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"Myths And Their Transformations," |
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So Many Cinderellas - Jeanne Lund, Lathrop Intermediate |
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While students learn about a plethora of historical events, people, and concepts during the course of their education, rarely do they learn specifics from more than one perspective. Our students mainly receive the American textbook version of events, concepts, and people. However, students educated in different countries learn some of these same educational tidbits through a vastly different set of beliefs. I learned this while I was in Spain. Students at the University in Granada explained to me that according to Spanish professors and textbooks, Spain and its allies had actually won wars I had thought America had won. Until then, I had no idea that such an opposing perspective on a historical event existed. I plan to convey this to my students. In the unit, "So Many Cinderellas," students will read four different myths and two poems with the Cinderella theme. These stories are "Aschenputtel," "Ashpet," "The Algonquin Cinderella," "Yeh-Shen," and two poems, "In Search of Cinderella" and "...And Then the Prince Knelt Down and Tried to Put the Glass Slipper on Cinderella's Foot." By reading these different versions of the story, understanding why so many exist, and how they transform through different tellings and over time, students will be able to see the bigger picture. There are many different people in this world from different cultures that feature different belief systems. People have their own perspectives that differ from those of others. However, we are all still just people, and some universal laws hold true. For example, good behavior (as defined by the culture) is praised or looked upon as good, and bad behavior is discouraged and punished. We hope that students will begin to realize that life is bigger than just the school they attend, the neighborhood they live in, or the city they inhabit. People all the way around the world think about, study, and have opinions about Americans and what America has done in the arena of world politics. With this background of perspectives and stories for comparison, students will discuss the film representations Ever After, the Disney Cinderella, and the modern Cinderella movie. Students will understand the reasons behind the changes to the story made by each of those movies, understand what the morals are, and identify the common theme. Although the films are from the same country, this will give students an idea of the perspectives different cultures, even within the same country, have on the same story. This "So Many Cinderellas" unit will achieve two goals. First, students will understand perspective and that there can be many different perspectives regarding almost any subject. This unit will also encourage cultural awareness. This will show them the different perspectives that different cultures have on the same story, as well as the common thread. While peripheral changes are made in stories from different cultures, the main theme remains the same. This is a great beginning place for cultural awareness. Through reading different stories with the same theme, students will learn about the values and beliefs of different cultures and will be prepared to write their own versions of "Cinderella" based on their own values and beliefs. Objectives
Magic According to child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, children identify well with the use of magic in myths and fairy tales. This is because myths and fairy tales supply answers to the major life questions that children have while growing up. Fairy tales address problems such as, "How can I behave like myself in this circumstance?" Solid answers are given by myths, while fairy tales only suggest or imply solutions, leaving the child's imagination to finish solving the problem (Bettelheim 45-53). A fairy tale is credible to a child because it is told as if from a child's point of view. Because of the simplicity of thought and reasoning within the fairy tale, the child identifies with the fairy tale and may hold its solution more credible than an adult's logical reasoning through the same problem (Bettelheim 45-53). A story that does not seem to fit our own logic and reasoning does not have credibility to us. A child assumes her relations to the animate and inanimate world are the same, so a child pets a stuffed animal because she thinks the object likes to be touched like she does. A child might hit a toy that first hurts her to punish it as if the toy harmed her on purpose. Piaget tells us that this animistic thinking remains all the way up to puberty in the child. This means that while teachers and parents tell the child that objects cannot feel or act, the child does not completely buy it, although she may pretend to believe this to please the adult or to avoid teasing. The child merely keeps this "real truth" inside where it remains hidden from others and from rational thought. However, the child's hidden truth can be encouraged and influenced by the content of fairy tales (Bettelheim 45-53). Storytelling Storytelling is a universal tool of the world's peoples as we attempt to make sense of the world and our places in it. In a sense, storytelling is the storyteller's attempt to imitate her creator. The creator would be the master storyteller who creates from a void the story that was once creation. Out of the void, storytellers still create stories to explain the creation event. They also tell stories to explain everything else in order to understand it (Leeming 3). Storytelling Encyclopedia tells us that humans began telling stories to explain reality and existence so they would understand it better. So, early non-literate peoples spent time storytelling in a dangerous, untamed wilderness. They did this through the use of costumes, paint, dance, and ritual. Later, poetry and song evolved into more complex narratives similar to those we know today. Telling stories has always been a human-defining characteristic because it helps us to understand and to discuss life and "to make creation conscious of itself" (Leeming 3-7). Thus, storytelling is like an emotional survival instinct just like the instincts for food, shelter, and belonging. Well-told or well-written stories have a strange power to attract and to captivate an audience. A good story "holds and moves" us while showing us a part of ourselves we did not know existed before (Leeming 3-7). Bettelheim tells that if a story is going to hold the attention of a child, it needs to both amuse and spark her curiosity. However, if a story is going to enrich a child's life, it must spark her imagination, understand what her problems and needs are, and understand what she wants. It must not leave her hanging but help by suggesting solutions to the problems. The story must relate to the different parts of her personality, give credibility to her problems, promote self-esteem, and ensure that everything will be okay in the future. There is more to be learned from a fairy tale about inner and interpersonal problems and the positive solutions to these problems in any society than from other types of stories that a child can comprehend (Bettelheim 236). How did "Cinderella" become so widely popular? The "Cinderella" story is the world's best known and most well-liked fairy tale. It had an oral history when first recorded in China in the ninth century (Bettelheim 5). It is an old belief that a small foot is the sign of great virtue, distinction, and beauty. Slippers made from precious materials are an Eastern practice. Slippers made of precious materials made by artisans came from Egypt starting in the third century. The Roman Emperor Diocletian, in 301 A.D., set a ceiling on the price for different kinds of shoes including slippers made of Babylonian leather, purple or bright red dyed shoes, and finely ornamented slippers (Climo). The ancient Chinese would bind girls' feet while growing up, so they would remain small. Small feet were a sign of beauty and attractiveness in a lady as are the small glass slippers of Cinderella. "Cinderella" is an exaggerated tale about sibling rivalry wherein the suppressed heroine triumphs in the end over the siblings who abused her. In the days of yore (Once upon a time...), "living among the ashes" was a symbol of being "underneath" one's siblings. An example comes from "Aschenputtel" (from Germany by the Brothers Grimm) which tells of an ash-boy who ends up king. Originally, the word pertained to a poor, dirt and ash-laden kitchenmaid who would clean the fireplace of ashes. Throughout the German language, the concept of being forced into living "among the ashes" was repeatedly used as a symbol of degradation, sibling rivalry, and of the sibling who triumphs over those siblings who revile her (Bettelheim 236-239). In the Bible, Tamar was raped by her brother, and Joseph was sold into slavery by his brother. The plot of the story shows the hidden feelings of a child being outclassed by her sisters during a stage of sibling rivalry. A child who envies a sibling can relate to the feelings of Cinderella's exaggerated rivalries. Cinderella was degraded and reviled by her stepsisters, her interests were ignored for theirs, she did the most difficult dirty work which didn't get acknowledged, etc. This shows us how a child struggling with sibling rivalry feels. And this child identifies fully with our repressed, unhappy Cinderella. Even children with no cause for feeling this way have weak moments of feeling less-worthy than others. The character of Jan Brady, for example, from the TV show "The Brady Bunch" thought she could not measure up to her older sister, Marsha. She felt that all she ever heard about was "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!" When a story strikes a child's deep inner feelings (if only occasionally), it transforms emotionally into truth for that child. This truth becomes an intense wish for an idealized future to balance out the terrible feelings associated with sibling rivalry (Bettelheim 236-239). There is another side to the story as well. At some time every child has thoughts of her inherent evilness. She thinks that due to her secret wishes and/or actions, she deserves to be degraded, separated from others, and sent away to some bad place to live with other bad people. She is afraid of her siblings and especially her parents finding her out because she believes they are free of all evil. The child wants them to believe she is innocent of whatever wrongs she has dreamed of or done. And so when the audience believes Cinderella innocent and good, the child gains the hope that she too will be believed good and innocent (Bettelheim 236-240). The Evil and Envious Nature of the Stepmother and Stepsisters According to Bettelheim, what a child believes to be her own mistakes pales in comparison to the despicable nature and actions of the stepmother and stepsisters. At the same time, what these "meanies" do to our heroine far exceeds and justifies any negative thoughts she may have had about her own brothers and sisters. These oppressors are so evil that any punishment or bad thing one might wish upon them is justified. Cinderella is clearly innocent when compared to them. Thus, a child feeling guilty could identify with Cinderella, and the guilt over those thoughts would be erased. In a child's mind, reality and fantasy intermingle. No matter how exaggerated her thoughts or feelings may be about how she is neglected or mistreated as compared to her siblings, it is nothing compared to how Cinderella was abused. So the child realizes that things could be worse; she is actually lucky. Of course, the child need not worry about the future as fairy tales always end with "...and they lived happily ever after." We hope that every child feels deserving and worthy, just as our heroine knows that she deserves to be discovered by her prince (Bettelheim 236-240). Had she not felt worthy of a prince, she would have said no to the engagement or the marriage. Oedipus/Family Structure The family structure, though seeming far out of balance, actually realigns itself in the end. In the beginning, Cinderella's mother has died, and we're left with the father's love for Cinderella and Cinderella's love for her father. Then an evil stepmother and stepsisters arrive, and she is reduced to a persecuted family slave. This structure is similar to a girl's Oedipal development. First a girl loves her mother, the real, beloved blood mother who later appears as the fairy godmother. The girl then loves her father and wants his love returned. While this happens, the mother and all sisters are competitors for the father's love. Finally, the child feels rejected and alone. During puberty (or sooner), the girl goes back to her mother, now willing to share her love and to identify with her as a woman (Bettelheim 246-248). The hearth, the centerpiece of the home, symbolically means mother. To spend time in the ashes would then show her (Ash girl, Cinder-ella) either not letting go of her mother, or coming back to her mother and all that she stands for. All girls attempt to go back to the mother after the disappointment of the father. Since her actual mother is gone, and a wicked non-giving stepmother stands in her place, this attempt fails. So in the beginning, Cinderella grieves over the death of her mother and also her dreams of a great future connection with her father. She "processes" this disappointment and loss to prepare for a good life as a lady ready for marriage. To come full circle and to balance the family, her mother returns as her fairy godmother to help her as a young lady preparing to meet a young gentleman. The father's love is replaced by the love of a prince who falls madly in love with her (Bettelheim 246-248). Envy Our heroine who lives among the cinders shows us a deep misery from her underprivileged spot in the household. She acts as a servant and serves despicable bosses. However, she accomplishes her service with dignity and with a kind of nobility. She has both inner and outer beauty and grace that cannot be disguised by her tattered clothes or her current servitude. For this, her stepsisters and stepmother all envy her. This story is about envy. Envy is second of the seven deadly sins, only pride comes before it. Envy is rarely written of, even though it is a common experience in people's daily lives. So, how are we taught to deal with this natural emotion? We aren't. We are told, "Just don't."(Ulanov 19-20). Then what about envy towards us? Envy directed at one makes one feel totally discounted as a person and treated as an object. One might feel angry, sad, or disappointed after a negative encounter due to feelings of envy. As an object, one's feelings, situation, and history are discounted. For example, the sisters ignore the fact that our heroine has recently lost her mother. The envied one is an object only as the envier idealizes her. Now robbed of her former identity, Cinderella takes the blame for the envy, and while she has become a hero in this respect to the audience, she is a villain to the sisters. She's not a complete person as a hero or villain but has been reduced to the envied parts of herself. What this does to the envier is to cause her to view herself in the same disjointed way as only parts, not a whole (Dundes 251-254). Balance If we look at the story with respect to the balance of men vs. women in the family, balance is lacking. In this plot balance equals happiness, peace, and justice. When the story opens, we are led to believe that it was a happy family when mother was still alive. That was a balanced family with a mother, a father, and a child. Then, the mother died, creating an imbalance, worsened by the absence of support or protection from the father. This left both father and daughter unbalanced and unhappy. The father felt this and tried to remedy the situation by bringing in a new mother/wife he naively thought would be nurturing to Cinderella. The stepmother unbalanced it further by acting wickedly and allowing her daughters to act wickedly towards Cinderella. This suggests only blood ties or first marriage ties will keep a family healthy and together. So, the fine prince who arrives in Cinderella's life in the end is essential. The prince marries her and solves both the imbalance problem and the happiness problem at once. Now Cinderella has a solid, new family unit and protection from the rest of the family. Though this might be a painful message for children going through a similar transition at home, these students may gain hope of a happy future as they experience the happy ending of the story (Dundes 253-254). Social Mobility The change from an unstable family to a balanced, safe family in the end shows social mobility. Many fairy tales imply to children that they can gain social status when they grow up and start their own families. In the story, this theme is joined with another one that tells it is possible to get out of servitude and into the palace if you are patient and understanding. Each of these contains the belief that justice lies in the social system, good gets rewarded, and problems get solved justly (Heiner). Summary/Background Sources differ on the number of versions this timeless tale actually has. This one claims seven hundred, others cite 900, 2000, and even that every culture has a version. Though the peripheral details differ from culture to culture, the theme remains the same. Most contain a heroine who is held in high regard. She has a fall from this position to a live-in servant that happens suddenly (Bettelheim 247). She is mistreated, even abused by a stepmother and stepsisters, has magical help from a magical being or other magical instrument, goes through an identity test, and finally returns to an envied position (and marries royalty). The climax is when the slipper fits (Leeming 116). So, since the shoe fit, she wore it. A Chinese version of the story was written down in the ninth century A.D. (850-860 by Tuan Ch'eng-Shin), but we know that it was told orally long before written language recorded it. In the first recorded story, Yeh-Shen is the Cinderella who does not have a fairy godmother. Yeh-Shen is helped (pfew!) by a magical fish. She does not wear glass slippers but golden shoes. The Parisian Charles Perrault wrote the best known version in 1697. It is believed that he refined some parts of the tale to make it acceptable or better liked by the French court. An example is that he may have toned down the punishment of the sisters. He took out the violence and harshness. He gave us our fairy godmother, the pumpkin carriage, the animal servants, and the glass slippers. Yeah Perrault! He added these details to capture his audience. Some think he confused the word "vair" which is French for "ermine or fur" with "verre" which is French for "glass." This would account for the glass slippers. Perrault also eased up on the gore of the stepsister's punishment and gave a happy ending where they were forgiven and found royal husbands (Leeming). So she forgave and forgot. On the other hand, the version "Aschenputtel" by the German Grimm Brothers in 1812 left the gore in. They did not add a fairy godmother for us. Instead, our Ash Girl goes to her mother's grave and plants a tree (Leeming). From there a special tree grows (in place of a fairy godmother or a magical fish). A magic white dove appears in this tree to help our heroine make her way out of the terrible situation she is in. The Grimm Brothers were not so forgiving, however, and the evil stepsisters get punished. The sisters cut off parts of their feet, so they could squeeze into that magic slipper. Later, birds from the special tree attack them and pluck their eyes out (Leeming 4). This is pretty gruesome, even for the nineties. Perhaps their audience could handle the gore or needed the justice. Still, the theme remains intact. Good things happen to good people who do the right thing. A draw to the story is our heroine. She's overworked, unprotected, beaten, unloved, and she remains a good person until she gets rescued. All variants show Cinderella as physically and morally better than her nemesis, and she comes out ahead in the end. They all also tell of a young lady who suffers long and hard and finally gets recognized. Universally, this is now a symbol of how fate can and will reward the good (Leeming 116,117). Pertinent Definitions Myths, it is likely that myths were the first stories told using spoken words since cave paintings and ritual dances. They try to explain huge concepts like life, death, the universe, creation, and gods. Myths can be found in all cultures around the world (Leeming 5). Folk Tales, folk tales do not usually explain things or concepts, but they explain human relationships. We have heroes, heroines, villains, victims, etc. because of folk tales. Fairy Tale Legends, fairy tale legends are told, usually with a supernatural element (i.e. a fairy godmother), to teach a moral. These are what we tell to children to teach good vs. bad (Leeming 204, 205). Grimm Brothers, Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859) Grimm from Germany are two famous brothers who gathered and revised two volumes of fairy tales. They attended the University of Marburg where they both studied law. While there, both became interested in Old German Literature. They concluded that language, not law, was the uniting force for the people of Germany. They then lost interest in law, their father's trade. Once both parents had passed away, in 1808, they started gathering stories for their first collection, it seems for money. Once it was circulated in 1812 (like Chicken Soup for the Soul), they began receiving numerous stories from people through the mail. They had a great impact on the recording, revising, and rewriting of stories of Europe. Amid controversy, some say they wrote some of the stories or parts of them (Leeming 261-262). Charles Perrault, Charles Perrault (1628-1703) from France was the other major contributor to our fairy tale repertoire. He also gathered stories into collections such as Tales of Past Times, with Lessons, (French--Contes de ma Mere l'Oye) known as Mother Goose Stories by Robert Samber. He also wrote poetry and prose himself and was an important member of the Academie Francaise. He was hotly involved in the debate over modern vs. ancient literature. He argued for modern literature, thus, he logically "modernized" the tales in his collection (Leeming 368-369). Symbolism Prince, a prince has the energy and potential to be the future leader of the kingdom. He is our hero in many myths and legends. He's the ideal man. He's handsome, brave, charming, considerate, caring, protective, and romantic! He acts chivalrously with our heroine. A prince is a perfect hero. Princess, she is a rare beauty and has all the good qualities of a potential queen of the land. She is kind, graceful, intelligent, gentle, loving, courageous, although she's sometimes passive while awaiting her prince. She is the ideal young lady (Heiner 2). Cinders, ashes and cinders stand for grief and mourning (Heiner 5). So Cinderella (named for the cinders she cleans or sleeps in) mourning over her mother's death from the cinders of the hearth has many meanings. She is sad, she is sitting in the ashes while crying, which totally emphasizes the point. Plus, she's doing this on the hearth, which is symbolic of the mother, the center of the house. This is all quite appropriate. It also emphasizes her new lowered and pitiful position in the household, and the absence of parents that protected her from this kind of abuse. If she only had her beloved mother, she would a comforted, loved, well-cared for and watched over child. Glass Slippers, in order to wear these delicate shoes made of glass, our heroine must be very dainty, graceful, and light on her feet! The shoes would have been expensive, probably custom-made (Heiner), and therefore in the league of royal attire. To dance in these shoes, let alone walk without tripping and dying, proves she has the grace and elegance of a queen! Fairy Godmother, a supernatural being, especially prevalent in fairy tales, who provides protection, assistance, or the fulfillment of a deserving character's desires (Leeming 171). She is linked symbolically and emotionally to the heroine's dead mother. Why did I choose this topic? The Santa Ana Unified School District adopted a new textbook last year for Language Arts entitled Elements of Literature. Our curriculum dictates that as an ELD and Language Arts teacher I use this. Inside I found five Cinderella stories and two poems. I was drawn to them for probably all the reasons I have discussed above. Mostly, I like the good girl's reward for good behavior. I like the fine young prince, and the bad girls not getting the envied prince due to bad behavior. And of course, I want to live happily ever after. If I can get my students to see the peripheral changes made by different cultures to the story, they may begin to understand the different perspectives the story has been told through. Then, I'll have led them to the conclusion that the underlying theme is the same, no matter what culture does the telling. If students understand this, they may begin to see that different cultures have different styles and methods, but overall people are the same. They all reward the good and punish the bad. The perspectives are all valid. No single copy of the story is the "correct" one. Different Versions The Egyptian Cinderella. Shirley Climo. Illustrated by Ruth Heller. NY: Harper Collins, 1989. This takes place in sixth century B.C., Egypt. Our heroine Rhodopis, which means rosy cheeked or sun burnt, was kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave. Teased by other servants because of her fair Grecian skin, they ordered her around. A falcon, the symbol of the god Horus, brought one of her beautiful sandals back to her. The falcon gave the other to Amasis the Pharaoh. He knew it was a sign from Horus. In a chariot, he searched for a girl to fit the sandal. He found her, and though she wasn't Egyptian, the Pharaoh said she was the most Egyptian of all--her green eyes matched the Nile, her hair was feathery as papyrus, etc. The Roman historian Strabo first recorded it in the first century B.C. It is both fact and fable. Fact: A Greek slave girl, Rhodopis, married Pharaoh Amasis (Dynasty XXVI, 570-526 B.C.) and became his queen. What is believed: Rhodopis was born in Northern Greece, kidnapped by pirates, and was sold to a man on the island of Samos. A fellow slave, a homely little man called Aesop, told her stories of animals. When grown, bought by Charaxos in Egypt, slaves were given gifts by owners if they were favored, and many lived more comfortably than free servants did. Ancient Egyptian gold was mixed with iron at times and turned red. Rose red slippers are possible. Horus, the Egyptian sky god and deity of living people, was believed to appear on Earth as a falcon. My opinion is that this has great historical backup and is very interesting! Cendrillon-A Caribbean Cinderella written by Robert San Souci. Illustrated by Brian Pinkney. NY: Simon and Schuster, 1998. This takes place on a lush green island in the blue Caribbean Sea called Mer des Antilles. Our narrator's mother died leaving her a magic stick that can only be used on a person she loves. Her boss's daughter is Cendrillon, whom she loved, raised, and was godmother to. Cendrillon's mother died and her father married the mean Madame Prosperine--who worked Cendrillon (Cinderella) like a slave girl. A birthday party for Monsieur Thibault's son, a handsome well-spoken young gentleman, came, and she used the magic stick to help Cendrillon. She went to the fet (party, celebration) adorned and wearing embroidered slippers. The young gentleman married her and had a three day long celebration for the wedding. I had a strong urge to go to the Caribbean after reading this one. Perhaps the illustrations were a little too good! Cinderella. Alice Duer Miller. Illustrated by Constantin Alajalov. USA: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1943. Perhaps in my top three favorites, this is a poetic rhyming version with great illustrations. The illustrations express the range of emotions felt throughout the story. It is sing-songish, told with a twentieth century attitude, blended and rhymed with an older version of English (probably from Perrault or the Grimm's). I highly recommend it. However, it does contain some complicated words, so I plan to read it aloud to my intermediate school students while they follow along. I expect them to love it too! Cinder Edna. Ellen Jackson. Illustrated by Kevin O'Malley. NY: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, a division of William Morrow and Co. Books, 1994. Cinderella and Cinder Edna lived next door to each other. Cinderella sat resting in the cinders after work. She wore glass slippers to the ball. Edna kept warm by working for money for clothes after her chores were finished. Ella wished for a fairy godmother to solve her problems and got one. She could not think for herself. Edna didn't believe in fairy godmothers and did not need one. She thought through her problems and solved them herself. She saved up money for a dress and comfortable loafers to dance in for the ball. Then she took a bus to the ball. She ended up with practical Prince Rupert the recycler and lived happily ever after in a small cottage near the palace! Ella, wearing uncomfortable glass slippers at the ball, did not have very much fun, because her feet hurt when she danced. However, she met the other good looking prince and married him. But they didn't live as happily ever after in the palace. Awesome story with a great moral for all our girls! Cinderella. Charles Perrault. Retold by Amy Ehrlich. Illustrated by Susan Jeffers. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, NAL Penguin Inc, 1985. The heroine is called Cinderwench for sitting in the cinders after work. The ball lasts two nights. She forgives the sisters and gives them a home in part of the castle. Cinderella and Other Stories. Charles Perrault. Retold by Margaret Carter. Illustrated by Hilda Offen. New York: Kingfisher Books, 1993. Real sisters are jealous because the younger Cinderella is pretty. Tired from hard work, she nightly sat in the cinders by the fire, thus, Cinder-Ella. There is no stepmother. It is a short, quite abridged version eight pages long. The reading is at a second or third grade/ ELD 2 or 3 level. I do not recommend it for older or higher level students. It said about the shoe, "…and it fitted." Is this a grammatical error? Cinderella. Retold by Barbara Karlin. Illustrated by James Marshall. Boston and New York: Little, Brown and Co., 1989. An innocent widower marries a "vain and horrid" woman with two mean daughters. They moved into the cottage, and Cinderella had to sleep in the cinders from then on. It shows the king's son asleep in a hammock. Funny. Fairy godmother requires two lizards (among other things). Cinderella forgave and found Lords of the Court for the stepsisters to marry, and they moved into the castle. The fairy godmother also moved in, so everyone could live happily ever after. An almost normal version. Cinderella. William Wegman, Carole Kismaric, and Marvic Heiferman. New York: Hyperion/Lookout Books, 1993. This is for dog lovers, specifically Weimaraners, and is not a seriously toned story. Wegman is a world-renowned Weimaraner photographer. It starts with Ella and her widower gentleman father. He finds a wife so Ella will have a mother. He dies, like the movie, Ever After, leaving her with evil stepmother and stepsisters. She has a "fairy dogmother." Cinderella Penguin- or The Little Glass Flipper. Janet Perlman. New York: Penguin Books, 1992. Young penguin lived in a faraway land and slept in a cold cellar on a shelf next to plates. Stepsisters rested comfortably on feather beds. Penguin prince, costume ball, Great Fairy Penguin. Glass flipper fell off on steps. Sent her to cellar under the floor, and her flipper got stuck in it. Sisters fighting over glass flipper, flipper flew, landed on Cinderella penguin's stuck flipper. Ends with a pun. It is funny and clever. (Notice the publisher!) Cinder-Elly. Frances Minters. Illustrated by G. Brian Karas. Singapore: Viking, 1994. It rhymes! New York City, present day. Two mean natural sisters. Sisters played video games while Elly brought them iced tea and cleaned. The three sisters won tickets to a baseball game. Mother only had money for new clothes for two. Elly rode her bike to the game. Great fun! Modern. The students just might relate to some of this one. The Golden Slipper: A Vietnamese Legend. Darrell Lum. Illustrated by Makiko Nagano. Troll Ass. Inc., 1994. The foothills along Red River, Vietnam. Poor rice farmer and daughter Tam. Stepmother beat her and sent her to bed without dinner. Father died of a broken heart over Tam's mistreatment. Fairy godmother said to listen to the animals and everything that surrounded her. The animals helped her finish chores and made her beautiful clothes to go into town. Also called "The Brocade Slipper" in Vietnam. Vietnam is mostly mountainous with two major rivers in the lowlands, the Red River and the Mekong River. Under China's 1000-year rule of Vietnam, a few powerful families ruled over many poor families. Thus, a story such as this when a poor girl ends up with a powerful prince is logical as it is popular. Thumbs up! The Irish Cinderlad. Shirley Climo. Illustrated by Loretta Krupinski. USA: Harper Collins, 1996. Ireland, long ago. Mean stepmother and sisters berate a poor boy named Becan (Little One). Magic bull. Becan rescues a princess in distress. Red hair, big feet, mother dies. Rescues king's daughter from the townspeople who had tied her up as a sacrifice to a dragon in the water. Kills dragon, princess grabs his boot. They marry. A "Seanachaoi" or storyteller, was second only to a king for a thousand years in Ireland. 1366 "The Statute of Kilkenny" disallowed poets and bards from speaking their native language. Few Irish folktales were printed until the 1800's. There are many variations of Cinderlad: Scandinavian Askelad, more in England, Hungary, the Balkans, India, and Japan. Long ago in Ireland, it was thought cattle had come from the sea and had unusual powers. A cow with a white face and red ears was considered a magical creature. Very interesting. Great male version. Lesson Plans 1. Pass out construction paper and have students make Cinderella Unit folders (title, name, period, and design to come later). I like to use colors that go along with the story, light blue, and pink like Cinderella. 2. Have students write down on a piece of paper the title "Cinderella." Give them five or ten minutes to write down everything they think of when they think of "Cinderella." Then discuss their answers as a class. 3. Write a paragraph: Have you ever felt that someone was mean or cruel to you for no good reason? 4. Have students find the dictionary definition of a fairy tale and a myth and write this down on the back of the paper. Then they will list some examples of fairy tales and myths they have heard. Discuss this as a class. Answer aloud: What do you like about these stories? 5. Read the first story "Aschenputtel"(or any other "Cinderella" story) by the Brothers Grimm. Have the students tell you aloud what the sequence of events in the story is. Then explain what plot is. Have them get into groups, write down the plot of the story, then each group reads theirs aloud to the class.
Have students add/subtract from their plots to make theirs accurate, have students copy a plot version for their own folders from the group plot. 6. Decorate the front of the folder with a picture or design from or relating to the story. Use colored pencils, markers, or crayons. 7. Read the second story "The Algonquin Cinderella" by M.R. Coy, or any variation of choice.
Oochigeaskw makes piece-meal clothes for herself out of tree bark, and borrows dad's shoes to go see if she is the chosen one who can see the invisible prince She can see him The prince's sister helps her becomes pretty, scars come off and hair grows magically, lets her wear a beautiful wedding gown marries prince Have students make a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting "Aschenputtel" and "The Algonquin Cinderella". Lower level or younger students may need to first list the events of the plot of the second story, then transfer the information to the diagram. A Venn Diagram "Aschenputtel" "The Algonquin Cinderella"
 8. Read "Yeh-Shen" by Ai-Ling Louie (from China). Then write down the events of its plot.
Have students write down the plot in their groups and share. 9. Read from "Ashpet" by Granny Shores, collected by Richard Chase (Appalachian). Then write down the plot by yourself until the excerpt ends.
10. Read the two poems "...And Then the Prince Knelt Down and Tried to Put the Glass Slipper on Cinderella's Foot" and "In Search of Cinderella." Read through the poems, define from the dictionary any unknown words. Rewrite each poem in either paragraph form or poem form (teacher's choice) in your own words. Discuss as a class what the poems are saying. 11. Go through your notes from the four stories and fill in this chart.
(Same moral: Good gets rewarded, bad gets punished. So behave well and treat others nicely.) Students can do this in groups or by themselves which ever you think they'd benefit more from. Lower level or younger students may need to be in groups. They should be using their notes first, then their books to fill this in. They will have to figure out the morals themselves, however, it has probably been discussed in class already, and they may remember it. 12. Take the "Differences" part of the chart and a new piece of notebook paper. Down the left-hand column of the paper, list the differences between the stories. Then move to the middle of the page and draw a vertical line all the way down the paper. Label the second column "Values." The title of this paper is "Value Inferences Chart." On the right side of the paper, students will make educated guesses using the difference as a guide to infer what value is behind this difference. 13. Characters Name and describe the main characters from (pick a story)_______________. heroine hero bad people-list and describe magic character/thing father mother punishment (just for kicks) Discuss characters in movies and books. Use perhaps the new Star Wars, The Phantom Menace, as an example if enough students have seen it. Name the characters and describe them. Write this on an overhead or the board and have them copy it into their notes. Watch Ever After or the Disney Cinderella and have them do the above exercise during or after the movie. 14. Change of story Play telephone with the class. Think up a sentence, any sentence. Write it down and hide it. Tell one student. Now the students each have to hear the sentence (whispered) and pass it on to another student. The last student tells the class what was said. It will undoubtedly be a butchered version of the sentence, or a totally different sentence altogether. Then explain that this is exactly how different versions of this story emerged from long ago. And explain some of the history from above, when and where the first "known" version came from and why people changed it in different ways before they passed it on. Discuss different beliefs from each different culture. Say that those beliefs are all valid, there is no one true or correct belief or way of doing things. Go over the big graph to review both the similarities and the differences. End the conversation with this quote in regard to the many differing versions: "...they do all seem to offer the same message--that virtue is self-evident, apparent in the size of a shoe or ring, and thus can be discovered if it has been for some reason obscured" (Leeming 162). 15. Have students make up their own plot and write their own versions of the story. Use the Character List as a prewriting activity; fill it in with their characters. They have free reign, they can be set in 1999 Santa Ana (or current day, current town) and maybe there is a school dance, Karate Club meeting or soccer game the hero/heroine wants to participate in. Only the moral has to remain constant. Students need to think through and be able to explain why they changed the things they did. On the Character List have students draw a vertical line down the middle of the paper. Label the right side of the paper "Reasoning." They will answer the question "Why" or explain "What I was thinking…" in that column, for each corresponding character change in the left column. 16. Have students get into groups and choose one story from above (number 14) to act out. Practice, then act out that version for the class. 17. Have students write one paragraph or one page (depending on level) on one of the cultures read about in the Cinderella stories. This is a great research project to get students using the Library, Encyclopedias, or the Internet. Have students include customs, dress, living conditions, traditions, etc. Present to the class, so the other students will learn this information also. 18. Have students make a Table of Contents for the folder in order of assignment dates. List the page number, title, and place in front of the other pages in the folder. Make sure the order on the Table of Contents matches the order of the papers in the folder, just like a book. Then staple the folders together like a book. Hint: Teachers--if you grade the papers as you go along and pass them back, reminding students where they go, you will not get stuck with a pile of folders to grade all at once! |
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