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Fairy Tale Syllabus
Fairy Tale Syllabus
Course Description:
From Little Red Riding Hood to Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast to Snow White and beyond, fairy tales have permeated
nearly every aspect of our lives. Where did they come from? Why have they endured throughout the centuries? What
makes a fairy tale a fairy tale, really? This course will lead us on a journey through time and space to seek answers to
these questions. We will analyze popular fairy tales from 17th-century France, 19th-century Germany, 20th- century
United Kingdom and America as well as cinematic adaptations from Disney and Hollywood. Using a variety of
methodologies, we will explore the structure and function of fairy tales, how they have evolved over time to retain their
social influence, to what extent categories that have been proposed by scholars such as Vladimir Propp and Antti Arne
are useful for understanding them, while we also situate these tales within their national traditions and historical
periods. We will encounter magical beings of all shapes and sizes, wonderful worlds filled with mystery and intrigue, but
not everything has a happy ending. You may come to realize that Cinderella’s wicked stepmother, Little Red’s wolf, or
Snow White’s poisoned apple are much more frightening than you ever imagined!
Course Objectives:
In this course students will:
● develop critical/analytical reading skills
● Improve their writing skills
● gain an understanding of the structure, meaning, and function of fairy tales
● expand their historical, cultural, and theoretical knowledge
● argue a thesis with supporting evidence
Required Text:
The Classic Fairy Tales, ed. Maria Tatar. Norton Critical Editions, 2nd. Ed (2017)
ISBN: 978-0-393-28978-7 (E-Textbook available)
All other readings will be made available as PDFs on Canvas.
Recommended Reading:
Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion. Jack Zipes. Routledge. (2006).
ISBN: 978-0-415-97669-5
The Hard Facts of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales, Maria Tatar. Princeton University Press (1987).
ISBN: 0-691-06722-8
Morphology of the Folktale, Vladimir Propp. University of Texas Press, (2011).
ISBN: 978-0-292-78376-8
The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales, The Pantheon Fairy Tale & Folklore Library (2005).
ISBN: 0-394-70930-6
The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales: The Western fairy tale tradition from medieval to modern,
ed. Jack Zipes. Oxford University Press (2000).
ISBN: 0-19-860115-8 (hardcover) or 0-19-860115-9 (paperback)
The Juniper Tree and Other Tales from Grimm, Lore Segal and Maurice Sendak (1973).
ISBN: 0-374-18057-1
Course Requirements:
Students are required to attend all class meetings and be fully prepared to participate in discussions. Completion of
assigned readings and/or film viewings prior to class, active participation in class discussions, which will vary from full
group to partnered tasks, and satisfactory completion of all assignments are expected. There will be an in-class midterm
exam, one announced in-class quiz in the second half of the semester. Students will complete three essays, which will
demonstrate critical reading and writing skills as well as understanding of the overall content and contexts of the course.
The first two essay assignments will be graded based on an average of a first and final draft. The final essay will be
slightly longer than the first two and will therefore be worth a higher percentage of your final grade. There will be no
final exam.
Grading Breakdown:
Midterm Exam: 15%
Essay I, II (15% each) 30%
Essay III 20%
Participation 20%
Homework 15%
Attendance: Attendance of all class meetings is essential for the success of this course. Being present and prepared for
class discussions supports not only your own learning goals, but also those of your peers and your instructor. If you need
to miss class for any reason, please email me prior to the start of class time. You are responsible for keeping track of any
handouts or notes that you may have missed due to an absence. More than three unexcused absences or frequent
tardiness will lower your participation grade by 1/3 (A→ A-; A- → B+). Make-up exams are not possible except in the
case of documented emergencies. Essays handed in after the due date will receive an automatic 1/3-step grade
reduction every three days beyond the due date.
1/19 Course Introduction & Syllabus: “Fact and Fantasy: The Art of Reading Fairy Tales” in Hard Facts pp. 39-58
Tues ‘Le Petit Chaperon Rouge’ & (PDF); Aarne-Thompson-Uther (ATU) Fairy Tale Classification System
‘Little Red Riding Hood’ in Oxford (http://oaks.nvg.org/uther.html)
Companion to Fairy Tales (in-
class handouts)
1/21 Reading Fairy Tales: The Classic Fairy Tales (Norton): Introduction + various versions of Little
Thurs Classification Systems and the Red Riding Hood, pp. Xi-30; ATU tale type 333 (Online)
Art of Reading Fairy Tales
Homework: Narrative Analysis Worksheet
1/26 Little Red Riding Hood: Who is “Fairy-Tale Discourse: Toward a Social History of the Genre” in Fairy
Tues she, really? Tales and the Art of Subversion, pp. 1-13 (PDF); “The Method and
Material” in Morphology of the Folktale, pp. 19-24 (PDF)
1/28 Culture and Method: Fairy Tale At Home Film Screening (A-Res): Freeway (1996)
Thurs Soup (a dash of culture and a Homework: Film Analysis Worksheet
pinch of history); Deconstruction
= Structure?
2/4 Reflections: What is the recipe “Sex and Violence: The Hard Core of Fairy Tales” Hard Facts, pp. 3-39
Thurs for “fairy tale soup”? (PDF);
Writing Workshop in “Bluebeard” in Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales, pp. 54-57 (PDF)
preparation for Essay #1 (Due
2/16)
2/9 Reading Fairy Tales: Hidden The Classic Fairy Tales (Norton): Introduction to Bluebeard + various
Tues Horrors versions of the Bluebeard tale type, pp. 182-229; ATU tale type 312/
312A and 955 (Online)
Homework: Narrative Analysis Worksheet
2/11 Bluebeard: Breaking Taboos, At Home Film Screening (A-Res): Elizabeth Harvest (2018)
Thurs Forbidden Curiosity, and the Homework: Film Analysis Worksheet
Desire for Control
2/16 Modern Perspectives: Humanity “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” in Oxford Companion to Fairy
Tues and Technology Tales, pp.478-480 (PDF); “Born Yesterday: The Spear Side” in Hard Facts,
**Essay #1 Due!** pp. 85-106 (PDF)
2/18 Reading Fairy Tales: Haughty The Classic Fairy Tales (Norton): “Introduction: Snow White” + various
Thurs Heroes vs. Humble Heroines versions of the Snow White tale type, pp. 84-117; ATU tale type 709
(Online)
Homework: Narrative Analysis Worksheet
2/23 Snow White: Fragility (Mirrors “Through the Looking Glass: Mirrors, Fantasy, and Reality” in Fairy Tales,
Tues and Emotions) Myth, and Psychoanalytic Theory: Feminism and Retelling the Tale, pp.
85-113 (PDF); “The Queen’s Looking Glass: Female Creativity, Male
Images of Women, and the Metaphor of Literary Paternity” in The
Madwoman in the Attic, pp.36-44 (PDF)
2/25 Culture and Method: At Home Film Screening (A-Res): Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
Thurs Feminism(s) (1937)
Homework: Film Analysis Worksheet
3/2 Modern Perspectives: The Classic Fairy Tales (Norton): “Introduction: Tricksters”; Grimm
Tues Reflections of Society “Hansel and Gretel”; “Fulano de Tal and His Children”; Grimm “The
**Essay #1 Rewrite Due!** Juniper Tree”; Perrault “Little Thumbling”; “Momotaro, or the Peach
Boy”, pp 229-252, 255-263, 270-272; ATU tale type 327 (Online)
Homework: Narrative Analysis Worksheet
3/23 Review and Writing Workshop “Cinderella” and “Cinderella, Film Versions” in Oxford Companion to
Tues in preparation for Essay #2 (Due Fairy Tales, pp. 95-100 (PDF); The Classic Fairy Tales (Norton):
3/30) “Introduction: Cinderella” + various versions of the Cinderella tale type,
pp.139-182.; ATU tale type 510A/B (Online)
Homework: Narrative Analysis Worksheet
3/25 Cinderella: Social Persecution “Nature under Glass: Victorian Cinderellas, Magic and Metamorphosis”
Thurs and (Super)Natural Interventions in Fairy Tales, Natural History and Victorian Culture, pp.80-101 (PDF)
3/30 Reading Fairy Tales: The Glass “Revision and Repetition” in Fairy Tales, Myth, and Psychoanalytic
Tues Slipper and other Consumerist Theory: Feminism and Retelling the Tale, pp.57-85 (PDF)
Motifs
**Essay #2 Due!**
4/1 Culture and Method: Mothers At Home Film Screening: Cinderella (1997) OR Ever After (1998)—Each
Thurs and Daughters Rewritten half of the class will view one film. Groups tbd.
Homework: Film Analysis Worksheet
4/6 Modern Perspectives: ‘Happily “Taming the Beast: Bluebeard and Other Monsters” in Hard Facts,
Tues Ever After’ Goes Global pp.156-179 (PDF); “Beauty and the Beast” in Oxford Companion to Fairy
Tales, pp. 46-49 (PDF)
4/8 Reading Fairy Tales: Pigs and The Classic Fairy Tales (Norton): “Introduction: Beauty and the Beast” +
Thurs Frogs and Beasts, oh my! various versions of the beastly tale type, pp. 39-84; ATU tale type 425
(Online)
Homework: Narrative Analysis Worksheet
4/13 Beauty and the Beast: “Sublimation and All-Inclusiveness” in The European Folktale, pp. 66-80
Tues Appearances are Deceiving (PDF)
4/15 Culture and Method: Universal At Home Film Screening: La Belle et la Bête (1946) and Beauty and the
Thurs Purity and Magic Beast (1991)
**Essay #2 Rewrite Due!** Homework: Film Analysis Worksheet
4/20 Modern Perspectives: Cinematic The Classic Fairy Tales (Norton): “Introduction: Sleeping Beauty’”+
Tues Magic various versions of the ‘glass coffin’ tale type, pp. 117-139; ATU tale type
410 (Online); “Sleeping Beauty” in Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales, pp.
467&476 (PDF)
Homework: Narrative Analysis Worksheet
4/22 Sleeping Beauty: Reviving the “Show and Tell: Sleeping Beauty as Verbal Icon and Seductive Story”
Thurs Static Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies, pp.142-158 (PDF); “One-
Dimensionality” in The European Folktale, pp.4-10 (PDF)
4/27 Culture and Method: The At Home Film Screening: Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Tues ‘tableau vivant’ and the Male Homework: Film Analysis Worksheet
Gaze
Academic Integrity:
Students are expected to abide by the university’s guidelines of academic integrity, which prohibits all instances of
plagiarism. You may not seek the guidance of teaching assistants not assigned to this course. You may set up an
appointment with me or visit my office hours prior to an essay’s due date to help you identify problems or address
concerns in your work that you can correct on your own. For information about the university’s policy please visit:
http://www.wustl.edu/policies/undergraduate-academic-integrity.html
#2
#3
Film Analysis Worksheet
Before you watch the film read through all of the questions so that you will know what to look for. You should
take quick notes while you are watching the film. Your notes will help you remember what you noticed so that
you can elaborate in the post-viewing section of questions.
Pre-Viewing Questions:
1. Title of the film:_______________________________________________
2. Film Release Date: ___________________________________________
3. Adapted from which fairy tale?___________________________________
4. Expectations: Based on your knowledge of the fairy tale from which this film was adapted, what major
characteristics do you expect to see?
During the Screening: While you view the film, take note of the following cinematic characteristics. These
notes will help you complete the post-viewing questions. Your answers for this section can be brief. You do
not need to write in complete sentences.
1. Mise en Scene:
a. Setting (general/specific; real/imaginary)
b. Cultural insight (what type of world is being portrayed?)
c. Characters (choice of actors, how they appear)
2. Editing:
a. Narrative time (manipulation with flashbacks, slow motion, etc?)
b. Pacing/Rhythm (scene lengths, speed of narrative, odd cuts?)
3. Sound:
a. Sources (diegetic/non-diegetic, on/off-screen)
b. Type (dialogue, ambient, music/score, silence)
c. The Role of Sound (mood/meaning/situation)
2. Is there another less important conflict (i.e. subplot) which helps drive the story? If so, describe
that conflict and who is involved.
3. Describe the actions that the protagonist takes in order to resolve the conflict.
6. What lessons from this film can viewers apply to their own lives? Name three and, for each,
describe the lesson. Describe how the personality traits of the characters and the events of the
story teach the lesson.
a. Lesson 1:
b. Lesson 2:
c. Lesson 3:
7. Identify two narrative devices, such as motif, symbol, foreshadowing, flashback, irony, or language
choice that are used and describe how they affect the progression of the plot, assist in character
development, or convey meaning.
a. Device 1:
b. Device 2:
8. What might you add to the film that would better enable viewers to appreciate the story told by
the fairy tale?
9. How are the customs/values portrayed in the film different from those in the literary fairy tale(s)?
(Aspects of culture/society include: religion, class, politics, attitude, bias)