Fairy Tales in the Real World

One thing that I have really learned from this class is how fairy tales are everywhere, even in the police reports of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. I never really thought of fairy tales having a place outside of children's literature when in reality, children's literature is everywhere. You can't miss it. You can find a fairy tale anywhere, and most of the time you don't have to look very hard, you simply just have to look. I think most of the time it seems that fairy tales remain simply that is because of the misplaced concreteness that lies in most stories (ex. could a man really climb up a woman's braided hair?). That is why I like fairy tales, because anything can happen, which is why it is so interesting to be able to adapt fairy tales to real life as easily as they can be. So many impossible things happen in fairy tales, how is it even possible to find them in real life? Children's literature has realy opened my eyes to taking a deeper look at literature (something as a history major, i get to look at a lot).

My Group Project - All About Oz

When working on our group project, it is amazing at how many things you find behind a story that somehow seem to connect. Part of what I looked to for example was Bryan Talbot's Alice In Sunderland. You don't realize how much research it takes to find all that information, not to mention trying to fact check all the information that you do find to make sure that everything you are presenting is correct. It is so interesting to look into Baum's life as Talbot has done with Lewis Carroll. There are so many what if's when trying to find the answers for why Baum did the things that he did and the coincidences that follow his story and the times surrounding it. I really enjoyed trying to researc Baum and his career. I loved Talbot's book because of all the history and coincidences that manage to connect everything and enjoyed doing the same with Baum and the Wizard of Oz. If only I could have done more...

8 December 2008 Class Notes

Today we had more group presentations and wow, they did not dissapoint. Group #3 presentation was absolutely hysterical. I loved their take on a "modern" Wizard of Oz. They did a great job. Group #4 made their own comic book with four stories that all connect at the end and entering into a portal. The comic book that they put together was pretty sweet. It looked like they put a lot of work into making it, whic as we have learned from other presentations, it takes a lot of work to make the littlest thing work or look right. I can't wait to see the last two groups presentations on Wednesday.

PS - Class on Friday is mandatory. If you don't show, you will be docked! Finishing up individual presentations, closing the class, & talking about the test!

Final Thoughts...

This class has been quite an interesting experience.  I didn't really know what to expect coming into it.  I hadn't taken an english class in quite sometime.  I was just simply finishing out my curriculum for my minor and thought this would be an interesting class.  Who knew there could be so much information to children's literature, so many undercurrents of all sorts of different things.  There are so many things going on in children's stories, things you would never think to look at otherwise.  One of my favorites was Bryan Talbott's Alice In Sunderland because of all the history and speculation that it brings to light about Lewis Carroll and his story of a little blonde girl, Alice Pleasance Liddell.  There are so many versions of the fairy tales that we have read, versions I never knew.  It's been interesting learning what we have so far about children's literature and I am sure there is so much more to know...

"Good children's literature appeals not only to the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child."   -Unknown

5 December 2008 Class Notes

Today we began group presentations!

Group #1 (John, Brett, Brittani, Emily, Kyle, Stephanie, & Montana) - Truths, Speculations, & History Behind The Wizard of Oz - Be sure to check out the website of the storybook that they put together and used for their presentation!

Group #2 (Cassi, Hannah, Danielle, Lisa, Ronnie, Jessi, & Rebecca) - A Modern Day Tale of the Wizard of Oz: Dorothy Does Vegas...And Toto, Too! - Very Interesting!

Polling on Favorite Fairytales

So, last night at work, I thought it would be fun to do an icebreaker on what everybody's favorite fairytale is and why. I had to have an icebreaker, I couldn't think of anything and I had just come from english and Dustin's paper topic about researching with what people said their favorites were. Not one of them could really cmoe up with anything. It was really dissapointing. I think the two answers I got were Cinderella and Peter Pan (out of 9 people mind you). So, I proceeded to tell them about the Grimm version of the Cinderella story and Anderson's Little Mermaid. I ruined both of those Disney epics for them. For shame!

Dreams...I just can't remember them!

So, for the past few weeks, our blog is suppose to show evidence of a dream we have had. So, I have been on a mission trying to remember my dreams. I just can't do it. It's not because I'm under pressure or anything. I can never remember my dreams. I can't remember the last dream that I had that I can remember. I wake up every morning racking my brain trying to remember because I know that I need to blog about it but just can't remember. I would say that I don't even dream but, that's not true. Everyone dreams, just not everyone can remember it, and right now I am one of those people...

All About Curiosity (My Term Paper)

Looking at my paper at a glance, it's all about the meaning of curiosity for Dorothy, Lyra, & Alice. Most fairytales all have characters that are curious, especially female characters. That's no different for these three stories surrounding Dorothy, Alice, & Lyra. On the very first page of Alice, she is "burning with curiosity" about the rabit with the waist-coat and pocket watch. Lyra wants to know what's in the retiring room. So, I wanted to look into the etymology of the word "curious". It's always seen as kind of a bad thing, female curiosity. By looking at the origins of the word curiosity, it leads its way down to the word care, which is concern or interest for objects/people. When looking at curiosity in that light, what story, especially these three, doesn't have some form of curiosity? It is always going to be present. These three leading ladies are all about looking after either themselves or others while following their curiosity. It's impossible not to. Below is my paper...

Curious Or Caring With Alice, Dorothy, & Lyra?

When looking at three different stories in children’s literature, I can’t help but think what drives the story. According to Webster’s Dictionary, the definition of curiosity is one that arouses interest especially for uncommon or exotic characteristics. Curiosity seems to play an important role, especially in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, and The Golden Compass from His Dark Materials Trilogy. For Dorothy, Alice, and Lyra, the three females that these stories center around, their curiosity or lack there of, is what makes each story exactly that, an interesting story.
Alice’s curiosity begins on the very first page.

“…Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that
she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to
take out of it, and, burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it…”

Down the rabbit hole Alice goes and into a world full of curiosity. Every time Alice turns around there is something new and fascinating for her. If Alice had not been curious, her story would never have begun.
Lyra’s curiosity also gets the better of her. Her imagination starts to run with the knowledge of dust and the north and Lord Asriel trying to be poisoned. So many things happen within the first few pages of the story. Curiosity is the only option she has left! What are these things and where do they lead? Her curiosity in The Golden Compass tends to get her into more trouble than anything else though. Yet, just like Alice in Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, where would the story go if she did not show any curiosity? Lyra would never have gone into the retiring room and the story would have never even begun.
Dorothy’s story on the other hand is a bit more intriguing. Dorothy does not really go looking for her story. She manages to get mysteriously thrown into this other world where for maybe just a moment she remains curious, but then she just wants to go home. For Dorothy, her curiosity may have gotten her into the Land of Oz but it is her lack there of that creates her story. She wants to go home and is just trying to find out how she needs to go about doing that. For her, the curiosity is somewhat backwards. Her curiosity lies more with her traveling companions than in the other things or objects around her.
What is it that drives these characters to be curious? Curiosity lies in the unknown. For these three, it is the objects or knowledge unknown to them that causes them to want more. This should not be a bad thing but it does occasionally get them into trouble. Alice either grows or shrinks, Lyra enters rooms where she has no business being that lead to all sorts of other troubles, and Dorothy is just trying to follow the yellow brick road. Being curious always starts out with good intentions. In children’s literature, however, it just always happens to be those curious females that cause trouble.
So what is it with curiosity? Why curiosity? It plays this huge role in some of children’s literature’s most well known stories. Interestingly enough, when looking at the etymology of the word, it really makes you wonder if curiosity is just happenstance or an act of deliberate planning. When taking a closer look at the meaning of the word, coincidence just doesn’t seem like a possibility.
The word curiosity originated around 1378. One of its meanings is “object of interest.” So, an interest in objects leads to the word curator, which is someone who is an overseer or guardian, someone who curates. Somebody who curates is “one responsible for the care (of souls)” or “to take care of” which leads to the word cure. Cure is “care, concern, trouble” or “to be concerned”. So, to care means, “to feel concern or interest”. All these words connect to each other. All stem from this single word, curious.
To be curious is simply to care or learn. By looking at the etymology of all these words, it is intriguing at how all these words do seem to connect. For someone to be curious, possibly meaning that they might also care, is not really something that commonly found as often. Today, most people that are curious are only trying to get the latest gossip on a situation. It is not always to better a situation. For these three characters, to be curious is to learn more about something. “Curiouser and curiouser” is a phrase first heard in Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland. Even the first meanings of the word curiosity come from these children’s stories.
To be curious is a natural instinct, especially after taking a deeper look at the meaning curious and its linkage to the word care. Both Lyra and Dorothy are involved with trying to care for others in their stories. For Lyra, it is her concern for Roger and Billy that she begins her trip to the North. For Dorothy, she is just trying to look after her friends the scarecrow, the tin man, and the cowardly lion. Alice’s concern is more for herself, but still, it is concern nonetheless. With characters like the Duchess and the Queen floating around, I would want to look after myself as well.
Curious is also related to learning. We always want to learn more, no matter whether it is good or bad. Knowledge is power. Learning is something people never stop doing, so how can there not be any curiosity. Every story is about learning something, so every story is going to have some sense of curiosity in it. It would not be a good story without curiosity. People aren’t satisfied with just a few basic facts. They have to know everything.
Curiosity is not a bad thing, as some fairy tales make it out to be. All stories are going to have curiosity because every character cares about something or someone, whether it is themselves or not. Curiosity is what makes the story begin and to keep the reader absorbed. Dorothy, Alice, and Lyra would not have a story or be as interesting as they are without curiosity. Their concern and curiosity is what drives each story, making each its own.
Is curiosity what makes the world of children’s literature go round? It may not be the sole factor but it plays a huge role. How many stories would not even exist if their characters were not curious? Dorothy, Alice, and Lyra would not exist if it weren’t for their curiosity. Alice would not have gone down the rabbit hole, Lyra would never have gone into the retiring room, and Dorothy would never have made friends in the Land of Oz. Curiosity and the sense for something more is what drive these three girls and their stories.

3 December 2008 Class Notes

Individual Presentations

Aaron D: Deconstructionalism in Alice In Wonderland

Erin D: Children's Literature in Different Mediums *90's Nickelodean!

Aaron H: Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials

Katey: Growing Up In An Extraordinary World

Rebecca: Adults Opressing Innocent Children

Sam: Storytelling *Epic Movie Australia!

Cassi: Inspiration from Sara Bareilles song "Fairytale"

Dustin: Research Paper on Other's Thoughts toward Fairytales

Adam: Dream, Recollection and Current

Brittani: Dreams

Ryan: Man vs Nature in Pullman's His Dark Materials

Jessie: Alice In Wonderland in Relation to Time

Lisa: Six Degrees of Separtion with Obama

Danielle: Child vs. Adolescent vs. Adult

Cheryl: Reversals on Alice In Wonderland

1 December 2008 Class Notes

Individual Presentations

Brandon: How Do We Define Children's Literature

Sutter: Simpsons, Mac's, Escaping, Images Being Real/Fake

Emily: Comparing the Art of Seduction/Love

Raquel: Nonsensical Literature, Music

Kayla: Lewis Carroll, Examing History & Literature

Brett: Union Archetypes creating cultural characters through didacticism

Calie: Comparing three female characters' adolescents

Stephanie: Gateways and Portals in Children's Literature vs. realist portals, what is a portal

Julie: Presumption & Portrayal of beauty in fairytales

Ashley: The male side of fairytales

Kyle: Dream Logic/State, Lucid Dreaming

26 November 2008 Class Notes

Individial Presentations

Taylor: Skins of Literature, Erotic Connections *Brought in her pet snake Molly*

Hannah: Adults Writing Children's Literature, Peter Pan Complex

Sadie: Curiosity With Characters in Children's Literature

Jesse: Images in Children's Literature

Ronnie: Power of Literacy & What Gives It Power

John: Perishing Without Art

Ben: Cannibalism in Children's Literature

Kathleen: The Slanted Truth in Children's Literature

Jill: John Lennon & Alice, Music & Lyrics

24 November 2008 Class Notes

• Can 12-year olds feel the same way about love as adults? Is it a true love story?
• Thought: The god that is killed off in this book is an imposter god, its all the negative religious connotations that are killed off...
• Agnostic marginalized
• Genisis 3, fall into original sin, or was it needed to move on with life, was it important so that people could be smart?
• scholarship, learning
• "Maps & Legends: Reading on the Borderlands" --> check out this book
• Talked about Sutter's blog
• Experience, knowledge, remembrance, Dust - is it inert or was it active with power
• "How can you know anything, to know something, you must know what your looking for and who knows what we are looking for...therefore...you don't know what your looking for until you find it..."
• It's true because its more interesting, truth is beauty and its beautiful because its true
• Joseph Campbell
• Children's literature is where the good stuff is at?
• Where are the men? Most of the fairytales we have read are all about the women...
• Quote from Subtle Knife "those who want us to know more and those who want us to submit"
• Grand Inquisitor, atheist brother, how people are kept submissive
• The rhythm/music of line
• MS doesn't believe in giving children only age appropriate material...give them Alice and Shakespeare when they are young!
• pg 864, harpies feeding on the stories of people, the dead coming out, the truth can only come to us through stories
• "everything that rise must converge"
• Dame Hannah, one of the great English scholars
• Intuition, intuitive, reading the althiometer
• pg 911, you have to put away all your magic instruments and look at the world where you are now
• Dumbo learing to fly without the feather
• Do it without the magic, "Four Quartets" TS Elliott
• Blake, eternity is in love with the productions of time
• The only paradise you'll ever know is what's going on now and here...

Pullman & His Dark Materials

I had many previous assumptions before reading Pullman's His Dark Materials. I remember that when the movie was getting ready to come out there was so much controversy over it. "The kids kill god" is all I ever heard about it. I grew up in a christian home and so at first I was not at all interested in the movie or the book for that matter. I never much thought any more about it. Then I came to buy the books for this class and I see Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials is on the reading list. At first I wasn't thrilled. I had no desire to read it at all. After I began reading it though, I really like it. It had so much detail and was very interesting to read. I really wish that I wouldn't have let all the bad talk about it keep me from reading it. After we had one of the discussions in class about possible religious meanings for it, I realized there were so many different ways to interpret it. I have even recommended the book to others because it really was a great series to read.

Other folks daemons...

After having a very interesting chat about people and their daemons in class on Wednesday (11/19), we had mentioned about whether people today have some sort of daemon. My first thoughts were pretty much no, and then it hit me. My friends and I were on a trip up to a cabin in Deer Lodge for the weekend and we decided to make a little pit stop in Butte at the local Wal-Mart Store. This was a first for me. I had never been into Butte, only passed through on I-90 on my way to Missoula. I was a little leery at first. I have never really heard anything good about Butte (I'm not from Montana fyi) but I was up for our little detour. As we were wondering through the game section around the corner came a man with a parrot on his shoulder! I was trying not to stare but it was difficult. It's not everyday that you see somebody walking around in Wal-Mart with an animal on there shoulder. Talk about having a daemon on your shoulder!

What's My Daemon?

This whole concept of having a daemon is quite fascinating. I had a really hard time trying to figure out that if I had a daemon what might he or she be? So I went online and searched for something that might help me decide. Lo and behold, I found a site where all I had to do was take a quiz and "voilah" it would tell me what my daemon would be. After taking the quiz, it told me that my daemon would be an eagle or a hawk. I liked the idea of having an eagle for my daemon. They are graceful and cunning and strong. What I wonder is where did Pullman come up with this idea of a daemon? It is a very interesting concept and I just wonder how one might come up with that. (Photo by Roger M. Clark)

19 November 2008 Class Notes

• Pullman --> Stark realist?
• Things in His Dark Materials being real?
• pg 281, end of golden compass, idea of "the north"
• daemons, didacticism, dust, storytelling, alethiometer
• reality-> what is the north, where (geographically) or what does it suggest?
• idea of north has to deal with imagining the north, the frontier, something old becoming something new...
• where do you go when you reach the north?
• Poems -- Snowman, The Ode & the Grecian Urn
• Music of the spheres, caused by the movement of planets & celestial bodies..."it can be heard but not by your ear, unless you trained to hear..."
• pg 364, talking about dust knowing
• animals -> interchanging, inseperable, seperating yourself form your anima=soul
• Notion of the daemon- child daemons change, adult daemons don't
• What is it that cause the daemon to change/not change anymore?
• Sacrifice, selfless sacrifice
• Is he a realist because he doesn't give a happy ending?
• Go look at Ryan's blog
• My Dinner With Andre, the idealist and the realist
• Golden Compass, Subtle Knife, Amber Spyglass --> metaphors
• Why go to literature for realism? The imagination wants you to see symbols/symbolic
• Ability to deal with the hypothetical
• What differentiates us from the animals?
• Friday...what is your daemon?

10 November 2008 Class Notes

TEST REVIEW QUESTIONS!


Subject Matter:
Tatar endings
Talbot pages
Humpty Dumpty
Question of Morals
Linda's Lecture
Wool & Water
Tweedledee & Tweedledum
Caterpillar
My Book & Heart...


Q: Who was the illustrator of Alice?
A: Tenniel


Q:Last word in Beauty & the Beast?
A: Virtue


Q: Who wins after death?
A: Worms


Q: Just because the worms win, how do we triumph over them with agency?
A: Groucho Marks, ART wins


Q: According to Oscar Wilde, life imitates?
A: Art


Q:Five themes of class?
A: Myth, History, Art, Dream, & Coincidence


Q: Who does the white knight represent?
A: Lewis Carroll


Q: Examples of moral and parody?
A: Moral -> How doth the little busy bee Parody -> How doth the little crocodile


Q: What food does the mock turtle sing to Alice about?
A: Soup


Q: In Alice, what is the hatter's answer to the riddle?
A: I haven't the slightest idea.

Q: Besides Shakespeard, who is the most quoted author?
A: Lewis Carroll

Q: _____ is a depersonalized ______ and _______ is a personalized _______.
A: Myth, Dream, Dream, Myth

Q: Stephanie thinks who is the rudest flower?
A: The Violet

Q: According to Shakespeare, how many stages of man are there?
A: Seven

Q: Word animated contains which word that means soul?
A: Anime

Q: Who is the volcano?
A: Alice

Q: Where does Alice live in all of us?
A: Collective Unconscious

Q: The first time Alice shrinks, how tall is she>
A: 10 Inches

Q: What is the title of the deleted chapter in Alice/Looking Glass?
A: Wasp & the Wig

Q: How does Alice offend the mouse?
A: Talks about her cat

Q: During the Protestant Reformation, what was a goal?
A: Teach moral values

Q: First Bible in America was published in what language?
A: Algonquin

Q: What two animals spark curiosity about evolution?
A: Mammoth & the Monkey

Q: What invention had enormous influence on Protestant Reformation?
A: Guttenberg press/printing press

Q: Why is the mad hatter mad?
A: Had mercury in their had bands, misplaced concreteness

Q: What does the white rabbit drop when he scares Alice?
A: White gloves & Fan

Q: What do Beauty's tears turn into in Jean Cocteau's verson?
A: Diamonds

Q: When reading a story, trust the _____ and not the ______?
A: tale, teller

Q: Lewis Carroll's nickname inspired character?
A: DoDo

Q: What is interesting because it's interesting?
A: Tatology

Q: Goody Two Shoes is an emblem of ______ which most adults lack?
A: Perfection

Q: According to Tweedles, if I am part of a dream then what are you?
A: Dido Dido Dido

Q: What image in Alice & Wonderland appears in Rebecca's dream?
A: Flying pigs

Q: A big theme of this class is to look into the _____ side of things.
A: Dark

Q: Who was the most prolific serial killer in 19th Century England?
A: Mary Ann Cotton

Q: Who were the primary ghosts in Talbots book?
A: Sid James & the White Lady?

Q: Jaborwocky originates from this Sunderland myth.
A: Lamton Worm


Q: What is the last line of Alice?
A: Life, what is it but a dream


Q: first letter of each line of the poem at the end of Alice creates a?
A: Acrostic

Q: Walter Pater said that all art aspires to the condition of _____?
A: Music

Q: According to the script of My Book & Heart, the text informs?
A: Reality

Q: What is Tweedledee fond of saying?
A: Contrariwise