There’s been enough interest in this, I thought I ought share it. It’s old now; I haven’t taught it since 2018, and there are many things I’d change. If anyone wants copies of the Enchanted handout, an example Zipes paper, an example final exam, and/or an example presentation, please reach out over email.
Introduction to Literature: Fairy Tales
Course Description:
This course will introduce you to the academic study of fairy tales. We will read some of the oldest known versions of popular tales (including Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, and Cinderella) as well as contemporary retellings. We’ll look at fairy tales as they have appeared in different cultures and across multiple time periods. Finally, we’ll examine how other mediums, like film, deal with the fairy tale form. The course is based around a series of short projects. Some involve critical interpretation, while others are more creative in nature: you’ll be expected to write an essay about fairy tales, to write your own fairy tale, and to present on a fairy tale type as part of a group. You’ll also be asked to imagine what the fairytale of the future might look like.
Required Course Text:
Tatar, Maria, Norton Critical ed. 2, The Classic Fairy Tales. (NC)
Additional readings will be linked on Blackboard.
Grading:
- 15% Task 1: tell a new tale
- 20% Task 2: tale-type presentation
- 5% Task 3: Enchanted handout
- 15% Task 4: Zipes paper
- 10% Task 5: mixtape fairytale
- 15% Task 6: create a fairytale artifact. Then, write an exhibit label describing a peer’s artifact
- 20% Engagement
Engagement:
Engagement includes: taking notes in the class notes Google Doc, regular in-person attendance in class, speaking up during large and small group discussion, coming to class prepared having read the homework closely, annotating class readings, willingness to share your notes/annotations/ideas with others, researching context and paratexts for class readings and sharing it with the class, collaborating well with others, and demonstrating kindness, empathy, and professionalism when discussing difficult topics in class.
Disclaimer:
The academic study of fairytales often involves frank discussions of sex and sexuality, gender, and queerness(es) of all kinds. If these subjects make you uncomfortable and/or if your religious convictions limit your ability to engage in in-class discussion on these topics, then this may not be the course for you.
DAILY PLANS:
Week 1: T
In-class discussion: What is the fairytale of now? How might we recognize it? What would it be about? Is Taylor Swift’s Evermore a fairytale? What about Hallmark movies? The Marvel cinematic universe? Fantasy sports? The goal is to define fairytale expansively enough to see the ones that surround us.
Week 1: Th
In-class discussion: Fairytale show and tell based on our discussion Tues..
Homework due: find a fairytale in the wild, and bring it in. Be prepared to explain how it’s a fairytale.
Week 2: T
How do history, setting, and period reveal themselves in fairytales?
Read: Brooke Bolander, “Her Words Like Hunting Vixens Spring”
Week 2: Th
In-class discussion: Why retell fairytales now? Does their meaning change through retelling?
Read: Angela Carter, “The Company of Wolves”
Week 3: T
Watch: Maria Tatar’s lecture on Little Red Riding Hood.
Read: Little Red Riding Hood, introduction and all tale examples (NC)
In-class discussion: An introduction to making sense of literary criticism.
Week 3: Th
In class: Example Little Red presentation.
Week 4: T
In-class discussion: What are the component features of a fairytale? How might you write your own?
Read: Propp, “Morphology of a Folktale” (NC)
Week 4: Th
In-class writing: a new fairytale using at least two categories from the Propp
Week 5: T
In class: Share your tales. We’ll do this orally, to honor how these tales have often been shared.
Due: complete and revise your tale and be prepared to read it aloud.
Week 5: Th
Read: Donald Haase: “Yours, Mine, or Ours?” (NC)
In-class discussion: Who do fairytales belong to? Are they mirrors or lamps or some other metaphor entirely?
In class: We’ll select presentation groups. The groups are: Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Bluebeard, Beauty and the Beast, and Tricksters. We’ll discuss expectations for group presentations.
Week 6: T&Th
Homework: Read the introduction and all examples of your tale type (NC).
In class: Work on your presentation in your group. I will meet individually with each group to ensure you’ve covered the essentials from our textbook.
Week 7: T
Group presentation: Beauty and the Beast
Homework: Read the introduction to the tale type and one version of the tale, and come prepared with 3 questions.
Week 7: Th
Group presentation: Snow White
Homework: Read the introduction to the tale type and one version of the tale, and come prepared with 3 questions.
Week 8: T
Group presentation: Sleeping Beauty
Homework: Read the introduction to the tale type and one version of the tale, and come prepared with 3 questions.
Week 8: Th
Group presentation: Cinderella
Homework: Read the introduction to the tale type and one version of the tale, and come prepared with 3 critical questions.
Week 9: T
Group presentation: Bluebeard
Homework: Read the introduction to the tale type and one version of the tale, and come prepared with 3 questions.
Week 9: Th
Group presentation: Tricksters
Homework: Read the introduction to the tale type and one version of the tale, and come prepared with 3 questions.
T
Week 10: Begin watching Enchanted. Work on Enchanted handout
Week 10: Th
Continue watching Enchanted. Complete Enchanted handout
Spring Break
Week 11: T
Finish watching Enchanted; we’ll discuss your completed handout.
Due: Enchanted handout
Week 11: Th
In-class discussion: We’ll summarize Zipes’ argument in class.
Read: Jack Zipes, “Breaking the Disney Spell” (NC)
Week 12: T
In-class discussion: Can fairytales be political? How/why?
Read: Kim Addonizio, “Ever After” (BB)
Week 12: Th
In-class writing: Draft your Zipes paper.
Week 13: T
Due: Bring in a completed draft of your Zipes paper and be prepared to defend your claims
In-class debate. Take a stand: Which fairytale would Zipes prefer, and why? Addonizio or Enchanted?
Week 13: Th
Read: excerpts from Anna Maria Hong’s H&G
In-class discussion: Fairytales in poetry. How might you tell a fairytale using an unusual form? Can you tell a fairytale in the form of a mixtape or playlist? How might questions from our discussion of H&G connect to your analysis of song lyrics on your mixtapes?
In class: We’ll begin creating a playlist of songs. I’ll ask you to annotate each song, but without using I. Instead, take a fairytale character of your choosing on an auditory journey.
Week 14: T
Due: Final revision of Zipes paper
Due: your mixtapes and annotations.
In class: Come prepared to share your mixtape in class.
Week 14: Th
Introduction to the fairytale museum. In-class day to work on your artifact and exhibit label
Week 15: T
Read: Kevin Brockmeier, “Day in the Life of Half of Rumplestiltskin”
In-class discussion: Retellings sometimes take the form of observing something new within the tale. We’ll brainstorm observations from the tale-types we’ve discussed so far, looking for opportunities for retellings. Does your artifact emerge from a gap, question, or possibility you observe about one of the tales?
Week 15: Th
Due: your fairytale artifact
Fairytale museum. We’ll create a museum of your artifacts and offer feedback on one another’s objects and exhibit labels.
Final exam week: T
Final Exam
Prompt for the Fairytale Museum
Fairytale Museum: A New Fairytale Told in an Unusual Medium
If you enjoyed telling your own tale, I invite you to do this again, but this time, you can’t use the medium of words (or at least not solely). Previous students have told their tales by:
decoupaging a piece of luggage with images that tell a tale and filling it with symbolic objects
making a board game that reenacts a tale
making a costume that contains a new narrative
You can choose any medium you like.
Some cautions: your fairytale needs to contain a narrative. So bringing in a Snow White costume doesn’t count. However, bringing in a black villain gown with the heart cut out might. The key is to make sure that your unusual medium doesn’t obscure the tale, and that you give us enough information for us to interpret the object and “see” the tale come alive.
In addition, please create a museum exhibit label for one of your classmate’s projects. These labels will be on display alongside your classmate’s project during our museum day. Your goal is to accurately summarize and do some basic interpretation of the project. It should be 1/2 page to 1 page, single-spaced, 12pt Times New Roman font, and should include the following:
1) A concise summary (about 3-4 sentences) of what the project is and the sources & mediums used.
2) Identification and evidence of the tale type
3) How is the project a contemporary fairytale?
GirlWonders 