Search

"Fairy Tales and the Transmission of Prejudice" is a unit in a lecture course on fairy tales that draws on research on anti-Semitism in 18th- and 19th-century German literature and culture, mapping questions raised in 18th- and 19th-century tales onto contemporary issues: The unit traces a trajectory from the Enlightenment to the present, and from Germany to the United States, analyzing a variety of texts, including Lessing's drama "Nathan the Wise" (1779), the three Grimms' tales about Jews -- "The Clear Sun Will Bring it to Light" (1815), "The Jew in Thorns" (1815), and "The Good Bargain" (1819) --, Spiegelman's graphic Holocaust narrative "Maus" (1980), and Sendak's illustrations for Wilhelm Grimm's "Dear Mili" (Grimm & Sendak, 1988). This article outlines the course, its background, and how the texts and their contexts are implemented in class. Throughout the course unit, the discussion of anti-Semitism in the fairy tales is broadened to one of prejudice in general. The article concludes with a brief discussion of student reactions to this unit.

Western Europe has been constructed in the field of education abroad as a "traditional" location: in some sense or another that label is used to suggest that it has a kind of static or dormant significance. In reality, Western Europe is an enormously rich location for study abroad precisely because it is a fluid learning environment that contains and sustains multiple meanings and ambiguities. It is a location that has been represented and constructed by American culture in some key ways over time and what is represented is simultaneously true and untrue. Within that paradox resides a great learning opportunity. This article explores some of the ways in which Europe has been created and recreated in the American mind and relates those constructs to the limitations, opportunities, and dynamics that may be explored in education abroad. Those constructs represent in part the baggage that students bring with them. In this article, the structure will recreate the experience of students coming to Europe. The essay explores the baggage they carry; engagement with the European environment, and, finally, the process of return. In that structure, which mirrors the experience of the study abroad student, a partial but suggestive set of perspectives emerge that go further than defending the traditional and, instead, present a cogent set of rich realities that collectively create the case for Europe. (Contains 35 endnotes.)

Discusses the reasons why fairy tales have not been as popular in the United States as they have been in other countries. (DF)

In this study, we evaluate the association between wedding spending and marriage duration using data from a survey of more than 3,000 ever-married persons in the United States. Controlling for a number of demographic and relationship characteristics, we find evidence that marriage duration is inversely associated with spending on the engagement ring and wedding ceremony. ( JEL J12, Z1, D1) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses how middle school students use morphemes, or units of meaning within a word, to conclude the meaning of an unknown word and what teaching methods can be used to promote this. The authors note that many students use morphological knowledge, or awareness of a root word's meaning, along with morphological awareness, or the ability to relate a morpheme to a word's meaning, to improve their vocabulary, spelling, and reading comprehension. Particular attention is given to how this learning strategy is used by English language learners (ELs) as well as on a study of effective teaching methods for U.S. middle school students.

This article offers a reflection about using the Fairy Tales as an historic document. It talks about how the of story, and the society that write it, in order to analyze moral role when themes like vice and virtue in individuals appeared. This type of story telling is contrast with the respective North American Cinderella cinematographic adaptation to show how the vice and virtue theme is display in the female models from four cinematographic shorts and six full length movies from the USA dated from 1936 to 2007. This research looks forward to present the relationship between filmic adaptation with the written tradition version of the story, and the transformation that the image of women in the 20th Century has undergo from the Cinderella character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although collectors, publishers, and scholars of American Märchen have devoted most of their attention to male narrators and a male hero named Jack, evidence from oral narrative tradition affirms that in fact it was women who dominated the oral Märchen-telling traditions of the Appalachian and Ozark mountains, where the English-language Märchen is best known. Relying principally on tales collected by Vance Randolph in the Ozarks between 1920 and 1957 and those told in an eastern Kentucky family between 1949 and 2004, this study centers on three observations. First, female and male mountain narrators differ in their approaches to Märchen: women tend to emphasize their legendary qualities while men exploit their potential for humor. Second, the Märchen most commonly told by both men and women in the American mountains (ATU 326 and ATU 366) blur the boundaries between legend and Märchen, and they focus upon female domestic space. Third, the significant differences in the ways that women and men perform these popular tales suggest that women often tell them to critique male violence and to call attention to the enormous responsibilities faced by women when left to run mountain households by themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the relationship between economy and culture? To address this question, the paper draws a parallel between the well known fairy tale Hansel and Gretel on the one hand and the American grocery business in the twentieth century on the other hand. From the thirties to the fifties, American grocers (like the witch) happened to progressively use their shops (like a cake house) as a means to attract children (like Hansel and Gretel). However, the parallel shows that fairy tales and market exchanges are connected not because the second refers to the former, or the other way round, but because they describe and perform similar scenes and action patterns, like economics (as a tale) performs the economy (as a fact), but also the other way round: the analysis focuses on the situated and 'equipped' processes that produce both facts and culture, along the pragmatic view of Actor Network Theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the significance of fairy tale characters in fantasy books among the U.S. teenagers' literary experience. It is noted that fairy tales are an introduction to the realm of fantasy literature for children. Studies show that children between the ages of five and ten are the primary audience of literary fairy tales. At this stage of development, children enjoy these stories for their magical elements, sense of justice, triumphs of good over evil and themes relatable to their own experiences. Choosing a picture or illustrated conventional retelling tends to reintroduce children to the basic story outline, characters, and overall theme. Experiencing the concept of character analysis and the ability of connecting various texts are positive possibilities through discussions.

This article discusses criticism over popular culture, seen as wild and evil. The article refers to heavy metal music, musical videos, focusing particularly on J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter that has unified America. Emile Durkheim states that crime is needed for a healthy society. Three basic things that are classified as popular culture are art, folklore and music. They are not only the base for set patterns in capitalist communities, but also add to the growth. Fashion trends advertised by artists and musicians are excellent examples of popular culture. The technological revolutions in DVD's have changed the ways how movies are produced. Social boundaries are expanded by informal gathering of friends to share the excitement and trust.

The article criticizes the literary writings of writer L. Frank Baum related to fairy tales in the U.S. The author claims that the article describes another collection of tales as a perfectly good book of fairy stories for children, but no sort of fairy story for people who know what the real thing is. In 1901, Baum incorporated technology in his fairy tale stories.

Toni Tykwer's Run Lola Run (1998) almost single-handedly revitalized German cinema's international standing, especially in the United States, with its dazzling aesthetic. But on account of its visual richness and a seemingly playful blend of filmic techniques, as well as its depiction of complex human interaction in the big city, the film has been heralded as a post modern text in which the happy ending has to be viewed as ironic. This article contends that such readings wilfully disregard the celebration of human spirit that underpins Lola's efforts to save her boyfriend, Manni. It proposes that the film is, in truth, a modern fairy tale that does not seek to deflect us away from the problems that face us in the modern world, yet reinforces the value of optimism and hope as we seek to create the world as we would like it to be. Moreover, in the wake of events on 9/11, one could argue that the message of Run Lola Run has acquired even greater importance at the beginning of the twenty-first century when we need, perhaps, to take a less abstract view of the world and get on with living life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a literary criticism of the book "The Bee-Man of Orn," by Frank Stockton. As Stockton's best example of a fairy tale with double attribution, the story addresses several timeless fears: the anxiety of being alone, the doubts about one's profession, and the grief of losing a loved one. Stockton is able to address these fears through a blending of fairy tale elements like sorcerers, griffins, and dragons.

The article presents a discussion on the standard of children's literature published in the United States. The author discusses the move away from the timeless frameworks of fairy tales and fables that focus on religious, didactic, and moralist subjects. Children's literature now focuses on helping to calm concerns and help children cope with difficult events of the adult world.

Focuses on influences on American literature and rhetoric. Role of women in the American literature; Evolution of the frontier myth in American literature; Evolution of the classical myths and fairy tales in America.

The article focuses on the working method of Dr. Seuss and the creation of his fantastical Seuss-a-thon (children's stories) in the U.S. It is noted that Dr. Seuss stopped smoking in 1981 and suggested that replacing cigarettes with a pipe is one way of quitting it. His working methods in making is considered as the best possible reason in writing a children's book. Seuss-a-thon is prepared by wearing a tall stove-pipe hat with red and white stripes and read Dr. Seuss' book. Some people bring puppets, do funny voices, sing song written by him or some turn the book into an interactive experience. It is noted that his readings are like Gilbert and Sullivan which are hard to remember. Survey shows that at least half of the readers are children.

In this article the author is trying to portray the economic condition of the United States through the story of little Red Riding Hood. As the story lays emphasis on the old grandmother, the author lays emphasis on the costs and benefits of early retirement so that people can take the lump-sum payout under her pension plan to make a down payment on a house. On the other hand, the author talks of changing circumstances. He writes, being brash and flamboyant, Ms. Hood did talk to strangers and did hitchhike. A character with singularly large ears, eyes and teeth picked her up. He drove a 1974 Mercedes 250. With reference to the story the author tries to say that life is uncertain and there are few rules that apply to all cases. By breaking the rule in this case, things turned out well. But probably this case should. Not be considered a precedent. Through the story, the author focuses on the partnership of Burger King franchise, ending a long string of failures for The Wolf. Mother and the woodsman also got married, including Mother's reactive depression. Little Red Riding Flood changed her name to Rebecca and bought stylish shoes.

The article discusses the integration of fairy tales on the expanded teaching programs of STEM education in the U.S. Topics mentioned include the support of the Curiosity Creates grant of the Association for Library Service to Children and the concept of curriculum specialist Nicole Suarez in creating lesson plans while incorporating the Common Core educational standards. Also emphasized is the significant role of fairy tales in helping the children how digital technology works.

The article reports that Orion Press will release the new edition of the book "Grimm's Fairy Tales." It is stated that the book will be illustrated by American children between the ages of five and thirteen. Among the stories to be included in the book are "Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs," "The Cat and the Mouse in Partnership" and "The Wolf and the Seven Goats." Accordingly, the selection of the children's art will be chosen by a group of educators from the U.S. National Art Education Association. Details on how to submit the artworks of the children are also given.

The article discusses the lack of celebratory objects in American celebrations that represent the so-called depth symbols. According to Theology Professor at Georgetown University Doctor Monika Helwig, due to modern values that human beings have, people are trying to explain symbols, but rational explanations can never fully catch the meaning. She notes that symbolism can be rediscovered through classic stories of the Bible, Greek and Roman myths and folklore and fairy tales of ancestors.