sweetsouthern Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 while at the book store today, my rising 9th grader was browsing through some classic literature books and caught her eye on some of the disney classics : snow white, sleeping beauty, cinderella, peter pan, alice in wonderland... etc. she was immediately in love and wants to add these to her literature curriculum this year. the only problem is, with the exception of peter pan, all the rest dont look strong enough for 9th grade lit. i tried searching online for some sort of study to go with a few of the titles and came up empty handed. anyone have any ideas? or even a version for some of these that are perfect for this grade? thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bee Happy Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Can she just read them for pleasure? My kids have some silent reading time daily, and they just read things they enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 (edited) If they are the non Disney version, they should absolutely be read. Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination is a great place to start for a parent to read. Also, The Owl the Raven and the Dove, if you want to read a little bit more on why fairy tales are so important. If you but the annotated versions of the books, you could make studies out of them. The Annotated Brothers Grimm, The Annotated Peter Pan, The Annotated Alice. There's many more! Have fun! (The Grimms wrote Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, just in case you didn't know) Edited July 8, 2012 by justamouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 (edited) Definitely read the ORIGINALS which are NOT the Disney versions!! Disney changed/shortened/sugar-coated all of the originals. Here are some works worth reading/discussing/analyzing in a high school level fairytale/fantasy Lit class: - Peter Pan (Barrie) -- novel - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; Through the Looking Glass (Carroll) -- short novels - Phantases (MacDonald) -- novel - Lilith (MacDonald) -- novel - The Golden Key (MacDonald) -- short story - The Light Princess (MacDonald) -- short story - Smith of Wooton Major (Tolkien) -- short story - Leaf by Niggle (Tolkien) -- short story - "On Fairy Stories" (Tolkien) -- essay - not a fairytale, but a tale of Fairie (see above essay): Lord of the Rings trilogy (Tolkien): Fellowship of the Ring; Two Towers; Return of the King - not a fairytale, but a tale of Fairie (see above essay): Earthsea trilogy (LeGuin): Wizard of Earthsea; Tombs of Atuan; Farthest Shore Most of the fairytales you mentioned are very short stories and are written at a younger child's level, but some are longer and could be part of a one-semester course, or the shorter ones could be "beefed up" with additional materials -- add additional readings, do research (here's a huge list of books on analysis of fairytales), watch/compare with films, and have plenty of discussions and writing assignments... How have these works evolved over time and through different cultures? How are elements from them part of our everyday culture and are alluded to frequently? How has our view of the heroines/princesses changed in modern times from the originals? Etc. I'd say you'd have a very interesting, thought-provoking and worthwhile one-semester literature course! Strictly Traditional Fairytales; Longer Works: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll) English origin. Consider the Martin Gardner annotated version and use the annotations for great springboard into research on all the many people/events/things the author was referencing and satirizing Aladdin is part of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights Middle Eastern origin. See this very informative Wikipedia article for ideas of themes and elements to dig in and discuss while reading. Consider watching Arabian Nights, a very well-written film version and writing a compare/contrast paper on the book and film version. Both the book and the film focus on the heroine/queen Scheherazade who is very literate, clever, beautiful, and wise. Strictly Traditional Fairytales; Short Works: Beauty and the Beast French origin. Read and compare 18th century ideas of nobility/woman's place, vs. the modern-day retelling and ideas of who women are with the (almost) original and modern interpretations. This 1756 French abridgement (which is the closest to the original still available). These modern retellings, Beauty and Rose Daughter, are both by author Robin McKinley; read BOTH -- the second is a richer more complex and more complete re-envisioning that McKinley wrote 20 years after the first one! Also consider watching and comparing the French film (since this IS a French tale): La Belle et la Bête (1946), directed by Jean Cocteau. Black & white and rather magical in tone, though some changes to the original story. Cinderella multiple versions of many origins. Read and compare/contrast the many different versions from different times/cultures: Rhodopis (Ancient Egyptian Cinderella); Ye Xian (Ancient Chinese Cinderella) Grimm brothers version. Also compare with Ella Enchanted (by Gail Carson Levine -- a modern retelling). Watch "Into the Woods", play by Stephen Sondheim (1988), with Cinderella as one of many fairy tale characters (her role partly based on the Grimm Brothers fairytale). Rapunzel (German origin) the 17th century original (translation entitled "Parsley"); the Grimm brothers version; and Rudaba (an ancient Persian Rapunzel). Compare with "Into the Woods", play by Stephen Sondheim (1988), with Rapunzel as one of many fairy tale characters (her role partly based on the Grimm Brothers fairytale). The Little Mermaid (Hans Christian Anderson) Danish origin. Read it free online here. Watch and compare with the 2008 Hayao Miyazaki film, "Ponyo", which was inspired by and based loosely on The Little Mermaid. Edited July 8, 2012 by Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 If they are the non Disney version, they should absolutely be read. Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination is a great place to start for a parent to read. Definitely read the ORIGINALS which are NOT the Disney versions!! Disney changed/shortened/sugar-coated all of the originals. :iagree::iagree: Also, here is (besides the lists in TWTM) my favourite list of literature: http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html Have fun browsing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Absolutely. Folk tales are an important part of a WTM education. If it is any comfort to you, in my English class at high school we read Grimm. Warning - some of those tales are not for the faint of heart. Don't forget about 1001 Nights. I have an unabridged translation that is twice as thick as my KJ Bible on paper just as thin, written in similar sounding English. There is nothing un-high-school-level about either of those books. Alice in Wonderland is a common high school book because of its mathematical references. And if you want to make Cinderella high school level, read the Perrault version, preferably in French. Here is the Wikipaedia entry for the story: " "Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" (French: Cendrillon, ou La petite Pantoufle de Verre, Italian: Cenerentola, German: Aschenputtel) is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world.[1] The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune. The story was first published by Charles Perrault in Histoires ou contes du temps passé in 1697.[2] " If your daugter (sorry about the tiny font) is taking French, she could read "Histoire ou contes du temps passe" in French. I'm sure the same is true of any other foreign languages she is taking. My sons read a number of folk tales as part of Great Books. Tell her that Canterbury Tales is a collection of folk tales. She can read The Mabinogeon. That, too, is a collection of folk tales. Homer, LotR, Beowulf, Sir Gwain and the Green Knight, were all things my children enjoyed greatly. Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Definitely read the ORIGINALS which are NOT the Disney versions!! Disney changed/shortened/sugar-coated all of the originals. Here are some works worth reading/discussing/analyzing in a high school level fairytale/fantasy Lit class: - Peter Pan (Barrie) -- novel - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; Through the Looking Glass (Carroll) -- short novels - Phantases (MacDonald) -- novel - Lilith (MacDonald) -- novel - The Golden Key (MacDonald) -- short story - The Light Princess (MacDonald) -- short story - Smith of Wooton Major (Tolkien) -- short story - Leaf by Niggle (Tolkien) -- short story - "On Fairy Stories" (Tolkien) -- essay - not a fairytale, but a tale of Fairie (see above essay): Lord of the Rings trilogy (Tolkien): Fellowship of the Ring; Two Towers; Return of the King - not a fairytale, but a tale of Fairie (see above essay): Earthsea trilogy (LeGuin): Wizard of Earthsea; Tombs of Atuan; Farthest Shore Most of the fairytales you mentioned are very short stories and are written at a younger child's level, but some are longer and could be part of a one-semester course, or the shorter ones could be "beefed up" with additional materials -- add additional readings, do research (here's a huge list of books on analysis of fairytales), watch/compare with films, and have plenty of discussions and writing assignments... How have these works evolved over time and through different cultures? How are elements from them part of our everyday culture and are alluded to frequently? How has our view of the heroines/princesses changed in modern times from the originals? Etc. I'd say you'd have a very interesting, thought-provoking and worthwhile one-semester literature course! Strictly Traditional Fairytales; Longer Works: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll) English origin. Consider the Martin Gardner annotated version and use the annotations for great springboard into research on all the many people/events/things the author was referencing and satirizing[/i] Aladdin is part of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights Middle Eastern origin. See this very informative Wikipedia article for ideas of themes and elements to dig in and discuss while reading. Consider watching Arabian Nights, a very well-written film version and writing a compare/contrast paper on the book and film version. Both the book and the film focus on the heroine/queen Scheherazade who is very literate, clever, beautiful, and wise. Strictly Traditional Fairytales; Short Works: Beauty and the Beast French origin. Read and compare 18th century ideas of nobility/woman's place, vs. the modern-day retelling and ideas of who women are with the (almost) original and modern interpretations. This 1756 French abridgement (which is the closest to the original still available). These modern retellings, Beauty and Rose Daughter, are both by author Robin McKinley; read BOTH -- the second is a richer more complex and more complete re-envisioning that McKinley wrote 20 years after the first one! Also consider watching and comparing the French film (since this IS a French tale): La Belle et la Bête (1946), directed by Jean Cocteau. Black & white and rather magical in tone, though some changes to the original story. Cinderella multiple versions of many origins. Read and compare/contrast the many different versions from different times/cultures: Rhodopis (Ancient Egyptian Cinderella); Ye Xian (Ancient Chinese Cinderella) Grimm brothers version. Also compare with Ella Enchanted (by Gail Carson Levine -- a modern retelling). Watch "Into the Woods", play by Stephen Sondheim (1988), with Cinderella as one of many fairy tale characters (her role partly based on the Grimm Brothers fairytale). Rapunzel (German origin) the 17th century original (translation entitled "Parsley"); the Grimm brothers version; and Rudaba (an ancient Persian Rapunzel). Compare with "Into the Woods", play by Stephen Sondheim (1988), with Rapunzel as one of many fairy tale characters (her role partly based on the Grimm Brothers fairytale). The Little Mermaid (Hans Christian Anderson) Danish origin. Read it free online here. Watch and compare with the 2008 Hayao Miyazaki film, "Ponyo", which was inspired by and based loosely on The Little Mermaid. I am sooooo copying and pasting this post into a word Doc, so I can use in DC's Lit Study! Thank you.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 There are several Teaching Company lectures on fairy tales in the course Masterpieces of the Imaginative Mind. They brought up several of the themes mentioned above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 You also may want to decide if you want post modern analysis of those tales, or more classic analysis. They differ greatly. Analysis with a feminist slant is going to bring you 180 degrees away from a more moralized, classic slant. From there, proceed with caution on the books you use for analysis. IE, In the book Tending the HEart of Virtue, Guroian brings out the longing for immortality of The Little Mermaid, from the very beginning as she tends her underwater garden always longing for above, and how in the Anderson version, she receives it, whereas a feminist analysis will talk about how she had to mutilate herself for the love of a man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetsouthern Posted July 9, 2012 Author Share Posted July 9, 2012 oh these ideas are wonderful! please keep them coming! dd has decided to start in this order: snow white, alice in wonderland, cinderella and then either sleeping beauty or little red riding hood. thank you so much everyone! :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 (edited) while at the book store today, my rising 9th grader was browsing through some classic literature books and caught her eye on some of the disney classics : snow white, sleeping beauty, cinderella, peter pan, alice in wonderland... etc. she was immediately in love and wants to add these to her literature curriculum this year. the only problem is, with the exception of peter pan, all the rest dont look strong enough for 9th grade lit. i tried searching online for some sort of study to go with a few of the titles and came up empty handed. anyone have any ideas? or even a version for some of these that are perfect for this grade? thanks! I want to 2nd Justamouse's The Owl, the Raven, and the Dove recommendation, but w/a caveat. I was originally going to spend next yr on a Grimm's study w/dd and ORD was going to be one of the main bks for analyzing the stories. The book is fascinating and I learned more than I would have thought possible about mythology and the allusions w/in the tales. However, I do recommend pre-reading the book to make sure it matches your expectations. My dd is a rising 8th grader and the latter part of the book contains quite a few se*ual references and describes things like the spinning wheel as a ph*llic symbol. I have decided that for my dd (who is embarrassed by Shakespeare) that it was too much info for now and will reconsider it when she is older. FWIW, I really like Norton's annotated books. http://books.wwnorton.com/books/book-template.aspx?ser=The+Annotated+Books&lastpage=4¤tpage=1 Edited July 9, 2012 by 8FillTheHeart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 I googled 'college course grimms fairy tales' and got many hits. I'd pick and choose from those to prepare my course description and assignments. (Or even better, I'd let dd look over those options, make suggestions and go from there.) Sounds like FUN!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.