Alyssa Abed, Period 8, 9/21/21

 Alyssa Abed, period 8, 09/21/2021, Modern Mythology 2022

Write about your thoughts regarding any of the fiction or nonfiction covered in class.

I’d like to discuss the introduction to Cinderella by Maria Tatar and the collection of Cinderella stories that follow, because there is just so much to unpack there. First off, I want to say that the introduction was incredibly insightful and informative, so kudos to Ms. Tatar. Not only did she give a lot of insight into why certain versions of Cinderella have fallen out of favor, but she also taught me a great deal about how varied the Cinderella stories truly are, which was very useful before going into the reading itself. I learned that there are 345 variants of Cinderella. 345!! I don't know about you, but that really stuck out to me, especially having grown up on the classic Disney Cinderella that I just passively accepted as the Cinderella story. However, after reading this collection of Cinderella stories, it was clear just how different these variants could be and how vastly different they were from the story that I was well acquainted with. A large amount, 130 to be exact, as stated by Tatar, belongs to the plot we are most familiar with: the ill-treated heroine (by a mother, step mother, or maternal figure). However, there are a great deal more Cinderella stories that instead feature the unnatural father (77) and King Lear judgement (19). These categories feature versions of Cinderella that I myself, and I’m sure many of you, aren’t familiar with. The farthest version from the Cinderella I grew up with had to be Donkeyskin, earning it an honorable mention. Donkeyskin follows a beautiful (a common theme throughout every story) young Cinderella who flees her kingdom after her father, the king, gets it in his head that he has to marry her because she is the only one who fits his late wife's set of requirements (how convenient). Already you can see this story is very different from the mainstream one: there is no evil step-mom or step-sisters, these figures are instead replaced by an incestual father. Cinderella hides her true self and beauty by wearing a donkey skin, earning herself the name Donkeyskin and a bad reputation. As Tatar points out, it’s not hard to see why versions like these aren’t used, seeing as most of these stories are marketed towards children. Regardless of their appropriation levels, these stories serve as useful insight to the time period and culture and should therefore not be allowed to fade away.

Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception.

Today, we learned how to differentiate between the different genres of stories. I admit, I had gone in overconfident, I thought, of course I know what belongs in the fantasy section and what belongs in the science fiction section and so on. This is easy! So, when I realized I couldn’t place every story, I felt a bit sheepish. I hadn’t realized just how much my definition of these words had all blurred together. How different fantasy and fairy tales are categorized. How different fables and folklore are. Now that I’ve learned the nuances of the definitions, I can see just how important these distinctions are when it comes to properly categorizing these stories. For some reason, I treated fable and fairytale as interchangeable terms. But, they aren’t. As a refresher, incase you, too, forgot the difference: a fairytale is made to provide entertainment while a fable is made to provide a moral lesson at the end.

How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?

I’m hopeful now that, for this class, I’ll be able to identify what genre we’re reading, which, consequently, will give me insight into the stories' origin and more. For beyond this class, I’m grateful to have learned the distinctions and think this knowledge will make me think a little harder and be more analytical when it comes to reading these stories. I think knowing what category a story falls under will help me have a deeper and more total comprehension of the story in general. This learning experience has opened up my eyes to the complexity of the classification of these stories. Stories, that I once deemed could simply be fit into any box. Now, I know not only the differences, but the similarities between them, and how some of these stories can actually be fit into more than one box. No longer will I rope every story I read into fantasy. I know better now. In regards to the world, having read Ms. Tatar’s thorough introduction and learned the extensiveness of categorization, I’ve realized that there’s a wide related work field out there that correlates to history, culture, archiving, and more. A whole field that I never stopped to think about, exists. I’m sure this concept of categorization will also come up in many of the different subjects I’m taking. For that, I’m grateful.