Amy Chen, Period 6, 9/18/24

 Amy Chen, Period 6, 9/8/24, Modern Mythology 2024

Literacy & Learning

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

It was interesting to read through all the different variations of Cinderella and see the little differences between them. Every story, depending on the culture of origin had their own unique elements that separated it from the rest of the stories, such as in “The Princess in the Suit of Leather”, the traditional shoe we know of from Disney’s adaptation is replaced with an anklet, an item with much greater significant meaning in Egyptian culture, as traditionally Ancient Egyptians did have much emphasis on footwear and anklets were used by upper-class women to show off their status. Despite the various differences between each version, there were still some archetypes that remained constant throughout every retelling. There would be a damsel in distress, almost always portrayed as a kind and beautiful heroine (with the exception “The Story of the Black Cow” which featured a male version of Cinderella), saved from their abusers by a Prince Charming, followed by a wedding and a happily ever after. 

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

Today we learned about the many different types of critical perception and how ultimately every narrative is subjective. Every work is up to the individual and every interpretation will be different as a reader can interpret works differently from the author and other readers. Every work can even contradict itself as there is no definitive or absolute meaning, as the meaning is only derived from what the reader sees. Different perspectives can transform a single story into vastly different viewpoints. I learned to not look for a specific “correct” viewpoint as what constitutes as correct will change depending on the angle that is taken when reading the story. If a story can be interpreted from a specific perspective, then it is correct, as a perspective cannot be forced, and there are only different interpretations. 

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

Perspective is not only applicable to literature, but also to situations in real life. Everyone has a different standpoint, each with their own opinions, depending on the stance they take. In class, it was discussed how across all the Cinderella stories, with feminist criticism, we can see how when a female character is a villain, they are an absolute villain with no chance of redemption, and there is almost always a harsh punishment they are dealt. Conversely, when it came to the kings that had wanted to marry their own daughters, causing them to run away in fear, they suffered little repercussions, with one realizing the wrongness of his actions, and being happily reunited with his daughter in the end. We can look with feminist criticism at many things in our world today, with the unequal treatment of men and women across many different aspects of society. Like in Cinderella, women often take absolute responsibility for situations, such as a dirty house or unhappy children being the fault of women as it is often within their expected duties to complete those tasks. This is an onlook of the world from one perspective, and a different view would probably yield different opinions, as ultimately everything in the world is subjective as well, just like how literature is.