Into the Mind of Hans Christian Andersen “Hans Christian Andersen was a product of two towns, two social environments, two worlds and two ages.” Said Johan de Mylius. Andersen was born on April 2, 1805 in Odense, Denmark. The only child to a poor shoe maker and a washerwoman, Andersen experienced the lower quality of life. As a young child he would roam the local town. He would often visit the home for the elderly in Odense where the old women would tell him aged stories and legends they were told when they were children themselves. These stories are believed to have attributed to his creative imagination and gift for writing children stories. In 1812 Hans’ father took him to the local theatre for the first time, and he was infatuated with …show more content…
He makes the readers feel how Andersen felt while writing the work. Andersen’s stories are all alike in this way. His stories have the same characteristics throughout. For example like the excerpt from The Garden of Eden, in The Wild Swans Andersen makes the reader feel the words they read, this particular scene is where Elisa claims of being innocent of a crime she was accused of and the village people see truth to her words:
““Now I dare speak!” she cried. “I am innocent!” The people knowing that a miracle had taken place, kneeled down before her as they would a saint. But Elisa, worn out by fear, worry and pain, fainted lifelessly into the arms of one of her brothers.” (Pages 89-90)
As seen in the excerpt Andersen’s characters seem to live emotionally heightened lives, which expresses his dramatic style. Just as Andersen’s flamboyant style his smart use of literary devices was the “glue” to all of his works. He tends to use quite a bit of narrative description and imagery, while being extremely detailed in everything that his happening throughout the story. For example this excerpt from The Little Mermaid shows exactly just how well Andersen was able to use literary devices to be detailed and thorough with his
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Every writer and reader alike knows that without using literary devices the story would be bland and wouldn’t “flow”. Hans Christian Andersen is a prime example of the good stories that can come from knowing how to properly use literary devices. Out of the many successful works written by Andersen, there is a fairy tale that was more successful than the rest. The Little Mermaid. This story is about a young woman who gets into a tough situation, there have been many adaptations of each which is why this story have continued to be a household story through the
Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour”. The Seagull Reader: Stories. Ed. Joseph Kelly. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2001. 65 – 67.
...known author that millions adore, even after death, tells how well he influenced the lives of those people. In the twenty-first century Seuss’s birthday is recognized as “Cat in the Hat Day” (La Ferle).
Fairy tales are one of the longest lasting forms of literature. Though now they bring to mind classic movies engendered by Disney, many of these stories were first passed on in an oral manner, meant to convey a message, moral, or lesson. Alison Lurie’s “What Fairy Tales Tell Us” covers a broad range of classic tales, discussing how under the guise of an entertaining story comes life lessons we would all do well to follow. To begin this paper, some of the tales Lurie examines in her article will be looked at and critically examined beyond what she discusses. This will then move the text towards its remaining sections, which will take Lurie’s ideas and have them applied to folk and fairy tales that have not yet been contemplated; for the purpose
Trites, Roberta. "Disney's Sub / Version of Andersen's The Little Mermaid." Journal of Popular Film and Television 18.4 (1991): 145-52. Print.
Fairy tales were a big part of my childhood. I started my research on fairy tales written by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm. Fairy tales often have a character that goes on a journey or an adventure. During his journey he encounters mystical beings that help or hurt the characters success. When I was a child, my grandparents would tell my sister and I stories like “Jack and the Bean Stalk” and “Little Red Riding Hood”. My grandfather would always act out the part of the wolf or the giant, while my grandma told the story. The fairy tales by the brothers Grimm were very popular and some were retold by Disney. But Disney’s versions were much less graphic than the original tales.
While we are all aware of the Disneyfied versions of fairy tales and folklore, however, long before Walt Disney, the stories were not so
...n” is a great example of an old myth or tale reconstructed and adapted for a modern audience in a new medium. It is a progression on one hand in its use of modern language, setting, and style but it is also the product of the old myths in that it is essentially the same on the thematic level. In addition, the level of self-awareness on the part of the narrator and, by extension, the author marks it out as an illustration of the very notion of evolutionary changes of myths and fairy tales. Adaptation is the solution to the fairy tale, and fairy tales have been endlessly changing themselves throughout history and, by some strange transforming or enchanting power endlessly staying the same.”
Erik Erikson developed a theory that every person has to go through in their life, but each person has to go through each step and cannot jump steps. Many people believed in Erikson’s theory and how there has to be a various stages of steps a person has to go through. The real question is, who is Erik Erikson? In 1902, near Frankfort, Germany, Erick Erikson was born to Danish parents. During Erikson’s early years of life he found an interested in art and began to study in Europe. After a year, Erickson decided to return home to Germany, where he got accepted into art school and went towards with his passion. Many years passed and with Erikson’s degree, he started to teach art to children from different countries for abundant amount of years.
In both Hans Christian Andersons “The Little Mermaid,” and Disney’s version of the story, the main character— a young and beautiful mermaid— waits anxiously for her fifteenth birthday to venture from her father’s underwater castle to the world above the water. As the story carries on the mermaids priorities change; her modest and selfless nature is revealed towards the end in Andersen’s version. However, Disney’s version encompasses a rather shallow ending and plot throughout. The theme found in comparing the two versions reveal that Andersen’s substance trumps Disney’s entertainment factor in fairy tales.
Fairy tales have been part of our lives ever since we were young children. We all either grew up watching Disney renditions of fairy tales, or we had storybooks filled with vivid pictures of a tale. Fairy tales are so important in our culture that it would be difficult to find someone who has not heard of Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, or other fairy tale protagonists. Interestingly enough, fairy tales have been a very integral part of Western culture since the time they were written. Fairy tale writers, such as Charles Perrault and the Grimm Brothers, revolutionized culture in the 17th and 18th centuries with their writings. Not only did these writers write these tales for entertainment, but they also accomplished to influence the
Erik Erikson was born on June 15, 1902 in Frankfurt, Germany. According to his obituary that appeared in The New York Times, his parents were separated before he was born due to the fact that he was the result of an affair. He never met his birth father. His mother was young when she had him and raised him all by herself. She eventually married physician Dr. Theodor Homberger. For many years Erikson had no idea that Dr. Homberger was not his actual father. When the truth did come out, Erikson was left with confusion about who he really was as an individual. This is what led to his interest in how one’s identity is formed. This interest continued to grow throughout his school experience. He would often get teased at his temple school for not being like the others in terms of ancestry, and because he was tall, blonde, and blue-eyed. He was also rejected in grammar school due to his Jewish background. Those negative experiences motivated him even more to figure out how exactly one forms their identity and continued to influence his work the rest of his life (Cherry, 2014).
Hyman, Trina Schart., Jacob Grimm, and Wilhelm Grimm. Little Red Riding Hood. New York: Holiday House, 1983. Print.
..., Maria. “An Introduction to Fairy Tales.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens, Leonard J. Rosen. Toronto: Longman, 2013. 230-235. Print.
Fairytales and folktales have been told around the campfire, in the living room, the class room, and before bedtime for centuries. First told orally, the “… stories had to have remarkable features in order to remain memorable (Nodelman 246).” These stories were passed down from storyteller to audience until they were eventually written down and collected for consumption by the public. Due to the passing of time and fallibility the stories have changed throughout the years and slightly differ from culture to culture, however, “Stories similar to “Cinderella” can be found in historical records from as far back as the seventh century, and from a variety of places around the world (Nodelman 246).” Although the classic tales differ in various ways from their modern counterparts (such as Disney films, etc.), the characters and their journeys are still very much identifiable.
Fairy Tale Text & Motif. Prod. Distribution Access. Distribution Access, 2001.Discovery Education. Web. 1 December 2001. .