| Subject Areas |
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Art and Culture
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Folklore |
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Foreign Language
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Other |
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Literature and Language Arts
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Fiction |
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World |
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| Time Required |
| | Two or three class periods, plus additional time as needed to compose a fairy tale |
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| Skills |
| | Creative writing
Literary analysis
Collaboration
Performance skills |
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| Additional Data |
| | Date Created: 08/20/02 |
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| Date Posted |
| | 8/20/2002 |
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Cinderella Folk Tales: Variations in Plot and Setting
IntroductionPerhaps it's because each
of us feels like the poor, downtrodden sibling at times. But whatever the reason,
something about the Cinderella story resonates with its audience. Five hundred
versions of the tale have been found in Europe alone; related stories are told
in cultures all over the globe. In America as well, the classic tale, re-envisioned
in print and other media, continues to be popular. What changes does the Cinderella
story undergo when it's transported from one culture to another? What remains
the same? Why do we love the character of Cinderella so much more than her own
stepmother does? Note: This lesson may be taught
either as a stand-alone lesson or as a prequel to the complementary EDSITEment
lesson Cinderella
Folk Tales: Variations in Character, which concentrates on variability of
character among Cinderella tales. Guiding Questions:How
do the plot and setting of Cinderella change as it is translated into a different
culture? What literary elements of the Cinderella story are universal? Learning
ObjectivesAfter completing the lessons in this plan,
students will be able to: - List essential plot characteristics
of a Cinderella tale
- Provide examples of variations in plot and setting
among Cinderella tales
- Write a narrative—a Cinderella variation—with
a plot appropriate to the genre and an original setting
Preparing
to Teach this Lesson- Review the lesson plan. Locate and bookmark suggested
materials and other useful websites. Download and print out documents you will
use and duplicate copies as necessary for student viewing.
- Download the
blackline masters for this
lesson, available here as a PDF file. Print out and make an appropriate number
of copies of any handouts you plan to use in class.
- Prepare as a handout—or
for computer viewing—the illustration Cinderella
Fitting the Slipper so as to obscure any mention of Cinderella. The image
is available from Cinderella
Bibliography, a link from the EDSITEment
resource The Internet Public Library.
- The Cinderella story can be found in
many countries and in many cultures. Students will see dramatic evidence of that
in this lesson; however, rather than concentrating on cultural differences between
the stories, this lesson concentrates on identifying commonalities and differences
in plot. Help students understand the universal appeal of the Cinderella story.
- The reading level of each of the stories suggested throughout this lesson
is about the same, with a standard fairy tale vocabulary and perhaps—depending
on the country of origin—a few unique words relating to that country (such
as "Brahmin" in the Indian Cinderella). Check to see if the reading level is appropriate
to your class.
- Some classes would benefit from hearing in advance the
stories to be assigned in Activities 2, 3, and 4, below. Consider reading them
aloud during your usual story time in the days before you begin this lesson. The
central activity is analysis, so it's fine for students to hear the story ahead
of time.
- Page lengths—based on downloading the story in a 12-point
font—are provided as an aid to assigning stories; however, your length may
vary based on such variables as formatting and font. One of the options offered
for group assignment in Activity 4, below, is an illustrated version of Aschenputtel
(German for Cinderella, from the Grimm Brothers, 7 pages), from 19th
Century German Stories, a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Internet
Public Library.
- The following background information on Cinderella
tales comes from an essay by Mary Northrup entitled Multicultural
Cinderella Stories, available on the website of the American
Library Association, a link from the EDSITEment resource Internet
Public Library.
The story of Cinderella, perhaps the best-known
fairy tale, is told or read to children of very young ages. But Cinderella is
not just one story; more than 500 versions have been found—just in Europe!
The tale's origins appear to date back to a Chinese story from the ninth century,
"Yeh-Shen." Almost every culture seems to have its own version, and every storyteller
his or her tale. Charles Perrault is believed to be the author, in the 1690s,
of our "modern" 300-year-old Cinderella, the French Cendrillon.
Famous
children's writers and illustrators have interpreted Cinderella, including Arthur
Rackham, Marcia Brown (her version won the Caldecott Medal in 1955), Nonny Hogrogian,
Paul Galdone, and Amy Ehrlich. Most renderings of the story include an evil stepmother
and stepsister(s), a dead mother, a dead or ineffective father, some sort of gathering
such as a ball or festival, mutual attraction with a person of high status, a
lost article, and a search that ends with success.
Male Cinderellas do
appear, and not just in parodies, such as Helen Ketteman's "Bubba the Cowboy Prince"
and Sandi Takayama's "Sumorella" ... "Billy Beg" of Ireland is just one of many
of these versions of the story.
Cinderella, despite her popularity, has
developed a reputation as a simpering, whimpering girl who is helpless until the
right magic comes along. But this is the Cinderella of the later twentieth century.
The earlier Cinderella, in many of her original forms, was not a wishing-only
kind of person. She was self-reliant, devoted to family and ancestors, and willing
to make her own future. - Experts categorize fairy tales according
to a system named after two scholars, Aarne and Thompson. Cinderella's variations
are so abundant that the tale received its own category-folktale type 510, related
stories of persecuted heroines. Here are notes on some of the specific variations
from the Cinderella
Bibliography, a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website The Internet Public Library.
Types most frequently in Cinderella
stories are 510: Cinderella and Cap o' Rushes, which includes such functions
as the persecuted heroine, magic help, meeting the prince, overstaying at the
ball, proof of identity such as the slipper test, a ring, or unique abilities
such as that of plucking the gold apple, marriage to the prince, and the value
of salt. 510A: Cinderella, the stepsisters, the missing mother who helps by means
of animals. 510B: The Dress of Gold, of Silver, and of the Stars, where the father
would marry his daughter; three fold visit to the church, identifying footwear. - Reader's
Theater, used to dramatize texts of many kinds, is a staged reading with a minimum
of the trappings of theater. Scripts are used during the performance; familiarity
with the script rather than memorization is all that is required. Costumes are
not used. Movement is minimal or non-existent. Roles are assigned, including one
or more narrators. Narration, especially useful with texts not written for the
theater, bridges gaps in the dialogue.
Because students generally enjoy
such low-pressure performance, Reader's Theater stimulates interest in the text
under consideration. Here, performance is suggested to enhance understanding and
to emphasize the changes in character from the familiar Cinderella. - No
Cinderella stories, except the Perrault version, are repeated in either of the
companion EDSITEment lessons, Cinderella Folk Tales: Variations in Character or
Cinderella Folk Tales: Variations in Plot and Setting. Any of the stories could
be used in either lesson; feel free to interchange them as desired.
Suggested
Activities 1. The Cinderella
We Know and Love: Familiar Plot Elements 2.
What Makes a Cinderella Story? Part I 3.
What Makes a Cinderella Story? Part II 4.
Even More Cinderellas 5.
A Cinderella of Your Own Extending
the Lesson 1. The Cinderella
We Know and Love: Familiar Plot Elements Begin
by showing the class the image Cinderella
Fitting the Slipper, a Cinderella illustration from Cinderella
Bibliography, a link from the EDSITEment
resource The Internet Public Library. Ask students if they can identify the story from
the picture. Most will know immediately. How is it that virtually everyone can
identify that this illustration is from Cinderella? What's happening at this point
in the plot of the story? (Define the term "plot" for students, if necessary.)
Again, everyone probably knows. What plot
elements from the Cinderella tale with which they are familiar can students list?
Brainstorm as a class and write down what students say. Do they recall where the
plot elements they've listed come from? For them, perhaps the Disney animated
feature or read-alouds from earlier grades. Read
aloud to the class the text-only Perrault
version of the Cinderella tale on Folklore
and Mythology, a link from the EDSITEment resource Learner.org,
or, even better, any of the many illustrated print versions, one of which you
probably have in your school library. While you are there, check in your library
for other variants used in this lesson. The Perrault version is the source of
the most familiar Cinderella tale. Which plot
elements that the students mentioned were in this version? Which were not? Using
some of the input from the class, adapt the chart "Plot
and Setting Elements in the Familiar Cinderella Story," on page 1 of the PDF
file (see Preparing
to Teach This Lesson, above, for download instructions), for your use in the
next activity. 2. What
Makes a Cinderella Story? Part I For this
activity, students will read stories that experts have categorized as Cinderella
variants. The goal is to help students see that a plot element can seem quite
different yet accomplish the same purpose in the narrative. In the Mi'kmaq (Native
American) Cinderella tale, below, the heroine's ability to see the mighty hunter
replaces the familiar identity test of the slipper while accomplishing the goal
of allowing the heroine to be recognized. Using
the Native American Cinderella story the Mi'kmaq
Cinderella, available through a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website
Native Web, model for the class the process
students will later complete with other Cinderella stories. Before you share the
story, remind students of the plot elements of the familiar Cinderella, listed
in Activity
1, above, and now featured on the chart "Plot and Setting Elements in the
Familiar Cinderella Story." Ask students to predict how plot or setting elements
in the familiar Cinderella tale might change in a Native American (Eastern Woodlands)
setting. Read aloud the Mi'kmaq
Cinderella (during your usual read-aloud time, if desired). Using your adapted
version of the "Plot and Setting Elements in the Familiar Cinderella Story" chart,
help students identify the plot and setting variations in the Mi'kmaq Cinderella.
What essential elements of the plot (such as a test of identity) are accomplished,
even if in a quite different way? 3.
What Makes a Cinderella Story? Part II Model
the analysis process once more by presenting to the class another Cinderella variation,
this time with student volunteers participating in Reader's Theater. The
Baba Yaga (Russia, 3 pages, from Aleksandr Afanasyev) would be a good story
to use for this purpose since it features dialogue prominently. Consider using
your read-aloud time for this activity as well. Assign
roles—including one or more narrators—and lead a reading. Using the
chart "Plot and Setting Elements in the Familiar Cinderella Story," help students
identify the plot and setting variations in the The
Baba Yaga Cinderella. What essential elements of the Cinderella plot are accomplished,
even if in a quite different way? 4.
Even More Cinderellas Next, students
should be ready to analyze Cinderella tales on their own in small groups. As you
prepare to make assignments, let students know that some of these stories are
closer to the original than others. Point out to students the different countries
of origin for these variants. (Time permitting, you can encourage interested students
to do research on a country, as described in the fourth bullet point under Extending
the Lesson, below, though that is not the focus of this lesson.) Tell
the class briefly about the many variations of this tale around the world, as
described above in Preparing to Teach This Lesson. Choose
as few or as many of the following stories for group assignment as you need to
suit your class. In addition, if desired, secure illustrated versions of these
and/or other Cinderella variants from the library:
Each group should
use the chart "Plot and Setting Elements in the Familiar Cinderella Story" as
an aid to finding comparative plot elements. Once
the analysis is complete, allow groups to perform their tales for the class—using
Reader's Theater or some other technique—during your usual read-aloud time.
For a brief discussion of Reader's Theater, see Preparing
to Teach This Lesson, above. 5.
A Cinderella of Your Own Now students are
ready to create their own "culturally specific" Cinderella tales. While keeping
in mind the essential plot elements, students should write a tale starting with
a new setting, one with which they are very familiar. For example, a student might
create a skateboarding Cinderella, a hip-hop Cinderella, a high-fashion Cinderella,
a science-fiction Cinderella, and so on. Students should attend to the ways the
plot must change along with the setting. Illustrations are encouraged, as they
are a tradition with fairy tales! This activity
could be assigned as homework, with students writing their own Cinderella tales.
The writing could start in class, with an expectation that the assignment would
be completed within a week in a final draft form. Students should turn in a rough
draft with their final version. Encourage
students to share their stories, either through read-alouds, performance, or distributing
printed copies in a special Cinderella version of a class literary magazine. If
desired, use the chart "Plot and Setting Elements in the Familiar Cinderella Story"
once again for analysis of one or more student-created stories. Extending
the Lesson- Students can search for other
Cinderella tales through links from the EDSITEment resource Internet
Public Library. Sur La Lune Fairy Tales' Cinderella Page provides a history of the story, as well as illustrations from various interpretations, and an annotated
bibliography of current Cinderella picture books is available from the American
Library Association.
- Students can explore other fairy tales and their
variants, starting with projects about Little
Red Riding Hood and Jack
and the Beanstalk, also on Sur La Lune.
- Citing concerns about alcohol use, an illustrated
edition of "Little Red Riding Hood" was banned in two California school districts
in 1989 because it depicted our heroine taking food and wine to her grandmother.
Such banning occurs with surprising frequency. Debates over the appropriateness
of fairy tales—for a variety of reasons—are nothing new. The EDSITEment
resource The Internet Public Library features Dr. Karl Oppel's 1903 essay, Should
children be told fairy tales?, which might interest (and even infuriate) some
students. Here are a few excerpts:
…are they recommendable for youth?
I know, that I with my opinion will contradict thousands of fathers and educators,
but yet I for myself answer this question with a very decided No. Many
fairy tales fill the imagination with horrible images, with terrifying figures
and by this they lay the foundation of scare and fear… Is it a wonder, if the
child does not want to stay alone in the dark? …I am of the opinion, that one
should never tell children any extranatural (or, as many would have it)
supernatural thing, no miracle stories, no fairy tales, nothing of fairies and
ghosts; most of all one should not think, that a child, when told it is just a
fairy tale, would not believe it for that reason. Far from it. Little children
believe everything, because they do not think yet, and it does not matter much,
whether one says with it: "It's true," or "It's not true". Discuss
Dr. Oppel's opinions in class. Do students agree or disagree? Why? - Students
can complete research on any of the countries represented by Cinderella variations
in this lesson. Our World,
available on the EDSITEment-reviewed website Internet
Public Library, is a good place to start online research on countries. Can
students make connections between the information they find about a country's
culture and that country's particular version of the Cinderella story?
- Students can locate online versions of Cinderella
stories in their original language, including the Norwegian original of Katie
Woodencloak—Kari
Trestakk—available via a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Learner.org,
and the German original of Aschenputtel,
available through the EDSITEment resource Internet
Public Library.
Selected EDSITEment Websites
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