Thursday, September 3, 2015

Extra Reading Diary: Brothers Grimm (Librivox) Unit

For my Extra Reading this week I chose the Brothers Grimm (Librivox) unit.  I like how the fairy tales by the Grimm Brothers seem to be intended as warnings.  They warn people of what may happen to them if they do not think through their actions.  While some tales end happily, things always go wrong before they go right.  This is almost exactly the same way that romance novels today are written.  The two meet, they have a fight/something happens, then they make up and love each other again. 

I loved the story of Briar Rose.  I think that it is funny that the Disney version of the story is set up as if the Prince saved the kingdom, when he was really just in the right place at the right time.  True Love’s Kiss has no presence in this story, which I really liked.

I really liked how the villains in these stories are only acting on revenge.  In the case of the fairy in Briar Rose, she wasn’t invited to the celebration and saw it as a slight against her by the entire kingdom.  In the story of Rapunzel, the witch imagines that Rapunzel is trying to escape from her, which leads to her acting out against both Rapunzel and the Prince.  

I love stories that are told from the villain’s point of view.  I think that it gives the story an interesting dynamic that I am hoping I will get to explore this semester. 

I am going to try to read all the Grimm units for my Extra Readings this semester!  I'm so excited!

The Fairy Maleficent. Source: Flickr

1 comment:

  1. Michaela, I just happened to notice your post and I wanted to say that this idea of reading Grimm each week for the "extra" unit and being able to do all the Grimm units that way is such a fantastic idea! This whole extra reading thing was an idea a student had last year, and I like the freedom it gives people... and if you have a specific interest, like Grimm fairy tales, then you can make that a weekly event in "your" class here, based on your choice. Fantastic! Maybe you will want to do a project for class based on the Brothers Grimm. Anyway, enjoy! I love these fairy tales too (that's why I felt like I had to do four different units), and it will be fun to see which stories you like the best! :-)

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