THE FINAL ENTRYYY!!!!

As the semester comes to an end it is incredible to look back and see how far I have come since I first stepped foot in this class. When I first chose the class, Once Upon a Time – Folk and Fairy Tales Around the World, I did not know to expect. I was hoping to just get some Mcdaniel plan requirements done but this class has impacted me in a way that I will never forget. I developed a greater appreciation for fairy tales and now respect them as not just children stories but valuable pieces of history and culture. These tales have been passed down from generation to generation primarily by word of mouth. When you think about it that is truly incredible. These stories carry with them years of tradition and they create a whole new dream-like world where anything can happen, where the impossible is possible. When I was a kid I never thought that fairy tales were anything more than just stories told for entertainment. This class has showed me that they can be analyzed from a variety of perspectives, including that of psychology, religious and feminist.

This class was extremely fun and very engaging. Our class discussions were always very colorful and entertaining. Each week I always looked forward to our guest lectures and really enjoyed their insight into the world of fairy tales. Through this class I was able to read and analyze fairy tales from a variety of cultures around the world. We read tales from the Arabic tradition all the way to African-American story telling traditions. We looked at the Jewish folktale tradition and the storytelling in Kenya. Before this class I had no idea how broad fairy tales were and that each culture had its own unique characteristics.

For me this class was never that difficult, primarily because the work was always enjoyable and the stories were fun to read. They kept you entertained and it was nice to see the variety that is out there. I especially enjoyed the trickery tales that are from the Kenya. I would defiantly recommend this class to others. I truly enjoyed this class and it would be safe to say that it was my favorite class that I have taken since attending McDaniel College. 

Myths and Legends of the Adivasis India

This week in class Dr. Greg Alles came to our class to talk about the “Myths and Legends of the Adivasis in India”. This lecture was particularly interesting. Dr. Alles began his lecture by asking if we had ever heard of fairy tales being the cause of a genocide or court case. I was kind of taken back because I would have never thought that a fairy tale could be taken so seriously. We learned that in India fairy tales are not just tales that teach morals but rather they are considered an accurate account of history and religion. Fairy tales are seen as a constant theme in Hinduism. The magical world that the fairy tales posses are thought to be holy and the tales depict their god’s and deities. This is a huge difference from any other country we have learned about. In every other origin we have seen the fairy tales are not taken as seriously and are just thought to be stories, not reality. Additionally, I found it different that the stories were a whole lot longer than others we have encountered. Dr. Alles brought and showed us a collection of tales and the books were humungous, larger than most novels. He even showed us clips of a television series that was based on the story of Rama, depicting just how serious and widespread the tales are in Indian society.