing growing up? Do you have a favorite story? A least favorite?
Why? What do you find most (or least) appealing about fairy tales? What are you hoping to get
out of this class? I don't usually ask students to write personal essays, and I do not expect this
essay to be confessional in the modern talk-show sense. This is an exercise in reconstruction and
speculation; you are both the ethnographer and the subject. You are welcome to experiment with
format, as long as you chronicle your history as a fairy tale reader/viewer in some accessible way.
Group Presentation: 10%
Due: 4, 18 October; 8, 15, 22 November
To better understand the history of fairy tale collection and scholarship, you will be presenting, in
a group, on ONE of the following writers during the year: Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm,
Hans Christian Andersen, Andrew Lang, Aleksandr Afanas’ev. Each of these writers and
scholars has contributed enormously to fairy tale studies, and your presentation will discuss their
work. You will be expected to cover his or her major works, most famous arguments concerning
fairy tales, theoretical approaches, and influence over later fairy tale scholarship.
Tale Type Study: 15%
Length: 600-800 words
Due: 1 December
Consult The Types of International Folktales (Aarne, Thompson, and Uther) in our library’s
reference section (call number GR1 F55). Choose a tale type from between the numbers 300-745
(Magic Tales). Look up as many versions of that tale as you can find, and write a brief analysis
of the tale’s structure and motifs. What are the common denominators between various versions
of the tale? What elements of that tale seem to be necessary for it to be classified as such, and
which ones can be jettisoned? Which aspects of the story seem the most subject to variation?
Retelling Study: 15%
Length: 800-1000 words
Due: 28 February
Choose several retellings of a traditional fairy tale, in any format – film, picture book, poem,
novel, television show – and discuss them in relation to each other and the folk versions. While
this has elements of a classic compare-and-contrast essay, I’d like you to draw some larger
conclusions, using your chosen texts, about this particular fairy tale’s representation in folk texts
and in texts for children and/or adults. You must consult at least two scholarly sources.
Final Research Paper: 30%
Length: 1500-2000 words
Due: 4 April
Your final essay is open topic literary/cultural analysis. The only requirement is that you discuss
fairy tales and/or folk narratives, and that, in your analysis, you make use of relevant scholarship.
You may work with as few or as many primary texts as you like, but you need to draw from at
least 6 scholarly sources (peer-reviewed articles, books or book chapters -- NOT websites, unless
they're also scholarly).
GRADING SCALE
A+
97 - 100%
A
92 - 96%
A88 – 91%
B+
85 - 87%
B
80 - 84%
GPA 4.50
GPA 4.25
GPA 4.0
GPA 3.5
GPA 3.0
C+
C
D
F
75 - 79%
70 - 74%
60 - 69%
Below 60%
GPA 2.5
GPA 2.0
GPA 1.0
GPA 0
NOTES
For more information regarding the English Department, please refer to our website at
http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/academic/as/english/index.shtml.
1.
This course outline should be considered a guideline only. Time constraints and other
unforeseen factors may require that some of the scheduled topics be omitted or covered in
less detail than indicated.
2.
Work submitted for evaluation must be either typed or text processed, double spaced, and
in a 12-point standard font (such as Times New Roman or Arial). All assignments must
be submitted in hard copy form, and they MUST be stapled: if papers are not
stapled, I will not accept them.
3.
It is the student’s responsibility to retain an electronic and/or hard copy of ALL
assignments submitted for grading; in the event of loss or theft, a duplicate copy is
required.
4.
Students are expected to demonstrate competence in written grammatical expression,
organization and development of ideas, vocabulary use, and spelling. If you have
concerns about your ability to express yourself in writing, please come to see me at the
earliest possible opportunity. I am always happy to look over drafts during my office
hours.
5.
Cellular phones MUST be turned off during classes.
6.
The best way to get in touch with me is through e-mail. Please do not expect email
responses from me on weekends. I will respond to email and phone messages as
promptly as I am able during the week. When you email me, please indicate in the subject
line the gist of your message (“Extension request,” “Research paper question,” “Cool link
to fairy tales site,” etc.): all emails with no subject line will be deleted without reading.
7.
I am always happy to provide explanations of the grades I give; however, be advised that
I put a lot of thought into assigning grades, and am unlikely to change them except in the
case of genuine mathematical error. Your wants, needs, and grades in other English
courses are irrelevant: I grade what is put in front of me.
8.
Students are advised to read the pertinent pages of the 2010/2011 Calendar for the rules
regarding Registration, Voluntary Withdrawals, Academic Misconduct including
plagiarism, and Appeals. Concerning plagiarism, please note that as a general rule, an F
in the course will be the penalty, recommended by the English Departmental Review
Committee to the Senate Committee on Academic Misconduct, for plagiarism on major
assignments in English Department courses.
6.
Services for Students with Disabilities:
Students with documented disabilities requiring academic accommodations for
tests/exams (e.g., private space) or during lectures/laboratories (e.g., access to volunteer
note-takers) are encouraged to contact Andrea Johnston, Coordinator of Disability
Services (DS) at 786-9771 or a.johnston@uwinnipeg.ca, to discuss appropriate options.
Specific information about DS is available on-line at
http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/index/services-disability. All information about disability is
confidential.
7.
21 January is the final date to withdraw without academic penalty from courses that
begin in September and end in April.
8.
Late Assignment Penalties: All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due
date. If you require an extension, you MUST request it at least 2 days before the due
date, give me a very good reason for requesting the extension, and specify a time (which
must be acceptable to me) when you will submit the work. In all other cases, I will take 2
points off for every calendar day the work is late. Since there are only 100 total points
for the class, this is significant. No unexplained late assignments will be accepted
after they are 7 days late. Late assignments, excused or not, will not receive comments,
only grades.
9.
If you wish to learn anything from this class, regular attendance will be necessary.
However, I have better things to do than monitor your attendance, and the only person
who will suffer from repeated absences is you. You are still responsible for any work
due that day.
10.
You will not be allowed to make up responses. The reason there are fifteen responses
is so that you can miss a couple without a serious effect on your grade, so please do not
ask.
11.
If you are absent, do not contact me demanding to know what you missed; it is your
responsibility to gather that information from your classmates, not mine to provide it to
you. Much of our learning will take place during class discussion, which by nature is
free-flowing and extemporaneous, so I may not even have any notes to give you.
12.
The English Department wishes to ensure that your right to privacy regarding handing in
and getting back assignments is protected. Most assignments will be handed in and
handed back in class or at the Instructor’s office. If assignments are to be handled in
another way and you are concerned about others having access to your work, you should
attach to your assignment a self-addressed envelope that can be sealed. If this is not
done, it is assumed that you have waived your concerns in this area.
13.
In this class, we will be discussing issues of sexuality, gender, class and race, and
students are expected to conduct themselves with appropriate sensitivity and tolerance. A
university education is designed to enable you to function as an educated adult in a
diverse society, not to reconfirm your biases.
READING SCHEDULE
(VERY tentative: expect additions, for which you will be given plenty of notice.)
Fall
Week 1: 13 September
Course Introduction
Film: Ever After (2008)
Week 2: 20 September
Reading Response 1 in-class: Elliott Oring, “Folk Narratives” (E-Reserve)
Lecture: Myth, Legend, Fairy Tale
Week 3: 27 September
Due: Fairy Tale Autoethnography
Film: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Week 4: 4 October
Group Presentation: Charles Perrault
Reading Response 2 in-class: Carter, The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault; Zipes, “Setting
Standards for Civilization Through Fairy Tales” (e-reserve); Warner, “In the Kingdom of Fiction”
(e-reserve)
Week 5: 11 October
THANKSGIVING: NO CLASS
Makeup Day 1 December 2010
Week 6: 18 October
Group Presentation: The Brothers Grimm
Reading Response 3 in-class: Zipes, The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm; Zipes,
“Once There Were Two Brothers Named Grimm” (in Complete Fairy Tales); Tatar, “Sex and
Violence” (e-reserve)
Week 7: 25 October
Guest Speaker: Pauline Greenhill
Greenhill and Kohm, “Little Red Riding Hood and the Pedophile in Film” (Jeunesse); “Little Red
Cap” (Grimm); “Little Red Riding Hood” (Perrault)
Week 8: 1 November
Reading Response 4 in-class: Dundes, Cinderella: A Casebook (3-110)
Lecture: The Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index and Vladimir Propp
Week 9: 8 November
Group Presentation: Hans Christian Andersen
Reading Response 5 in-class: Tatar, The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen; Zipes, “Critical
Reflections About Hans Christian Andersen, the Failed Revolutionary” (Project MUSE); Mylius,
“’Our Time is the Time of the Fairy Tale’” (Project MUSE)
Week 10: 15 November
Group Presentation: Andrew Lang
Reading Response 6 in-class: Bennett, “Geologists and Folklorists” (JSTOR); Hines,
“Collecting the Empire” (Project MUSE); Smol, ”The ‘Savage’ and the ‘Civilized’” (Project
MUSE)
Week 11: 22 November
Group Presentation: Aleksandr Afanas’ev
Reading Response 7 in-class: Ivanits, “The Pagan Background”(e-reserve)
Afanaes’ev: "The Armless Maiden" (294-99); "The Magic Swan Geese" (349-51); "Two Ivans,
Soldier's Sons" (463-75); "Shemiaka the Judge" (625-27); "Salt," (40-44); "The Three Kingdoms"
(49-53); "Prince Ivan, the Firebird, and the Gray Wolf" (612-24); Baba Yaga and the Brave
Youth” (76-79); “Baba Yaga” (194-95); “Koshchey the Deathless” (485-93); “Maria Morevna,”
(553-62); "Vasilisa the Beautiful" (439-47); "The Maiden Tsar" (229-34)
Week 12: 29 November-1 December
M: Film: The Red Shoes (1948)
W: Tale Type Study Due
Winter
Week 1: 10 January
Reading Response 8 in-class: McCarthy, Oxford, and Sobol, Jack in Two Worlds
Week 2: 17 January
Picture Books
Week 3: 24 January
Reading Response 9 in-class: Freud, "The Occurrence in Dreams of Material from Fairy Tales"
(e-reserve); von Franz, “The Beautiful Wassilissa” (Dundes 200-18); Bettelheim,
“Transformations” (e-reserve); Estes, “Nosing Out the Facts” (e-reserve)
Week 4: 31 January
Reading Response 10 in-class: Carter, The Bloody Chamber
Week 5: 7 February
Reading Response 11 in-class: Haase, “Gold into Straw: Fairy Tale Movies for Children and
the Culture Industry” (Project MUSE); Zipes, “Breaking the Disney Spell” (e-reserve);
Shortsleeve, “The Wonderful World of the Depression” (Project MUSE)
Film: Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Week 6: 14 February
Reading Response 12 in-class: Pratchett, Witches Abroad
Week 7: 21 February
READING WEEK: NO CLASS
Week 8: 28 February
Due: Retelling Study
Week 9: 7 March
Reading Response 13 in-class: Lieberman, “’Some Day My Prince Will Come’” (e-reserve);
Haase, “Feminist Fairy Tale Scholarship” (e-reserve); Bottigheimer, “Silenced Women in the
Grimms’ Tales” (e-reserve); Sexton, selections from Transformations (e-reserve)
Week 10: 14 March
Reading Response 14 in-class: Greenhill, “Fitcher’s (Queer) Bird” (Project MUSE); “Fitcher’s
Bird” (Zipes 155-58)
Week 11: 21 March
Reading Response 15 in-class: Tosenberger, “’Kinda Like the Folklore of its Day’”
(Transformative Works and Cultures – online)
TV Episode: Supernatural, “Bedtime Stories” (2007)
Week 12: 28 March
Film: A Cinderella Story (2004)
Week 13: 4 April
Due: Final Paper