“The Ugly Duckling” is a fable written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1844. Although it is nearly 200 years old, the story is still one of the most popular retold within modern culture. Hans Christian Andersen lived a childhood of poverty and neglect, raised in his father's shoe shop. He told the critics of his time, that the story reflected his own life and it was the reason he wrote it, he described the story as his “autobiography” (Sklenar, D., n.d.).
On a warm, summer day on a farm, a mother duck hatches her eggs and, while most of her ducklings are normal, one duckling is grey, large, and does not fit in with the others. The other ducks and chickens made fun of him. His mother tries to accept him, but realizes that he just does not belong. Because of the teasing and feeling that nobody wanted or loved him, he ran away from the farmyard to find a place where he'll be accepted (Andersen, H. C., 1844).
In his search, the ugly duckling encounters an old woman, who shelters him in her cottage, but her cat and her hen make fun of him and he runs away again. He wanders for the entire summer and fall, but no one will accept him. He nearly freezes in an icy pond when he is rescued by a farmer, but he is scared and runs away. By the end of winter, he is amazingly still alive. He comes to a pond where beautiful white swans are swimming and he is drawn to their beauty. He decides to approach them as he thought it would be better to be killed by such beautiful birds than to live a life of ugliness and misery. To his surprise, the beautiful creatures welcome and accept him. He gazes at his reflection in the water to see that he too is a beautiful swan (Andersen, H. C., 1844).
The duckling wished to be as beautiful as a swan, but what h...
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...ransmitted from one generation to another through collective unconscious (Janaro, R. P., & Altshuler, T. C., 2012).
The archetype of the ugly duckling is known as an underdog. The underdog is the character who seems always at a disadvantage. The ugly duckling, for example, was singled out for all of the wrong reasons. By the end of the story, the ugly duckling pushed through hardship and won respect. This archetype works best when the reader can relate to the underdog character (Janaro, R. P., & Altshuler, T. C., 2012).
On the surface, “The Ugly Duckling” is a story of drawn from Hans Christian Andersen’s life and how he himself felt while facing his life challenges. But, in reality, the readers can relate to the hardships the duckling endured. Also, by having patience for the future and better things to come, we too will realize the beauty of what we can become.
In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, Doodle is an ‘ugly duckling’
the ugly duckling is going through a hard time being called ugly and getting teased he decides to run away and find a new family. kids could take this literal and actually run away to see if they belong somewhere else. even though someone may think running away is the answer it is hard to find it in the book. they would really have to search to get this message out.
“Geisel found his niche churning out tales of the weird and the whimsical, populating them with squawking fish and top-hatted cats.” Very few child...
Create a “Classroom Book Bag” using a “paper made book” of the Ugly Duckling. I will provide parent instructions letting them know that we worked on this story during class. I will instruct parents to ask their child what the story was about to see if their child can recall what had happened in the story. If they cannot tell their parents what had happened, have the parents read the story to their child and ask their child to retell the story.
The Grimm’s stories have strict criteria for good and evil. Good women are not the hero, they do not plan, nor do they get themselves out of bad situations; they are obtuse and wait until a Prince saves them. These qualities doom the female protagonists (and readers) to pursue the only destiny women have, and that is to be a wife and mother (Rowe, 1978). Cinderella is the heroine and the ideal good girl. She is unambiguously beautiful, kind, and compassionate. She does not complain or get angry. This is foreseen early in the Grimm’s Cinderella story:
In Lisel Mueller’s poem “Reading the Brothers Grimm to Jenny,” the narrator details the relationship that he or she has with a child named Jenny. A central aspect to the connection between Jenny and the narrator are the fairytales that the narrator reads to her. Although this is a part of their relationship that Jenny enjoys, the narrator is conflicted by it. The archetypes utilized in fairytales is having an effect on the development of Jenny’s mind. However, as the narrator explains what is happening to Jenny, he or she also reveals the state of his or her own mind. To gain an understating of the impact that Jenny and the narrator have on each other, a Jungian analysis of this poem is required.
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.
The article “Monsters” is written by a brilliant writer: Anna Quindlen. It tells us about the children’s fears and the parents behavior, which should always be aimed to help the child to overcome his /her fear. The author starts with a description of a night house and it’s gloomy atmosphere, especially for a little child. The little boy tells his mother that he believes a monster to live under his bad. His mother is ready to tell him about her own fears, but she stops herself. Anna Quindlen describes the appearance of the monster, and the mother realizes that she has to tell her son that there is no monster. However, she knows that it wouldn’t be helpful, because, when she will leave the room the monster will appear again. She never lied to her children, thus, it was really a trial for her to tell her children that the monster didn’t exist. It is also hard for her, because she realizes that her son will, even more strongly, believe in monsters in future, as she does now. Because the real life monsters are everywhere, and their existence cannot be denied. In real life we can see the burglars, killers and other monsters every day. Mother decides not to teach her son, how to personalize his monster, she just leaves him alone. The woman believes that there are some things, which cannot be taught, but only learned on the child’s personal experience.
Since its first appearance in the 1886 collection A White Heron and Other Stories, the short story A White Heron has become the most favorite and often anthologized of Sarah Orne Jewett. Like most of this regionalist writer's works, A White Heron was inspired by the people and landscapes in rural New England, where, as a little girl, she often accompanied her doctor father on his visiting patients. The story is about a nine-year-old girl who falls in love with a bird hunter but does not tell him the white heron's place because her love of nature is much greater. In this story, the author presents a conflict between femininity and masculinity by juxtaposing Sylvia, who has a peaceful life in country, to a hunter from town, which implies her discontent with the modernization?s threat to the nature. Unlike female and male, which can describe animals, femininity and masculinity are personal and human.
Fairy tales portray wonderful, elaborate, and colorful worlds as well as chilling, frightening, dark worlds in which ugly beasts are transformed into princes and evil persons are turned to stones and good persons back to flesh (Guroian). Fairytales have long been a part of our world and have taken several forms ranging from simple bedtime stories to intricate plays, musicals, and movies. However, these seemingly simple stories are about much more than pixie dust and poisoned apples. One could compare fairytales to the new Chef Boyardee; Chef Boyardee hides vegetables in its ravioli while fairytales hide society’s morals and many life lessons in these outwardly simple children stories. Because of this fairytales have long been instruments used to instruct children on the morals of their culture. They use stories to teach children that the rude and cruel do not succeed in life in the long run. They teach children that they should strive to be kind, caring, and giving like the longsuffering protagonists of the fairytale stories. Also, they teach that good does ultimately defeat evil. Fairy tales are not just simple bedtime stories; they have long been introducing cultural moral values into young children.
The Children’s and Household Tales, more commonly known as Grimms’ Fairy Tales were first published in 1812 by the Grimm brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm. Although the title suggests otherwise, the vast majority were not intended as children’s tales. Containing violence, gore, and suggestive references, the stories were not well-suited for children. The stories were didactic at a time when discipline relied on fear and were written as “warning tales” for children. What made the stories so memorable were the many uses of figurative devices used to enhance them. The use of characterization, imagery, theme, and symbolism helped make the simple narratives beautiful, striking, and
A fairy tale is seemingly a moral fiction, intended mainly for children. A lesson in critical analysis, however, strips this guise and reveals the naked truth beneath; fairy tales are actually vicious, logical and sexual stories wearing a mask of deceptively easy language and an apparent moral. Two 19th Century writers, the Grimm brothers, were masters at writing these exaggerated stories, bewitching young readers with their prose while padding their stories with allusion and reference: an example of which is "Rapunzel." Grimm's "Rapunzel" is packed with religious symbolism, which lends a new insight to the meaning of this classic story.
What makes us who we are? Do we make this choice ourselves? Many people are shaped and influenced by the society. We tend to consider social norms and consequences of our actions. In the 1940s, black people were considered less superior than white people. Black people felt powerless so they tried to better themselves among their community. In The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, Cholly and Junior’s personalities are influenced by their parents’ treatments and the society which makes them become violent towards women.
Billions and billions of people in the world have had their childhood shaped by the words of a single man from a small European country. He is Hans Christian Andersen, born in Odense, Denmark in the year 1805. From “The Ugly Duckling” to “The Little Mermaid,” his stories filled our lives in the form of the faded pages on books, mother’s gentle voice next to the fireside, colorful Disney animations completed with cheerful songs, and stunning snow-blanketed movie scenes. This essay seeks to discuss this great author in the context of one of his most influential works – “The Princess and the Pea” – by first examining the context of his life, then presenting a brief summary, followed
The Wild Duck one of Ibsen’s later plays not only shows his great talent for mimesis writing with a social depth and distinguished realism, it offers a psychological framed exploration into human nature. The first scene focuses on social space both in terms of class and family. The Wild Duck offers an illusion or picture of reality. We can analyze and discuss many patterns of actions in the play as a whole. In Act II a pattern of actions that caught my attention was the constant effort on behalf of Greger, to free Hjalmar from the illusion that his family is perfect. Eventually Greger manages to shatter that by driving Hedvig to commit suicide. Greger finds out that there is a secret being held back from him in Act I, that his father Werle will not share, but soon he finds out from Hjamer when he announces that Gina, the old housekeeper to the Werle family is his wife now. Werle had an affair with Gina, and Hjalmar does not know that, Greger believes that it’s his duty to confront his childhood friend Hjalmar of the lies that he has been living with. Greger soon heads out to the Ekdal Family in conquest to reveal the horrible secret the family has been living. Greger’s involvement with the Edkals Family has a lot to do with his own family letting him down, and he realizes that he doesn’t want others close to him get hurt, such as Hjalmar. His approach to letting him know what really happened in the past is making sure that he is constantly in his life. When Greger found out about Ginas and Werles affair he quickly took action. He moved himself into the Ekdal’s Family to convince each of them that they are both living a lie. Greger focuses constantly on the past when he is surrounded by the family members; he quickly hints a probl...