Introduction ‘Once upon a time’ is perhaps days when it was one of our hobbies to read fairy tales as a part of our daily routine. These fairy tales took us to the world of fantasy, happiness, sorrow, dilemma and we had the very tendency to fantasise these characters to be real. These tales had a happy conclusion where good inevitably wins over the evil with a happy ending; and ending lines mostly happened to be ‘and they happily lived ever after’. These endings justified the human sense of justice when good overpowers the bad. The imaginative and adventurous experiences we encountered while reading fairy tales which gave us a reflection of the course of human life full of obstacles and many unbearable pain which the characters undergoes portrays the cycle of human life. The fascination of a heroic character always drew our attention towards the positive side and made us believe that sooner or later there will be turmoil or a twist which would change the emotion of the reader. Fairy tales were always successful in relating to human emotions by exclaiming and happiness, love and loneliness, dream and reality, adventure and thriller, highs and lows, fears and longings, death and the various aspects that accompanies the formative experiences of human existence. We have also seen that fictitious characters like ‘Harry Potter’ by Joanne K. Rowling or ‘Lord of the Rings’ by J.R.R.Tolkeins which are commercially successful as film versions. It is not only children who are
There are numerous genre’s in literature, but the level of importance and influence on an individual will differ. Exposure to books and stories is especially important for children because it their chance to acclimate themselves to written language and in turn create their own visuals for the toneless words. “Why Fairy Tales Matter: The Performative and the Transformative”, by Maria Tatar contains an ample amount of textual evidence from author’s research into fairytales, as well as writer’s personal experiences with fairytales. Although Tatar supports her claims with evidence, her resources are not concrete, and seems excessive at times. Also, her assertions are weakened by her failure to defend her conclusion against competing beliefs.
Maria Tatar’s “An Introduction to Fairy Tales” discusses the impact on how the stories help guide the children from their younger age. The first five paragraphs of the article mentioned about how the children can overflow with imagination, and can vividly see their reality of desire and also, fear. The fairytales can also corrupt the naïve minds of the child in a way of making them realize the reality of the world is unjustified, and people can be harsh. Moreover, Tatar gives an explanation on how people grow up with the same fairy tales with different versions; which gives an entirely different personal idea. Fairy tales also develop the child’s intellectual mind by reading various kinds of genre.
In Tatar’s article, An Introduction to Fairy Tales, she draws us in by describing childhood books as “sacred objects.” She takes a quote from Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. describing how the stories give lessons about what a child subconsciously knows - “that human nature is not innately good, that conflict is real, that life is harsh before it is happy - and thereby reassure them about their own fears and their own sense of self,” (Tatar 306). She describes how many adults long for the simplicity of enjoying those stories in their childhoods, only to realize that they outgrew them, and instead have been introduced to reality. The original stories were more for adults rather than for children. Nowadays, stories have been adapted to be more suitable for children. Fairy tales may allow a kid to wonder due to their charm, but they also can
In the essay “Fairy Tales and Modern Stories”, Bruno Bettelheim argues that fairy tales can provide children more reassurance than realistic stories. Bettelheim used examples like “The Little Engine that Could”,”The Swiss Family Robinson” and “Rapunzel” to show how realistic stories and fairy tales both affected children’s thinking. The author claims that modern stories don’t compare to fairy tales, because they can’t provide an outlet for children to work through their problems and emotions. Bettelheim explains that fairy tales give children the reassurance and hope that there's a better future that is waiting for them. He argues that fairy tales can have a more impactful effect because it can offer “escape” and “consolation” for troublesome events in their lives. He even claims that modern stories fail to give the reader “encouraging
If you think of any fairy-tale from your childhood, you will most likely think of princesses whose beauty is described before their name, who live awful lives until a man can control them, and the clichéd phrase “Happily Ever After”. A deeper look into each fairy tale’s history reveals an original piece of writing that explores different life lessons to those perceived by modern society, often through gruesome and seemingly horrific tales. Although all fairy-tales, original or otherwise, are make-believe stories, they are still fundamentally shaping the views of children and giving them an expectation of the world. ‘Sun, Moon, and Talia’ by Giambattista Basile, also known as the original Sleeping Beauty, versus modern-day Maleficent show very
Fairy Tales are not just stories that parents tell to their children, but stories with hidden valuable messages which are mostly left on a side. In the article “An Introduction to Fairy Tales,” Maria Tatar clearly explains how people need fairy tales in their lives. Tatar also states how fairy tales have the ability to take the listener, especially children’s, into a journey in which they can play with their imagination so that they can discover their deepest fears and wishes. Personally I agree with the author, because of the fact that in an individual’s lives as they get older, they will try to define themselves, sometimes comparing their own life with a character from their favorite story or Fairy Tale.
There are numerous genre’s in literature, but their level of importance and influence on an individual will differ. Exposure to books and stories is especially important for children because it is their opportunity to acclimate themselves to written language, and in turn create their own visuals for the toneless words. Maria Tatar writes, “Why Fairy Tales Matter: The Performative and the Transformative” to demonstrate how fairy tale’s written language can spark a child’s imagination as well as empower them. Through personal insight from distinguished writers— Richard Wright— Tatar builds her argument for the benefits of fairy tales— particularly the violent stories. The writer organizes her essay in a concrete fashion by using each paragraph to build on a proposed idea or to present a belief, but does not use contemporary writers personal anecdotes or heed to her own advice of avoiding childish fairy tales.
The tradition of telling fairy tales to children effects not only the listener but also the reader. Maria Tatar, in her book Off with Their Heads!, analyzes how fairy tales instill and reaffirm cultural values and expectations in their audience . Tatar proposes that fairy tales fall into three different tale-types: cautionary tales, exemplary stories, and reward- and- punishment tales. These three types portray different character traits as desirable and undesirable. Due to the tale’s varying literary methods it can change the effectiveness of the tale’s pedagogical value. In Tatar’s opinion, all of these tales are similar in the way they attempt to use punishment, reward, and fear to encourage or discourage certain behaviors. In the cautionary fairy tale “The Virgin Mary’s Child”, the use of punishment and fear to discourage certain behaviors is enhanced by the Christian motifs and values employed by the tale. These literary devices encourage the audience to reflect on and internalize the lessons that are presented in the fairy tale.
There is nothing more precious and heartwarming than the innocence of a child. The majority of parents in society want to shield children from the bad in life which is appreciated. Within human nature exists desires of inappropriate behavior; envy, deceit, selfishness, revenge, violence, assault and murder. The most well-known fairy tales depict virtue and the evil in life. Even more important, the form and structure of fairy tales suggest images to the child by which he can structure his daydreams and with them give a better direction to his life. (Bettelheim).
In Margaret Atwood’s poem “There Was Once”, Atwood uses irony to point out the societal problems within the genre of fairy tales. Charles Perrault, the author of the short story “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood”, writes about fantastic creatures, magic, and love, following the generic conventions of fairy tales. When compared to Perrault’s short story “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood”, Atwood’s poem both compliments and contrasts Perrault’s. These two texts, although similar, offer different views on the genre of fairy tales.
"Once upon a time," the most used introduction phrase in common fairy tales used to start an adventure. These adventures have been around for years. The importance of some tales might be more significant than others, also based on culture. My goal for this paper is to educate my readers with the importance of fairy tales, especially for younger children. Fairy tales have been around for centuries from generations to generations. Different cultures, such as the Japanese and Western, have also expressed them differently. All these fairly tales teach children different aspects of life, which make these tales so important.
In a few short months you are going to become a father to a baby boy. That being said I was wondering if you are going to read your child fairy tales as you did for me when I was a child. As a child I, remember sitting on your lap and listening to you read me fairy tales in funny accents as you tried to put me to sleep, and even adding your own twist to them. By the time you were done with the first story I would want another and another until I was actually asleep. By you reading me fairy tales, when I was a child, it made me closer to you and gave us a special bond. The fairy tales you read to me as a child played a major part in fostering my imagination and creativity that I have now. The article “The Importance of Fairy Tales” states different reasons why you should read your child fairy tales, some being that fairy tales give an understanding of what is good and of what is bad. Fairy tales can teach children a lot of meaningful life skills and abilities that as they get older they will be able to bring into real life, such as, helping them learn how to overcome a struggle or a problem that they would face. Fairy tales also helps and teaches children how to confront their fears. Fairy tales give children the desire for adventure and to be comfortable moving beyond my comfort zones. Reading fairy tales to your son once he is born and starts to grow will create a bound between the two of you that will last forever, just as our bond does. A fairy tale that I would suggest
Fairy Folk Tales are the most popular types of literature. The tale is an orally transmitted tradition by generations through the time; some events are changed to fit reality and society. Folk fairy tales deal with the dualism of the good and the evil. They are basing on a conflict between the good and the evil forces. The conclusion comes from aspirations of the human desire to achieve the justices. There are no known authors and sources for ancient’s literature. We have many versions of the story; they are credited by many authors later. Each tale is very like some other culture’s tale. Each culture has own tales, but all the tales are similarities and differences in some points. This essay will compare between two fairy tales, “Cinderella” and “In the Land of Small Dragon”. The tale of Cinderella is a French tale. It is credited by Charles Perrault; it is published in 1697. The in the Land of Small Dragon is a Vietnamese folktale; it is told by Dang Manh Kha in 1979.
1. What is the genre of this story? Are there any other possible genres this story could fall into?
As we grow up, we hear fairy tales and we read them into our lives. Every word and every image is imprinted into our minds. The fairy tales we read are never abandoned. They grow with us and our dreams become molds of the many morals and happily ever afters fairy tales display. We tell children fairy tales when they go to sleep and they read them in school and we even have them watch Disney adaptions that reinforce them further. Generally, they were everywhere while we grew up and they continue to be present while children are growing up now. But what influence do these stories have? We casually expose our children to these tales, but in some cases they can have particularly, harmful personal effects on them, although there is nothing completely or visibly “bad” about them or about the characters in them. Before we divulge our youth to these stories, we should assess their substance and see what sort of effect they may be having on them. They have received so much scrutiny and have been studied by many. Recognizing fairy tales effects on the minds of children is vital in their development. This paper will focus on the underlying messages that the average person wouldn’t recognize in these everyday stories. There’s a modern distort with fairy tales because while they still are widely popular with the youth, they influence children’s self images, outlooks on reality and expectations for their futures, especially for young women.