Anastasia Kichula, Period 6, 10/03/2022

 Anastasia Kichula, Period 6, 10/03/2022, Modern Mythology 2023

Literacy and Learning

In the past few weeks, our class has been diving into the details of the various Cinderella stories and how they came to be. No matter what the main character in the story looked like, if she was clothed in a donkeyskin cover or she was the left out person of the family who cleaned up after everyone, or how the story ended, the message in the story was the same. No matter what, Cinderella achieved happiness and freedom from what was keeping her back after a long journey of trouble. This story shows that the path to happiness is long and difficult, and it usually starts by living through the worst, but that same path is guided by people who are willing to help you and let you realize your own capabilities. For example, in the Grimm brothers’ version of Cinderella, she is aided by pigeons, turtledoves, and the tree, in order to help her wish of attending the celebration. The same order of events follows in every other story; however, it wasn’t the story itself that intrigued me. 

In class we learned about reading texts through the perspectives of various critical theories. We learned about the fact that we will always have bias when it comes to any story and the interpretation of any story starts with the reader who analyzes it. As we observed the many schools of critical theories, I came to realize that no matter what the message of the text is supposed to be, every reader will interpret it in a way accessible to them. I think that this is a very interesting concept and allows you to think out of the box in regards to what else could be a deeper meaning to a story. In the same Grimm brothers’ version of Cinderella I have already referred to, my group and I analyzed the story through a Marxism criticism lens. The hierarchy in the story, the step-family, had been abusing Cinderella and excluding her from the activities she so badly wanted to be a part of. Although she would do whatever it took to be taken to the ball with the rest of her family, she was always pushed back, always put back in her place in the lower class. Through the marxism criticism we noticed how the wealthy relied on the poor, or in this case, the step-family relied on Cinderella, and how the story was easily defined based on a slightly different perspective. 

Understanding the application of critical theories and the bias that follows every story can be useful not only in other classes at school, but also anywhere in the world. By understanding that everyone interprets a message through a different lens can be an easier outcome for many problems in the world. It is very often that people don’t understand a conversation through text messages or even that people don’t understand each other when interacting face to face. The traumas, triggers, and different reactions every individual has can be a great factor in many decisions and conversations. For example, an occurrence I have come to analyze quite often recently, parents scolding their children. There are many instances where children misbehave or are a threat to themselves due to their ignorance of elders, but children tend to forget it or misunderstand it. And here is where parents yell and scold their children, eventually to the point of tears coming into the mix. Something that previously could have been clarified and warned about in a calm and collected manner has now been shouted through the house and caused a negative reaction. Whilst parents would see this as educational and aiding their kids, I doubt the kids would understand it the same way. I know I barely ever recognize it as that. I tend to think of it as my parents acting out, causing unnecessary yelling, and ruining a great day and any plans for the near future. Of course, this is only my perspective and if I were to write a story it would be obvious that there could be a completely different lens to this story. This knowledge allows me to take a minute and think if I missed anything else to a story, whether it is something I learned in AP Macro or multivariable calculus that flew over my head because I was focusing on a different aspect of a problem or if it is something in the real world that I missed understanding because I was stuck on my view of the world and how it should be. No matter what it is, realizing that different perspectives exist and that I am not the only all-knowing person in this world can be a great tool, and I’m glad that I learned it while I can still learn to apply it and appreciate it.