Final Project Topic Brainstorm
The four topics I am considering are Tigers, the Brothers Grimm (with a focus on the role of gold in their stories), Italian Tales (with a focus on the role of animals in these tales), and Tibetan Folktales (with a focus on felines, both large and small, in these tales).
Tigers:
The stories I am most interested in are The Brahmin Girl Who Married a Tiger, The Hungry Tigress, The Cat and the Tiger, and The Tiger of Chao-Cheng. I am interested in seeing how the tiger is portrayed in different cultures and time period, specifically how these portrayals may differ from each other or complicate the general idea of the tiger playing the role of villain in stories. I'm sure most will portray the tiger in a negative light, but some may not, such as The Tiger of Chao-Cheng who is portrayed as loyal to the old woman. I know very little about tigers in stories, except for the evil tiger Shere Khan in the Jungle Book. I enjoy retelling stories from different characters' view points so I will probably do this for at least a couple of these tiger tales. I also enjoy adding dialogue, which I think some of these stories are well-suited for.
Brothers Grimm (Gold):
The Brothers Grimm stories that have a focus on gold include The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs, The Golden Goose, Rumpelstiltskin, and The Golden Bird. I am interested in seeing what role gold plays in these stories, which I am guessing will address greed for wealth but, as I have never read any of their stories all the way through, I am not sure if this will be the case. I found quite a few stories that relate to gold so it should be fascinating to see if gold plays the same role or different roles in these tales. I know that gold plays a dangerous role in Rumpelstiltskin as a miller's daughter in desperation for gold spun from straw and the king's favor promises to give her first born daughter to Rumpelstiltskin (fortunately, Rumpelstiltskin gets careless and gives away his name, allowing the woman to keep her daughter). I would like to find an overarching theme as to the role gold plays in these stories and use it to create morals behind these stories, connecting them together more concretely than simply showing that they all involve gold.
Italian Tales (Animals):
The Italian Tales that have a focus on animals include The Cat and the Mouse, The Three Goslings, The Cock That Wanted to Become Pope, and The Language of Animals. I just thought that, after glancing through these stories, they seemed fun and amusing so I am interested in seeing just what roles these very different animals play in these stories, both their relationships with other animals and with humans. I am particularly excited about The Cock That Wanted to Become Pope as I think this will be funny and will address delusional thinking and stupidity. I don't know much about Italian fairy tales, so this will be interesting and informative for me. Just like with the tiger tales, I would like to perhaps change the narrator of these stories or put them into the words of one of the characters, adding dialogue or more of it when necessary.
Tibetan Folktales (Felines):
The Tibetan Tales that have a focus on felines (both large and small) include The Tiger and the Frog, How the Rabbit Killed the Lion, The Two Little Cats, and The Story of the Cat and Mice. I am interested to see if the role of the wild cats is different from the role of the domestic cats in these tales, or if they are portrayed similarly. I noticed that lions, tigers, and domestic cats show up quite a bit in these tales and I am curious as to why this is. I have no knowledge about Tibetan Folktales so I am excited to read them and see how they compare to other stories we will be reading throughout the semester that also involve lions, tiger, and house cats. As a cat lover, I enjoy stories that involve these little felines, so I am very excited to read the two involving domestic cats. I will probably retell the stories from the view point of these felines just to make things more interesting. I enjoy writing stories this way as I makes me reexamine tales, looking at them from different angles, which fuels creativity, in my opinion.
Tigers:
The stories I am most interested in are The Brahmin Girl Who Married a Tiger, The Hungry Tigress, The Cat and the Tiger, and The Tiger of Chao-Cheng. I am interested in seeing how the tiger is portrayed in different cultures and time period, specifically how these portrayals may differ from each other or complicate the general idea of the tiger playing the role of villain in stories. I'm sure most will portray the tiger in a negative light, but some may not, such as The Tiger of Chao-Cheng who is portrayed as loyal to the old woman. I know very little about tigers in stories, except for the evil tiger Shere Khan in the Jungle Book. I enjoy retelling stories from different characters' view points so I will probably do this for at least a couple of these tiger tales. I also enjoy adding dialogue, which I think some of these stories are well-suited for.
Brothers Grimm (Gold):
The Brothers Grimm stories that have a focus on gold include The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs, The Golden Goose, Rumpelstiltskin, and The Golden Bird. I am interested in seeing what role gold plays in these stories, which I am guessing will address greed for wealth but, as I have never read any of their stories all the way through, I am not sure if this will be the case. I found quite a few stories that relate to gold so it should be fascinating to see if gold plays the same role or different roles in these tales. I know that gold plays a dangerous role in Rumpelstiltskin as a miller's daughter in desperation for gold spun from straw and the king's favor promises to give her first born daughter to Rumpelstiltskin (fortunately, Rumpelstiltskin gets careless and gives away his name, allowing the woman to keep her daughter). I would like to find an overarching theme as to the role gold plays in these stories and use it to create morals behind these stories, connecting them together more concretely than simply showing that they all involve gold.
Italian Tales (Animals):
The Italian Tales that have a focus on animals include The Cat and the Mouse, The Three Goslings, The Cock That Wanted to Become Pope, and The Language of Animals. I just thought that, after glancing through these stories, they seemed fun and amusing so I am interested in seeing just what roles these very different animals play in these stories, both their relationships with other animals and with humans. I am particularly excited about The Cock That Wanted to Become Pope as I think this will be funny and will address delusional thinking and stupidity. I don't know much about Italian fairy tales, so this will be interesting and informative for me. Just like with the tiger tales, I would like to perhaps change the narrator of these stories or put them into the words of one of the characters, adding dialogue or more of it when necessary.
Tibetan Folktales (Felines):
The Tibetan Tales that have a focus on felines (both large and small) include The Tiger and the Frog, How the Rabbit Killed the Lion, The Two Little Cats, and The Story of the Cat and Mice. I am interested to see if the role of the wild cats is different from the role of the domestic cats in these tales, or if they are portrayed similarly. I noticed that lions, tigers, and domestic cats show up quite a bit in these tales and I am curious as to why this is. I have no knowledge about Tibetan Folktales so I am excited to read them and see how they compare to other stories we will be reading throughout the semester that also involve lions, tiger, and house cats. As a cat lover, I enjoy stories that involve these little felines, so I am very excited to read the two involving domestic cats. I will probably retell the stories from the view point of these felines just to make things more interesting. I enjoy writing stories this way as I makes me reexamine tales, looking at them from different angles, which fuels creativity, in my opinion.
Photo by Bill Hails. Source: Flickr
You've got some really intriguing ideas for your stories here, Rebecca! I especially like your idea of analyzing the meaning of gold within some of the classic Grimm fairytales. I grew up hearing these stories and mostly took them at face value, with very little thought for what some of the deeper implications could be -- I think that an exploration of what's beneath the surface could make for some great material.
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