- I collected the college essay and the peer review sheet.
- We read Sleeping Beauty, and we wrote about the meaning of the story.
- I assigned students the task of examining Sleeping Beauty and writing a question or two about the text that you would like to discuss. Please link your question to the comment section of the blog.
Monday, September 26, 2016
September 26,
Today in class:
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1. Was the spinning wheel a symbol for a relationship with a peasant ?
ReplyDelete2. Could Maleficent be a symbol for un-Christian sexual temptations?
1.Would a story like this be published in current times? What has changed since the 1940s to cause this?
ReplyDelete2.Are each of the fairy godmothers a symbol? Why was Aurora given beauty and talent by them, but not brains?
ReplyDelete1. How is Maleficent an outsider when compared to the other characters in the story?
2. Some of the characters have interesting names. Is this significant? If so, how?
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ReplyDelete1. Going along with Temi's question, why was Aurora's name changed to Briar Rose instead of something else? What meaning could it potentially have?
ReplyDelete2. As soon as Aurora tells the fairy godmothers that she met a stranger and fell in love, they send her back to the castle. Why send her back with such haste? What was there at the castle that would be better for her?
Rebekah Orr
ReplyDelete1. How does the way we read this text today contrast with the way this would be read 100 years ago?
2. What was Aurora feeling when she was reunited with her parents? Why does the story not focus on her perspective?
1. If the text had been written in modern times, would Aurora still be depicted as the damsel in distress?
ReplyDelete2. Going of off what Sanya asked, is it possible that Aurora wasn't given the gift of wisdom because when the text was written women who were intelligent were not as prized as a women who were beautiful?
3. What made Malificent so evil, what's her story? People aren't just born evil.
1:In most fairy tales it seams there is always some sort of fairy God mother of someone besides the mother or father to raise the princess. Why is there so little involvement regarding the original parents?
ReplyDelete2: How come so much importance is placed on the damsel in distress? She never has any sort of life to live. Is this just supposed to depict what the " modern day woman" was supposed to be at the time this was written?
3: if this was written to be a children's book why are there so many different ways to read it? I know as a child i never would have thought about it. Is it written more for the parents?
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ReplyDelete1 If you look at the situation with Aurora and Phillip as rape then couldn't you switch the good and bad guys?
ReplyDelete2 Does the spinning wheel mean a loss of innocence?
1. Why couldn't the parents have just invited Maleficent to the feast in the first place? The book stated that the only reason Maleficent was angry with the family was that she was upset they did not invite her to the feast.
ReplyDelete2. If Merryweather had the power to change the curse so that Aurora would just sleep rather than die, why couldn't she have stopped the curse all together? Is there some significance that despite having the power to change the curse, she did not stop it completely?
(jared bour)
ReplyDeleteIf we look at the kiss as awakening her sexuality, what does the marriage signify?
Could Maleficent's act of encouraging her to touch the wheel and then punishing her for it have some significance in today's "slut-shaming"?
Shelby Sabourin
ReplyDelete1. I know we touched on this a little at the end of class, but why out of all things did Maleficent change in to a dragon? If we think about reversing the roles of who we traditionally think of as the good and bad guys, does the dragon represent something else? Is the dragon just trying to protect Aurora?
2. If we are thinking that Maleficent is not necessarily the bad character, then why would she wish Aurora to die at the beginning? Could this death be a symbol similar to that of the spindle?
1.Did Maleficent have a deeper purpose for cursing Aurora?
ReplyDelete2.Why was Maleficent not invited to the party in the first place and what made her so upset that she wasn't?
1. Is the realm in which Sleeping Beauty takes place, a world of order (with a God-like figure controlling Aurora's fate), or a world of chaos?
ReplyDelete2. Do you think Maleficent's curse could have been an act of jealousy? Maybe she coveted the status and wealth that Aurora was born into.
1. What does Maleficent's presence during the gift giving signify
ReplyDelete2. Do the thorns that Maleficent cause to grow around the castle represent a mother trying to protect her child?
1. Why is the meaning of true love interpreted as something permanent?
ReplyDelete2. Why does Prince Phillip's sword and shield represent virtue and truth?
1. How was the Prince able to defeat Maleficent, even though she is a powerful fairy and he is only human?
ReplyDelete2. Sometimes numbers have significant meaning in texts- why did Aurora have three fairy godmothers when one would have been sufficient?
Alex
ReplyDelete1) How come the prince was able to defeat maleficent the dragon and not die, but with just a prick of a finger Aurora dies??? Does this suggest a gender stereotyping?
2)Was/is there a history between Maleficent and Auroras parents? Why didnt they just invite Malificent in the first place, or is she supposed to represent everything they dont want for their daughter?
1.) What was the reason Malificent cursed Aurora in the first place?
ReplyDelete2.) What is more important in this story, the love aspect or the good vs. bad aspect?
Michael
ReplyDelete1. Were the powers of the fairies restricted just to make the story more interested or was there a deeper meaning involved? For example, why couldn't Malificent simply kill baby Aurora right there? Also, why couldn't Flora, Fauna and/or Merryweather simply cure Aurora either?
2. Could this story also be propaganda for the concept of arranged marriages as well? Aurora and Phillip were depicted to be true lovers and this was due to the arrangement of their future marriage by their parents. Obviously, the end result saved Aurora's life, so perhaps this story could be nudging at such a point?
Marina Angelopoulos
ReplyDelete1. Why was Malificent cast as a woman? If the story suggests that the love is between Aurora and Malificent then what does that suggest about being a lesbian?
2. What do the thorns symbolize? Is it possible that the thorns were made my Malificent to protect Aurora and protect her consent?
1. What does the concealing of the Aurora by the fairies represent? Do fairies act as facilitators of patriarchy rule?
ReplyDelete2. What is the Prince's struggle against Maleficent after he is free symbolic of?
Miller Lawton
ReplyDelete1. What was the writer's intent? Was it all these hidden messages of rape and religion and heterosexuality or is this our viewed intent?
2. Why are the fairies so ditzy and incompetent near the beggining? Do they represent the incompetency of adults to protect her from the danger? Showing grownuos what they shouldn't and should do with the different parts of the story
-If the story of Sleeping Beauty really does have such ‘contextual origins’, why was it simplified into a perceived fairy tale to be read by children everywhere? What was the point of this simplification (besides the commercial perspective of inducing sales off the storyline and its characters through various commodities)?
ReplyDelete-To children, Aurora is one of the Disney Princesses. That being said, a lot of young girls (or boys) look up to Aurora as the type of person they wish to become---beautiful, royal, loved by many, and rescued by a handsome man in a time of need. Considering this, does this signify anything regarding the types of people we look up to today? If even Aurora, a Disney Princess, can symbolize a girl who lost her chastity before marriage (especially given the time period, an action widely rebuked and shamed upon), what can we make of widely acknowledged ‘role models’ today?
Hannah