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Comment
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dwinoder
Unregistered User
(8/22/03 7:06 am)
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Help with a senior project.
Hi i am a senior in high school and i am having to write a research paper. my topic is dealing with fairy tales and epics. im just having a hard time figuring out what i should do it on because it has to be "deeper" and more in depth than just fairy tales. can anyone help me?
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Kerrie
Moderator
(8/22/03 11:45 am)
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Re: Help with a senior project.
The above question is often asked, in various forms. To help us help you, please let us know the following:
Format: Compare and contrast, theme study, regional study, single work analysis?
Origin of topic: Is the project based off a reading, part of a theme unit, type of course? ex. British Literature (Literature) or Italian Renaissance (History)
Length: 3, 5, 10 page report?
Research so far: Have you narrowed your topic? You mention "fairy tales and epics"- are you focusing on specific ones? What source material have you consulted so far?
Due date: Tomorrow, next week, end of term?
Any other information you can provide is most helpful!
Dandelion wishes,
Kerrie
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Jess
Unregistered User
(8/22/03 11:55 am)
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Can you be more specific?
It would better help us to steer you in the right direction. What do you mean by fairy tales and epics - how they relate to one another, influences? What do you mean by fairy tales - are you including folktales? And what about epics - are you including legends, myths? Are you researching a specific question? Are you looking for some epic tale to compare with fairy tales or vice versa?
I have an interest in finding out more about the Legend of Manas
since no one seems to know anything about it here. See February
2002 discussion archives. If your looking for a "different"
epic to research you might try it.
Jess
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Jess
Unregistered User
(8/22/03 11:56 am)
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Cross posted
Kerrie and I cross-posted. You see, it is difficult to help without more information.
Jess
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dwinoder
Unregistered User
(8/25/03 8:59 am)
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more info
right now i have narrowed it down to fairy tales (and this includes all forms, folklore, epics, legends, myths, etc.) and the heroes within them. i want to propose a question: could someone today perform the tasks within these stories; like Frodo in Tolkien's, Lord of the Rings, or the legend of Beowulf or the characters in Lewis's the Chronicles of Narnia. i want to find out info in different stories and see if i could propose this question. i would like to compare and contrast people of today and see if the things, (honor, loyalty, courage, etc.), that made those heroes great are still prevalent. i hope this helps sum. thanx.
carlos
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JoanneMerriam
Registered User
(8/25/03 9:34 am)
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Are you planning on writing a book?
That sounds like a huge topic to me. How are you planning on narrowing it down?
If you're concentrating on tasks set for heroes, Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the Folktale has a list of them (it's not complete, since he was talking only about Russian folktales, but it's a start). He lists:
- picking up the heads of a decapitated dragon
- breaking in a horse
- milking a herd of wild mares
- defeating an amazon
- spending 7 years in the tin kingdom
- supplying a medicine
- obtaining a wedding dress, or ring, or shoes
- delivering the hair of the king of the sea
- delivering a flying boat
- delivering life-giving water
- supplying a troop of soldiers
- obtaining 77 mares
- building a palace in one night
and so on. I'd argue that the sorts of things that people do in fairy tales that speak to us now have less to do with their specific actions and more to do with what those actions accomplish. Like, I don't care if Allerleirauh can wear a stinky old donkey fur all the time and cover her face with ashes, but I do care if that helps her to escape her sexually abusive father.
Hope this helps.
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Kerrie
Moderator
(8/25/03 10:39 am)
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Herculean tasks....
As Joanne stated, your project still sounds like quite the herculean task itself.
First question: What is the expected length of the assigned report and when is it due? (Okay, that's two questions, but they are extremely important in figuring out how much research and composing time you have.)
Second question: How many texts do you want to use? You really should limit yourself, or the project will become overwhelming. You mention the following texts:
Lord of the Rings
Beowulf
Chronicles of Narnia
There are three sources (one large text, often broken into three parts, an epic poem, and a series) , I'm guessing you're placing them in the category of "Epics" for this report? Are these the sources you are using, or just examples? If these are the texts you are using, that's probably a good number to start with, considering the length of each.
Third question: Are these texts enough for the report, or do you need to have more variety, as you mentioned "this includes all forms, folklore, epics, legends, myths, etc."
Fourth question: Will you be comparing the characters in these stories to real life events? Will you be using documents of events and persons of historical importance for comparison? Or will you be analyzing the texts and comparing them to the daily life of any person?
I hope these questions help in narrowing the topic down.
Dandelion wishes,
Kerrie
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