Eric Steiner En 103

UA Folktales 103

[evsor103-blog]

Research and Fairy Tales

In the classic fairy tale of “Snow White,” Snow White and her evil stepmother, the queen, have an exceedingly violent distaste for one another. The queen was the most beautiful woman in all the land until Snow White grew up to be even more beautiful than her step-mother. The queen was very unhappy about this and attempted to have Snow White killed. This aspect of the story can also be studied in terms of social science, as many mother-daughter relationships, as well as those between stepmothers and stepdaughters, have their fair share of conflicts.

[erste103-blog]

Even with “Snow White” being something I heard a lot as a child, whether it be through Disney or the Brothers Grimm, I was not able to pick out something like that from the story. Good analyzing.

[aldarrow4-blog]

Researching Fairy Tales

      When thinking about fairy tales, we normally do not think about comparing them to science.  But in this paper, our argument was to use research from scientific sources.  It was an interesting task taking a fantasy world and combining that with the world of fact. I found it surprising how these fictional stories have many scientific elements intertwined in the plot.  As a future engineer, science has always interested me, and this paper has helped show me that science can be applicable in almost anywhere.

[daric103-blog]

Does it take anything away from the original fairy tale to superimpose modern day scientific thought onto centuries old stories? Clearly it wasn’t exactly within the author’s intent. Science does provide an interesting new perspective on things though, for example in my paper I’m comparing the modern day phenomenon of Stockholm syndrome to the age old story of Beauty and the Beast.

[erste103-blog]

I think it is cool that you are able to tie together subjects, especially when you did not expect. Since I am not studying science I did not even think to look at it like  that.

[erste103-blog]

My father has had the largest influence on who I am today. Whether it be how I treat others, how I throw a football, or how I carry myself. I was fortunate enough to have someone such as my dad in my life. However, some children are not as lucky as I was. How parents raise and behave around their child truly impacts the child for the rest of their lives. Whether it be a fictional character such as Cinderella or whether it be myself, these influences are blatant. One aspect in a child’s life that parental behavior affects the most is self-esteem. Self-esteem has been an issue for many years. It was an issue when the Brothers Grimm wrote Cinderella in the 19th Century and it remains to be an issue today. When examining what has the strongest influence on children’s self-esteem, I came across some very interesting evidence. The greatest impact on children’s self-esteem is influence from their parents. Whether the parent neglects the child or shelters the child, every action they take will have a long-lasting impact on a child and their self-esteem. Between “Cinderella” and experience in my own life, the presence or absence of parental neglect impacts self-esteem of a child.

[evsor103-blog]

Writing an annotated bibliography is very different than writing a reflection or analysis. It is much more scientific and factual. I personally enjoy studying these topics. They are very interesting to me. I am studying intergenerational conflicts between women, especially mothers and daughters. This idea stems from the evil step-mother in “Snow White.” She has issues with Snow White and is jealous if her beauty. She is willing to do anything she can in order have her killed. This is how desperate she is to be the most beautiful woman around. This is not the only case of intergenerational conflict in fairy tales. This is why I have chosen to study it for my social science topic on my annotated bibliography. 

[courtneymelvinuaenglish103-blog]

I agree, studying these articles was actually enjoyable. Since we were allowed to choose our topics, I found one that I knew very little about and learning and becoming a little more informed about it was very interesting.

[aldarrow4-blog]

I also feel that writing an annotated bibliography was very scientific. It was hard to write creatively, because the template asked for many dry details.

[erste103-blog]

I agree completely. I also found that writing an annotated bib was a lot more dry than writing a reflect essay. The reason being is there was a lot less data and research during the the reflection essay. This is merely personal preference, however.

[trtay103-blog]

So. Many. Articles.

After finding countless unless articles on varying subjects slightly related to my topic I find myself exhausted. How many people spend their every waking moments devoted to writing these things? I found a 488 page article on the effects of makeup on mans understanding of beauty… like… Who writes that? This is indeed a struggle. I finally find myself citing experiments full of math. Including an equation  “N of beautiful people X percentage of opinion= amount of beauty”… How does one derive this? It is a strange world out there folks. 

[mabig103-blog]

I found a lot of the same issues when researching for my annotated bibliography. There were so many sources that I went through and I also saw the authors putting quantitative qualities on personalities, I still don’t understand how no matter how many times I reread.

[evsor103-blog]

This was an issue for me as well. However, I found that the more I really read and loved for the right articles, the better readings I found. I believe that because I spent this time and effort looking for articles, I was able to find the perfect ones for my topic. 

[aldarrow4-blog]

This is very true. I believe that the hardest part of writing the annotated bibliography was not the writing part. It was the wading through thousands of scientific articles looking for the right one.

[skhas103-blog]

This. This right here has been my Fall Break. I feel I have learned a lot of great new things I never would have learned, but oh man was it tiring.

[erste103-blog]

Research is certainly something that consists of trial and error. However, your summary of you struggles perfectly summed up every pain I felt while scouring JSTOR for good academic articles. 

[erste103-blog]

Parental Neglect

In my annotated bib I examined parental neglect and how it affects children. Specifically in the aspect such of self- esteem.  Generally speaking, lazier parenting, or parental neglect, can lead to several psychological issues I children. One being their self esteem. This is something that can be related back to Cinderella. Her father was never present, and her mother passed away. Leaving her with her step mother who genuinely abuses Cinderella everyday. This is something that can shed light on what shaped Cinderella’s character, which allows us to further understand why Cinderella would run away from a charming prince, or take other drastic measures as she did in the tale.

[mabig103-blog]

Into the Woods: Typical Cinderella?

In Into the Woods we get a classical representation of the typical Cinderella as told in Grimm’s version of the tale. There is a common girl who is covered in ash being mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters, fairly typical. She continues on to sneak out to the festival and every night steals away and hides from the prince. Everything goes as is expected until the third night of the festival where she gets stuck on the stairs of the palace and we are finally able to see the thoughts upon her decision. We know in this version that she purposefully left her shoe for the prince to find because of her own uncertainties. This addition to the regular story line allows us to see into Cinderella’s mind and have a better feel for the character. Although she is still the same in many ways I believe this retelling gives us a better sense of who Cinderella is.

[mahof103-blog]

I also agree; we can see what Cinderella and most modern women stand for.  They have more of a choice of how to deal with their lives and aren’t simply either running away from their problems or latching on to a prince that will set her life up with royals and riches.

[kemcc103-blog]

I thought the same thing after seeing this adaptation. Letting viewers hear Cinderella’s thought process is unique and helpful

[courtneymelvinuaenglish103-blog]

I agree and I think this adds more depth to the fairytale as a whole. The movie portrays Cinderella in a much better light than the original Grimm’s brother story. Even at the end of the movie when it turns out the Prince is still seeing other women after they are married, Cinderella leaves him. This is very different from the “happily ever after” ending we see in the story.

[beachhbummerr-blog1]

I totally agree that the director did an amazing job with adding dept to the characters. Into the woods is my favorite movie because of the dept it adds to the characters. 

[erste103-blog]

I completely agree. This is what I wrote about in my own visual analysis and is something I struggled with wording when writing about it. I think you summed it up perfectly. 

[courtneymelvinuaenglish103-blog]

Cinderella vs. A Case Study of Emergency Room Procedure and Risk Data Management by Hospital Staff Members in the Urban Facility

Stacy Richter took her story “A Case Study of Emergency Room Procedure and Risk Data Management by Hospital Staff Members in the Urban Facility” in a completely new direction from the Grimm brothers’ “Cinderella,” incorporating bizarre new aspects into it including the shocking new themes of drug addiction, imprisonment, and legitimate danger, in contrast to the original Cinderella where all the princess really had to endure in terms of mistreatment was a life of servant-hood and an unpleasant step family. Still, this story ultimately failed as a retelling. The characters were unrecognizable apart from the nicknames of “Prince” and “Princess,” which caused the story to lose all of the original and respectable elements that make it such an alluring and beloved fairy tale.

[evsor103-blog]

I think that the way you noted these new themes is very cool. I like that the themes in the modern retelling are more socially acceptable to be discussed in modern times. However, this has nothing to do with the original tale of “Cinderella.” I wonder how the stories compare. 

[mabig103-blog]

After reading the story I agree that the adaptation was not successful in retelling the original version yet I found this story interesting and captivating. Other than the nicknames I am not sure the stories could be typically linked as you said, but I enjoyed the view that the princess was running from her prince because she was scared of a new life but instead because she was afraid of him.

[erste103-blog]

I think it is interesting that you found this retelling so unsuccessful, what could the author have done better to make his retelling better? Is it just the fact that the characters were unrecognizable, what else?

[erste103-blog]

Fairy Tales have always served as tale’s that coincided with its time period and society. The movie Into the Woods may seem like parody account of the tales, however the film still delivers the same messages as the originals just in a more modern sense. Albeit, the the humor in the film brings a light twist to generally dark Fairy Tales, the modern rendition simply makes these Fairy Tales such as “Cinderella”, “Jack and the Bean Stalk”, and “Repunzel” more relatable. In the case of “Cinderella” the movie stresses the relationship between the Prince and Cinderella much more than early renditions. This is due to the time period we are in, where relationships are now a large part of the generation we are in. What can be deduced from this is that contemporary retellings must adapt to their time period in order to communicate clearly to their audience. The retelling also stresses on something that many young adults or teenagers can learn a lesson from.

[skhas103-blog]

Jeffrey Dahmer: The Modern Bluebeard

A major trait keeping Bluebeard and Jeffrey Dahmer together is that they both died a brutal death. Calling back upon Perrault’s edition of the tale, Bluebeard was just about to claim the life of his bride, when the bride’s brothers storm the castle and, “[plunge] their swords through his body and [leave] him for dead,” (147). Being left for dead while bleeding out is a very slow and painful death. It is safe to assume that Bluebeard suffered for every second of his justified demise. It is also referenced in the Brothers Grimm version, the bridegroom and his companions were, “seized… and turned…. over to the authorities,” where they, “were executed for their dreadful deeds,” (154). Although their executions were not explicitly described, the men were more than likely to be killed with the breaking wheel. The breaking wheel was a form of capital punishment used in Germany well into the 19th century, where a person was tied to a wagon wheel and beaten to the point of breaking their limbs and left for dead. The longest recorded survival time after being “broken” is three days. With this information, it can be assured that the bridegroom and his gang suffered through their demise. Although he did not suffer, Jeffrey Dahmer still died a very brutal death. After being left alone with two other prisoners, Jesse Anderson and Christopher Scarver, for twenty minutes, Dahmer was found dead alongside fellow prisoner, Jesse Anderson, by the hands of Christopher Scarver. Scarver reportedly, “crushed Dahmer’s skull and fatally [beat] Anderson with a metal bar from the prison weight room,” which is, in my opinion, the most brutal of the three deaths I have talked about (Jeffrey). The disturbing fact around Dahmer’s death is that the guards had allegedly allowed it happen. There is no form of capital punishment in the state of Wisconsin and the guards, along with the majority of the country, believed Dahmer should be killed for his crimes, so when the situation arose, the guards supposedly turned a blind eye and allowed the slaughter.

[erste103-blog]

The fact that there is a character in a fairy tale that can relate to Jeffery Dahmer is quite frightening. 

[mahof103-blog]

Hope Comes When We Least Expect It

The novel Holes, written by Louis Sacher, tells the tale of two juvenile delinquents who are forced to dig up a dried lake.  The two boys, Stanley Yelnats and Hector “Zero” Zeroni, later run away from the camp in fear of punishment for their poor behavior.  They are starving in the desert on the brink of death, without water, and have no plan to escape the heat.  They find a capsized boat that offers shade from the sun and more importantly jarred peaches that they could eat.  They make a plan to climb a nearby mountain and on top find onions and water beneath the surface.  They rejoice, but they soon make a plan to dig an even deeper hole where Stanley once found lipstick.  They do so and end up finding buried treasure with Stanley’s name on it.  After a legal battle with the camp directors, the boys are free to leave the camp and split the treasure both ways.  This story tells of two boys who really did not have much going for them but end up finding hope later in their life journey, just like Lisa in the The Young Slave.

[erste103-blog]

I do not know much about the tale you are writing about, but incorporating a modern, popular novel certainly makes the tale more relatable.

[erste103-blog]

Introduction Draft 1