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Fairy Tales as Personal Narrative

 Sara Cook

The Academic Setting 

This two-week unit is written for Cleveland Middle School.   Cleveland Middle School is located in the northeast section of Albuquerque, New Mexico.  The school has approximately 1000 students in grades six, seven and eight.  About 230 of those students receive special education services. The school population consists of 51% Anglo students, 33% Hispanic students, 6% Native American students and 5% African-American students.  The students come from a variety of financial backgrounds ranging from upper-middle class to fixed income families who live in low-income apartments.  The school is surrounded by neighborhoods with older homes and nice yards contrasted by busy city streets that are lined with large apartment complexes.   Twenty-five percent of the students receive free or reduced meals at school.  The rest of the students either buy breakfast or lunch in the cafeteria or snack bar or they bring their lunches. 

Cleveland Middle School is one of only ten schools in New Mexico that belongs to the Coalition of Essential Schools.  This means that when creating curriculum and working with students, teachers follow the ten common principles that were created by the coalition.  These principles help to focus on what is considered to be important at Cleveland. They provide guidelines about how to think about teaching and learning (teacher as coach, student as worker), how many students teachers should be responsible for (less than 80 at middle and high schools), what the curricular focus should be (less is more, limited number of essential skills for students to focus on), and how to treat students (tone of school focused on trust and high expectations, non-discriminatory practices).  Part of becoming a Coalition School was creating smaller learning environments for the students.  I work on a two-person team at Cleveland, teaching language arts and social studies to two groups of thirty 8th grade students in eighty-minute sessions.  My teaching partner teaches the same sixty students math and science.  Teachers have an eighty-minute meeting time every other day to discuss our pedagogical plans and solve any problems that might arise during the week.   

This unit is designed for language arts classes, using the narrative principles of fairy tales to create and share a personal narrative.  Students often think their own “stories” are unimportant.   Yet, if they are given the task of transforming their own stories into a specific form they often come to understand and appreciate what is going on in their own lives in a new way.  Students will be studying seven different versions of Little Red Riding Hood.  Little Red Riding Hood is an important coming of age story.   The different versions run the gamut from the earlier versions where the girl is blamed for her own rape to the feminist rewrites where she uses karate to defend herself against the wolf/man.  The students will enjoy both the shock of the morals and the lessons taught.  They will be asked to compare the stories concentrating on how specific details have changed the whole story.  For example, in “The Story of Grandmother,” the girl is not described as pretty or naïve and she manages to save herself from the wolf with her intelligence.  In Perrault’s version, Little Red Riding Hood is described as spoiled and at fault for what happens to her because she should have been more careful.  The students will look for the lesson or moral in the story and make a list of the formal principles that are followed in fairy tales in order to start draft personal fairy tales that are based on real life events.  The students will be expected to write into the story a particular moral and they will have to learn to identify “lessons” and subsequently reflect on these morals.  The students will also have a chance to look at illustrations of Little Red Riding Hood scenes from various artists and choose which illustrations they would put with the stories being studied. 

Goals and Objectives 

For next year, the essential question developed by the team I work with is, “How do choices affect the future?”  This will be both the thematic thread that holds the unit together as the year unfolds and the focus for the study of fairy tales in language arts.  We will look at the choices made by the characters in the stories, focusing on the detail choices the authors made and how those details affected the interpretation of the story.  This will also be the focus for writing personal narratives.  What are the choices we made within our own “story,” what details made this story strong, what are the consequences of these choices?   

Objective statements 

The following performance standards are taken from the APS district standards for eighth grade language arts.  

Literary Analysis

Analyzes the author’s use of a variety of techniques (e.g., appeal of characters, logic and credibility of plots and setting, use of figurative language, and emotional impact) to convey meaning.

Analyzes the purpose and effectiveness of the selection by evaluating author bias, message, and underlying assumptions.

Analyzes the inferences and conclusions from fiction and non-fictional contexts, events, characters, settings, and themes. 

Literary Elements

Identifies significant literary devices (e.g., metaphor, symbolism, dialect, irony) to understand the author’s meaning and perspective.

Identifies and explores the underlying assumptions of the author and describes alternative points of view.

Identifies conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution of conflict in of a variety of literary works.

Identifies the defining characteristics of classic literature and themes.

Describes how tone and meaning are conveyed in poetry and expository writing through word choice, figurative language, sentence structure, line length, punctuation, rhythm, repetition, and rhyme.  

Literary Applications

Examines classic and contemporary literature of a variety of genre from various cultures.

Analyzes how the use of significant literary devices (e.g., symbolism, dialect) affects the meaning of the text and provides clues to the author’s perspective.

Analyzes personal perspective towards texts and the influence of society, culture, and historical issues on the reader.

Explains how themes in literature are a reflection of human issues and experiences.  

Writing Applications

Demonstrates competence in applying appropriate types of writing (e.g., descriptive, narrative, expressive, expository, persuasive, and analytical) for the purpose and audience:

The student describes the significance of the subject to the author.

The student writes a personal account that establishes a point of view and sharpens focus, describes remembered responses, selects details that best illuminate the topic, and connects events to self and society.

The student compares, contrasts, and evaluates details, main ideas, themes, and actions in response to something that has been read or viewed.  

Context and Background

Rationale 

Teenagers are the perfect audience for the study of fairy tales.   They tend to look at the evil stepmothers and the nice, if not dead daddies and they see the reflection of their own lives shining through at them from the magical mirror.  They look for life-saving princes and know about the good for nothing sisters in their own lives so that they can discuss the unfairness of it all.  When they start to look more closely at these tales for meaning, they will enjoy them even more.  They are fascinated by their symbolism and will enjoy trying to understand the cultural messages.  Since fairy tales tend to be “coming of age” stories that dramatize the protagonist’s entry into the adult world, many of the students can easily relate to them since they themselves are facing some of the same dilemma and conflicts, often feeling shut out, left behind, treated unfairly and humiliated while others feel successful and empowered in their lives. Fairy tales will help the students identify issues in their own lives: divorce, step-families, puberty and negative feelings toward people they should love.  Stories like these will help students to write their personal narratives. Furthermore, the portrayal of class struggles, child abandonment and starvation are social issues that the children in my classes can easily relate to and discuss.  Because the idea of justice is very important to middle school students, they will enjoy judging the definition of justice in fairy tales.  Using a genre such as fairy tales to teach them about culture and writing makes teaching and learning exciting, fun, meaningful and challenging. 

Historical Framework of Fairy Tales 

Folk Tales 

The history of the fairy tale begins with the spoken word.   People began telling stories to explain frightening and overwhelming events and to sooth fears about the power and unpredictability of nature.  These stories are now called myths.  Folk tales developed from myths and were part of oral traditions passed along from generation to generation, intended to foster a sense of belonging in a group and give hope that magical miracles could occur to bring better times to the tribe or community.  Tied closely to specific rituals, customs and beliefs, folk tales were told by adults and for adults to instruct, amuse, warn and teach.  Not surprisingly, they changed continually according to the wants and needs of both the teller and the listeners providing confidence in the future.   Often focusing on competition for power between social classes (peasantry and the aristocracy) they illustrate that “might makes right.”  They reflected social realities which, although cruel and brutal are as acute today as they were then: child abandonment, rape, starvation, and exploitation were often parts of the tales.  

Fairy Tales 

Fairy tales evolved from these early folk tales in the 15th and 16th centuries keeping the tradition of the wondrous element of magic and the possibility of miracles alive.  Over time, fairy tales became more complex and developed their own set of conventions and characters.   Vladimir Propp examined these conventions and identified 31 functions of a fairy tale.  The functions I will be using with my class, they are: Member of family absents self from home.   Villain tries to meet the protagonist. The villain receives information about the protagonist. The villain attempts trickery. The victim is deceived.  The villain harms the family of the protagonist. The hero and the villain find themselves in direct combat. The villain is defeated (Hallett 372).  The students will be making their own list of fairy tale functions, most likely naming many of these functions.             

Fairy tales do not know linear time. “Once upon a time” could be anytime and the end is really a beginning, allowing the fairy tale to happen again.  Their simple plot structure makes them easy to predict and to retell.  Their plot is not based on probability, that something will happen, but on the possibility that anything can happen. Anybody can become who they want to be.  Fairy tales also convey the idea that the world is full of danger and can be unpredictable.  They illustrate certain rules about how to behave in this world.  Fairy tales chart the history of civilization, showing what various cultures considered “civilized” at various times. Many of these stories dramatize coming of age or adolescence.    The fairies were non-Christian agents of transformation and change probably thought up by the wet nurses and maids of this time period because the male-dominated church was not a welcome place for these women. 

The fairy tale became popular in 17th century France and from there the genre began to flourish.  The first fairy tales were not meant for children at all.  In fact, many of them contained subject matter we today consider inappropriate for children; incest, child abandonment, cannibalism and cruelty.  It was not until late in the 17th century that fairy tales became stories meant to teach children how to behave in society.  This transformation can be seen in the different versions of “Little Red Riding Hood.”  The first version is vacant of a warning to keep to the right path.  In Perrault’s didactic version the girl is told how to behave in society, how to be a “proper” girl.  

Little Red Riding Hood 

Everyone knows the dialogue, “What big eyes you have, the better to see you with.  What big ears you have, the better to hear you with.”  The fear comes with, “What big teeth you have, the better to eat you with!”   Little Red Riding Hood is a well-known fairy tale; it has even been called the most well-known story in the world.  What is not well-known is the fact that there are innumerable and very different variants of the story. 

             The first version is an oral tale from the 16th century which is considered fairly modern in comparison to other oral tales.  This tale contains elements of danger (a wolf in the forest), cruelty (grandmother is chopped up and fed to her granddaughter), helpful talking animals (a cat warning the girl) and a happy ending in which the girl escapes due to her own quick thinking.  This tale reflects the hardship of lack of food and other dangers associated with forests in rural France in this time period.   During the 16th and 17th centuries men were being brought to trial with accusations that they were werewolves and were eating children and committing other sinful acts.   Superstition used to explain natural and social dangers.

The story also illustrates the coming of age for a young girl and her initiation into society: by ingesting grandmother she is symbolically partaking in the knowledge and wisdom of the older female.  When the wolf meets the little girl on the path he asks her what path she is taking, the path of pins or the path of needles.  The reference to pins and needles had to do with the needlework apprenticeship that a girl this age would be starting.  Probably the most shocking element of this tale is the part where the girl takes off her clothes at the wolf’s request and throws them in the fire then gets into bed with him.  Missing from the oral tale is the red hood, the description of the personality and appearance of the girl and the warning of the mother to be careful of what could happen in the forest.  This was one of the first warning tales and after “The Story of Grandmother” warning tales were used often.             

Perrault’s version of this story, written in 1698, uses the red hat worn by the girl to evoke themes of female sin and the devil.  The girl is made to look spoiled, silly and so naïve that she speaks to a wolf in the woods and does just what he wants her to do: she tells him where she is going.   She ends up being raped and swallowed, both acts being a punishment for her reckless behavior.  “Perrault obviously intended to warn little girls that this spoiled child could be “spoiled” in another way by a wolf/man who sought to ravish her” (Zipes “Trials” 26).  This version was a result of a new kind of literature meant to “civilize” children by teaching them right from wrong through the avenue of fear.  Perrault’s moral at the end of the story warns girls against all males while perpetuating the notion of male dominance.  The moral states,

“From this story one learns that children, especially young girls, pretty, well-bred and genteel, are wrong to listen to just anyone, and it’s not at all strange if a wolf ends up eating them.  I say a wolf, but not all wolves are exactly the same.  Some are perfectly charming, not loud, brutal, or angry, but tame, pleasant, and gentle, following young ladies right into their home into their chambers, but watch out if you haven’t learned that tame wolves are the most dangerous of all”  (Tartar 13).            

The Grimms’ version, written in 1812 was cleaned up to portray the Victorian image of little girls and what they should and should not do.   Their version includes the girl as a naïve and pretty girl, who is loved by everybody who sets their eyes on her who is instructed by her mother to “walk properly and don’t stray from the path” (Tartar 14).  When the girl disobeys her mother, she must be punished and the wolf has been sent to teach her a lesson. The brothers Grimm excluded the cruelty and sexuality that were part of the first versions.   Now a hunter who happens to come by saves the lives of the grandmother and the girl, showing that salvation comes only in the form of a male.  This was a major change from the Perrault version.            

In 1940, James Thurber published “The Little Girl and the Wolf”  In his tale, the girl takes an automatic weapon out of her basket and shoots the wolf dead because, “…even in a nightcap a wolf does not look any more like your grandmother than the Metro-Goldwyn lion looks like Calvin Coolidge.”  The moral of his story reads, “It is not so easy to fool little girls nowadays as it used to be” (Tartar 17).  In 1982 as park of his collection called Revolting Rhymes, Roald Dahl wrote his rhyming version of “Little Red Riding Hood” where the wolf is shot dead and the girl is next seen wearing a wolf skin coat. “A few weeks later, in the wood, I came across Miss Riding Hood.  But what a change!   No cloak of red, No silly hood upon her head.   She said, ‘Hello, and do please note ‘My lovely furry WOLFSKIN COAT’(Tartar 22).  My students will surely enjoy the humor and turn of justice included in both of these stories.  These are stories that demonstrate clearly how the morals and convictions of every time period are reflected in the material.  The plotline is the same but the conflict resolution changes.  Studying these very different versions will allow my students to understand how history influences the stories we tell.  The variants will illuminate that we can choose from a broad spectrum of possibilities when writing narratives about our own lives.             

The combination of these tales will provide my students with versions of this story they have not heard but where the basic idea is the same.  The variety in detail and slant on the story will illuminate the importance of choosing the right details when writing a narrative story. 

Author Biographies 

Charles Perrault was born in Paris on January 12, 1628.  He is probably the best known fairy tale author of that time.   He was a lawyer and eventually became chief clerk in the king’s building.  His connections to the court are apparent in his fairy tales; he criticized the aristocracy from within the system.  He began publishing most of his fairy tales in 1697 during the height of the Enlightenment, an intellectual movement that privileged reason and analysis as means to understand the world. The Enlightenment regarded nature as a rich spectrum of resources and saw children begin to be regarded as creatures in need of discipline and control taught to them by adults.  Perrault’s tales convey the cultural values of this time period, aiming to teach children about honesty, diligence, asceticism and responsibility and feelings of shame.  In his book, The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood, Jack Zipes notes that, “Perrault transformed a hopeful oral tale about the initiation of a young girl into a tragic one of violence in which the girl is blamed for her own violation.” (Zipes 7).   After Perrault’s version, the story continues to transform. 

About a century later Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm began publishing collections of fairy tales in Germany.  They rewrote many of the tales Perrault had previously published.  Born in Hanau, Germany, the sons of a lawyer and his wife, they had six siblings and lived a comfortable and sheltered life until their father’s death in 1796.  After their father died, the boys experienced social discrimination and hardship that was later reflected in the way they edited fairy tales.  They were very devoted to each other and fiercely determined.  Because of their fragile social standing, they had to get special permission to attend the university.  In 1806, their help was requested in writing fairy tales with a romantic slant.  They embellished but did not change the basic theme of the stories in which their need for comfort, order and stability was reflected in their stories.   

James Thurber was born in Columbus, Ohio, on December 8,1864.   As a young man, he lost his eye during a game with his older brother.  Despite this handicap, he spent most of his adult life writing and illustrating stories for the New Yorker magazine.  Thurber wrote collections of fables with twists on the morals.    Robert E. Morsberger wrote in his book James Thurber’s “mordant irony underlies much of his work, exemplified by the sardonic mottoes that conclude his fables...” (Morsberger 157).  As he got older, Thurber’s work became more and more cynical and dark.   

            Roald Dahl was born on September 13, 1916 in Llandaff, Wales.  He suffered great tragedies throughout his life starting with the death of both his father and sister when he was just three.  Roald was sent away to boarding school and wrote about what a dreadful experience it was for him.  He is famous for writing children’s books where the protagonists are always able to overcome great obstacles like horrible parents and threatening teachers.  His style of writing makes him popular with all ages of children and adults.    

The biographies of the authors will be important in teaching my students about how personal experiences inevitably shape the content of “our” stories.  The students will begin to learn about the particular bias of the author and how the inclusion or deletion of details changes the meaning of well-known stories.  I want my students to get a feel for the different time periods the authors came from and the different lives they each led.   

Implementation 

The following lesson plan is written to be used in a block schedule where classes meet three times a week.  The first two classes are eighty minutes in length and the last class is 40 minutes in length.  The language arts classes are devoted to reading and writing and assessment is ongoing based on the completion of the assignments, participation in classroom discussions and meeting the standards.  The students keep notes and their written work for the use during discussion and writings for this unit.    

Day one:  Introduction and review of fairy tales

Discuss the goals of the unit with the students.  The focus is on details, how do strong, specific details change interpretation of a piece of writing or a piece of art?  Introduce students to the two week unit as a study of fairy tales within the context of Little Red Riding Hood (LRRH) and the creation of their own fairy tale based on a real-life event.  Instruct the students to write a description of an event that happened to them last year in school using the format of a fairy tale. Remind all students to focus on details of the story and let them know that these stories will be shared at their tables.  These stories will be saved to be compared with the fairy tales they write at the end of the unit.  Allow time for sharing the stories.   Next, give students a few minutes to jot down the basic story line in LRRH.  Instruct the students on how to conduct a round robin story in which a student will start the story of LRRH and the rest of the students will complete the story one sentence at a time, taking turns around the room.  Encourage the students to offer assistance to anyone who becomes “stuck” during the process and to take notes on any problems with the story being told.  Discuss with the whole class any important details that were either left out or added to the story and how those changes affected the outcome of the story.  Lecture with overhead about the genre of fairy tales and how they differ from myths and legends.  Have the kids brainstorm at their tables the basic elements of a fairy tale.  Homework: students examine two of their favorite fairy tales with the list their group compiled, what is missing from the list and what needs to be taken off the list?  Give reasons for any additions or deletions. 

Day two:  LRRH versions and artwork

Materials:  Copies for each student of “The Story of Grandmother” translated by Maria Tartar, “Little Red Riding Hood” by Charles Perrault, and “Little Red Cap” by the brothers Grimm.  Questions and graphic organizers for note taking (included in documentation).  Copies of illustrations from various artists of LRRH scenes. 

Instruct the students to share and discuss their observations from the homework assignment.  Briefly discuss with the students the different versions of this story.  Pass out packet of LRRH versions, each student at the table will have a packet that has a different part in “The Story of Grandmother” highlighted.  This is their part to read aloud during the oral presentation of this first version.   Hand out the note taking graphic.  Remind the students to take notes and encourage them to ask questions while the story is being read.   When they are finished reading they will fill out the worksheet individually and then use their questions and observations during discussion of the story.  This story has many events that the students will not be familiar with so even though it is short, discussion time will need to be longer than it will be for the other stories. Discuss the story with the whole class.  Give the students a chance to walk around the room and look at the display of illustrations of scenes from LRRH created by a variety of artists.  Ask them to choose one or two illustrations that they would put with this version of the story.  They will need to write a paragraph explaining what it was in that particular illustration that led them to putting it with this version of the story.  Homework: read the Perrault LRRH and fill out the worksheet and write a paragraph detailing the major differences between the two stories.   

Day 3:  LRRH continued

Share homework ideas and observations with group members.  Read out loud with groups the Grimm version of “Little Red Cap.”  Remind students to complete the work sheet and discuss their ideas and questions.  Instruct students to repeat the illustration exercise with this version of the story and all other versions that we read.  By the end of the unit they will have illustrated all their stories with something from the classroom wall, pictures they found somewhere else or images they have created themselves. Homework:  Start a list of events from your life that could be written into a fairy tale that mirrors LRRH.  Read and take notes on James Thurber’s “The Little Girl and the Wolf” and Roald Dahl’s “Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf.” 

Week 2

Day 1:  Begin personal narrative fairy tale

Share lists of event ideas from homework; discuss Dahl and Thurber stories with the whole class.  Read and respond to “Little Polly Riding Hood” by Catherine Storr, discuss point of view.  Lecture on warning tales and discuss what the different dangers were and why they changed in the versions we read.  Review fairy tale elements and compile class list.  Discuss and take notes on how to add fairy tale elements to a story that already exists, remind students that they will need to add to the truth in order to make the story feel like a fairy tale.  Homework: complete their rough drafts of their own fairy tales.  These will be due at the beginning of the next class.   

Day 2:  Continue personal narrative

Read and respond to “Not So Little Red Riding Hood” by Anne Sharpe.  Instruct students to share rough drafts at their tables checking for basic writing conventions, story components and fairy tale elements.  While students are peer editing, conference with each student to review any concerns and answer any questions.  Homework: Write final draft and prepare for final essay.

Day 3:  Share with groups your own fairy tale. 

Documentation 

Worksheet #1 

To be used with each of the LRRH versions we read both in and out of class.  Answer on a separate piece of paper, include details and quotes from the text where appropriate. 

Title

Author

1. What details included in this story are not included in the versions of LRRH you have heard or read before?  What details have been left out?

2. When do you think this story was written?  Why?

Actual date_______

3. What is your reaction to this story?  What questions and comments do you have for discussion?

4.  Pick an illustration that best fits this version and write a paragraph explaining why you picked that particular illustration (you may create your own illustrations).

5.  What do you think was the purpose of this story?  What evidence do you have to support your ideas?

6.  Who saves the girl in this version of the story?

7.  Analyze the moral of this story. 

Bibliography

Teacher Bibliography 

Morsberger, Robert E. James Thurber. Boston : Twayne Publishers, 1964. 

Interesting biography on the life of James Thurber.

“Roald Dahl.”  September 2000.  Roald Dahl Foundation.  7/15/02
            HYPERLINK “http://www.roalddahl.com”  

Fun and useful site for teachers and students on the life and works of Roald Dahl.

 Tatar, Maria ed.  The Classic Fairy Tales.  New York:  W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1999. 

A complete collection of different versions of well known fairy tales.  Nice summaries and introductions.   

Zipes, Jack.  “Spells of Enchantment.”  Folk and Fairy Tales.  Ed.  Martin Hallett and Barbara               Karasek.  Ontario:  Broadview Press Ltd., 1996.  370-392.

Article that is helpful when looking at the background of fairy tales.

---.ed.  The Trials & Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood.  New York: Routledge, 1993.

 A very insightful and helpful collection of over 34 versions of Little Red Riding hood with                commentary and critique by Jack Zipes.