Thursday, July 26, 2012

Week 1: Grimm Essay - The Golden Token of Proof

Since I had gotten all excited about maybe writing a short story for the assignment, I was definitely bummed that the assignment states very explicity, "write an essay..." - oh well! Since I am not a big fan of essay-writing, I decided just to get it out of the way. I did like the challenge of getting it down to under 320 words; for sure my little essay improved as a result of that (see below). I'm fascinated by questions of identity, proof of identity, doubles, disguises, etc. So I figured I would write an "identity" essay for each of these essay assignments. People reading them won't see the interplay and development of ideas from essay to essay, but it will make it more meaningful for me - and the theme of identity is ALL OVER THE PLACE in the books we are reading for this class. Plus, that will give me a focus for my reading too, looking for identity motifs.

And now that this not-so-fun task is out of the way, I can spend some more time enjoying the Brothers Grimm and go ahead and write my story just to satisfy myself. For example, I really REALLY enjoyed myself telling my own version of the Robber Bridegroom! Meanwhile, I'm curious what this whole peer response thing will be like. These little essays are so short, I would actually be glad (and curious) to read more than just four of them! :-)

~

Proof: how do you prove who you are, or prove what you saw? In the world of Grimm, you might need a golden proof token, magical or realistic; both kinds of tokens are powerful. For a magical token, consider the golden slipper which allows the prince to recognize his Aschenputtel. The slipper is not just the right size (plenty of women could have the same shoe size as our heroine); instead, the shoe mysteriously bestows identity on Cinderella, making her recognizable to the prince. The prince did not know her at first, but after she puts on the slipper, "the prince looked in her face, he knew again the beautiful maiden that had danced with him, and he cried, 'This is the right bride!'" It makes sense that in a story filled with magic, the identity token would have a magical quality; this is not your usual shoe. In a more realistic story, "The Robber Bridegroom," we find instead a realistic (and gruesome) golden token. The nameless heroine can dramatically prove that the story she has told is not a dream at all but the real truth because she possesses the real finger of the murdered woman, a finger bearing a golden ring. This golden token allows the wedding party to recognize the robber bridegroom for what he truly is - a murderer: "The robber, who during the story had grown deadly white, sprang up, and would have escaped, but the folks held him fast, and delivered him up to justice." In both fairy tales, justice is done, thanks to the proof provided by the magical token of a golden shoe or the horrifying but realistic token of a golden ring on a dead woman's finger. So, the next time you show your driver's license to a TSA agent, just be glad you don't have to meet the Grimm gold standard to prove who you are!

~

21 comments:

  1. I am finding it challenging to keep my essay word-count down, though it certainly forces you to get to the point quickly! I'm going to write my essay about the poor treatment of men in the Grimm's fairy tales. The feminists who complain about the treatment of women apparently haven't noticed how many spineless men there are in the stories!

    I'll post my essay on my blog too, so you can at least read one more. :)

    Isn't blogging sort of like writing essays? Maybe you should view the essay assignments as extensions of your blog?

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  2. I would be so glad to read your essay, Rachel - super! The problem I have with essays is that they feel so impersonal to me; I spent so many years in school writing essays, essay after essay after essay... and I honestly don't remember a single thing I said. I feel so detached from that style of writing; sure, I can do it - but after it's written, it's almost like somebody else wrote it. I far prefer writing stories. I'm writing my version of Robber Bridegroom right now; for that, I am giving myself up to 1000 words which is the limit I give my students also. It is FUN. I will post it here as soon as I am done. :-)

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  3. Reading your essay, Laura, raises an interesting issue to do with peer assessment. Because this isn't a topic that I've focused upon myself as I've been reading the stories I don't have any way of validating what you've said without having to go back, check those stories and check others that might possibly offer a counter argument. The likes of you and I are used to doing this but thinking back on some of my students, particularly some of my first year students, I know that they would either not have appreciated this or not have had the confidence to know how to set about doing it. Maybe this will be less of a problem when we come to longer narratives, but I'm glad that I'm not doing this course with a need for a grade at the end.

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  4. Hi Alex! Thanks for reading - no alarm bells went off I don't think, ha ha. Anyway, I don't see essays as arguments - so it's not about finding a counterargument, at least not for this essay which is more descriptive than argumentative. My goal was to bring out some details that are of interest to me, some of the building-blocks that storytellers use in constructing these fairy tales. Personally, I think grades are EVIL (yes, all-caps on purpose, ha ha) - but I am hoping for useful feedback in the peer comments. If not, no worries - but if we do get useful feedback from others, that's great. For me, the most useful feedback is when someone can say "X is not clear to me" or "I don't understand the connection between A and B." What might be obvious to one person might not be obvious to another person, but you don't know that unless someone says, "Wait, there's a gap here - I can't follow you." For me the goal is clarity and maybe a bit of surprise, but I'm not a big fan of argumentative writing. I don't have the stamina for it! :-)

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  5. Hi Laura, thank you very much for sharing, your example it´s riveting and inspiring! and funny at the end. The quest for identity is one of my favorite topics as well, I still haven´t written the essay, there is so much to say about the stories that is difficult to summarize in just 300 words. Anyway, we keep trying! congratulations for your blog!

    Angela

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  6. Thanks, Angela! I think everybody is going to find the 300-word count crazy-making, but it's a good discipline to learn (I had a couple other stories I wanted to include but I realized... no way!). I'm excited to see what other people write about - by having to write something so small and focus, it means everybody will end up with something quite different from everybody else I would guess. Have fun with your essay!

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  7. I was very curious about what other students essays would look like! It was nice being able to check out yours in advance! I had never written and essay in English before today.. so I was afraid I'd do something wrong.. but now I feel relieved, I think I'm just fine, I wrote in a similar way even though the topic was different! Thanks for the help! ^^

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  8. Bruna, I am so glad that it was helpful! That is what I like best about online courses - we get to see each other's work and connect with each other in ways that are not so easy to do in the classroom. I teach online classes, and the students all read each other's writing, which is a big incentive to write well and also a great way to get ideas for writing styles, too!
    I really respect all the students in this class writing in English when it is not your first language. I did a lot of studying in Italy, and writing papers in Italian must have taken me 20 times as long as writing in English! :-)

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  9. I must say I really enjoyed reading your essay and it gives me a lot to think about while reading the stories. Thank you :)

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  10. I am glad, Cassandra! I have read a couple of other people's essays also and they were excellent, so I am getting very curious about what it will be like to get the four essays at random next week! :-)

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  11. Hi, Laura! Thanks for sharing your essay. I think that we prove who we are and what we say in our daily lives all the time (IDs, reference lists, licenses, diplomas etc.), and maybe that is why we can relate to the idea of tokens, and they don't seem useless to us.
    And, since our audience in this course is multicultural, we might want to adapt our essays to that; frankly, I didn't get your joke at the end, partially cause I had no idea the TSA agent was...had to google it.

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  12. Tati_ta, what a great point about the different ways it happens in different places? I picked TSA because I asked myself when was the last time I had to prove, in person, who I was... and it was when I was at the airport earlier this summer. I will definitely ponder that for my future essays - I didn't even think about how TSA is just kind of alphabet mumbo-jumbo to people who are not lining up and taking off their shoes in American airports every day (I wanted somehow to make a joke about how we have to take off our shoes like shoeless Cinderellas... but I couldn't figure out how to get that in there, ha ha).

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  13. Hello. I came across your blog while searching for stuff on Godfather Death (sadly not in the Crane translation). I was glad to see someone's essay and the manner in which they chose to approach it. I have always been terrible at essays, even though I graduated with an English degree (6 years ago). I haven't even started working on mine yet. Your essay was very enjoyable. I had never even really noticed the constant need for proof in these stories. Now I'll probably never be able to not see it.

    I also dislike the whole shoe thing at airports.

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  14. Godfather Death is such a great story, Amanda! Did you find Dan Ashliman's website in your searches? He is my go-to-guy for all things Grimm! Godfather Death: tales of Aarne-Thompson type 332

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  15. Laura, I loved reading this, especially your take on identity, which is a topic rich with conversation, particularly in our modern times. Now to work on my own entry.

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  16. Thanks, M! I am listening to Alice in Wonderland and Looking Glass now and there is identity all over the place! I'm going to have a hard time doing the essay, even with a focus in advance, ha ha. Too much goodness to choose from! :-)

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  17. Thanks, Laura, for writing about your Coursera Fantasy and SciFi experiences in this blog, and for posting your excellent example essay. You inspire me to do the same, what a great idea. I have a blog that has set idle for a time, perhaps this is the opportune moment to bring it magically back to life!

    The 300 word requirement was very challenging, "pithy" not being my usual style, but I liked the challenge and found it a great exercise in making sure that I said exactly what I meant to say and no more. It was satisfying to hit "submit".

    Joan
    http://itsdawningonme.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thanks for your blog address, Joan - super! And I think ANY time is opportune for blogging, ha ha. It's so nice to see someone more as a person; the way everybody is just a name on the discussion board page makes it so hard to connect with people there. I'm really curious to start reading essays tomorrow; I think it will be fun! :-)

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  18. Brill essay Laura, loved it! One of the best things about doing this course has been reading your blog :) I wasn't sure I'd have enough to say to fill my own blog so I set up an online study group at www.thinkbinder.org, which is enabling me to keep in touch with all the lovely people I'm meeting on the forums or here on your blog.

    Anyone wanting to join, just send an email to antoniasinbox@gmail.com and I'll add you to the group.

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    1. Thank you, Tone - and yes, I saw the note about thinkbinder there at one of the threads - it is new to me. I'm not sure how much time I will have to participate but I am really curious about it. I will send you a note to get an invite if you don't mind; I'd really like to see how it works! :-)

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  19. Good essay. I didn't read this before I submitted my own one, just in case I stole some thoughts :)
    I've posted mine on my blog http://www.susanhatedliterature.net/2012/08/grimms-household-tales/ & I've included a link to your post.

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