Great Work!!

Hi there!
Great see all your posts here. Looking forward to what you have to say to your fellow bloggers.
Ann

Prompt #3 LRRH

Ronald Dahl's version "Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf" where Little Red Riding Hood shoots the wolf in the head because she knows that it is not granny, only works because of the prior knowledge of the original story that everyone knows. Because if this version were the 1st and original then it would not have caught on and been a story that people would enjoy telling their children. The Grimms version is a story with a moral that teaches children to not stray from the path and never disobey your mother. The Dahl version is more of a social commentary of how there is no longer woods and helpless little girls roaming around. Instead we live in a world with weapons and smart and educated young ladies that can take care of themsleves and not be taken advantage of by older men. Dahl empowers Little red riding hood and gives her a gun to shoot the wolf in the head in order to prove that she is above silly tricks and games.

Prompt #3: Little Red Riding Hood

I have chosen Roald Dahl's "Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf" to Shavit-ize. This version of the story is clearly for yound children. The sing-song rhythm and constant rhyming screams that the poem is just waiting to be read out loud to a group of children. However, I think that he assumes the reader/audience already knows the original fairy tale. Many details are left out (who is Little Miss Red Riding Hood?) and in order for this version to be funny, I think you have to be familiar with and earlier version. 

I think Dahl's retelling of this popular fairy tale indicates that times have changed tremendously. First, instead of relying on a huntsman, Little Red Riding Hood kills the wolf herself suggesting a sense of women's empowerment. Second, instead of using a knife, the weapon used to kill the wolf is a "pistol" which shows the advance in weaponry.

Also, I found it interesting that although it may not seem like he changes that much of the general storyline, Dahl twists the focus to be on the wolf. He adds "and the Wolf" to the title, begins the poem talking about the wolf, and follow his actions instead of Little Red Riding Hood's. This, however, is not unlike other Dahl works because he is known for expanding detail on the villain.

Assignment 3- Thurber

The main argument in Shavit’s essay is that the changes in fairy tales over time can be accounted for by the different ways in which children are viewed by society. With Perraualt’s take on The Little Red Riding Hood, we see two different audiences- the child and the upper class, which would enjoy the satirical undertones of the tale and its criticism of the “city gentleman.” By the Grimm’s time, however, children had become a population separate from adults and they were the sole audience of “The Little Red Cap.” With this change in society’s perception of children, we saw differences such as the removal of satire and a moral ending.

When examining James Thurber’s version of the tale, “The Little Girl and the Wolf,” under this same light, it is important to consider the time in which his version was published- the 1940s. In this war time era, both women and children enjoyed a new realm of freedom and responsibility as many men were overseas. Child psychologist Benjamin Spock also revolutionized the way children were seen with his book, “The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care.” He emphasized seeing them as individuals and not buying into philosophies that were common to all children. This is reflected in Thurber’s version of the tale. In his version, the girl recognizes the wolf is not her grandmother and in fact, she shoots the wolf with her automatic. While somewhat shocking and comical, I believe this parallels the notion that all children, and girls especially, should not be perceived as sweet, innocent, naïve, etc. This is the way which society typically perceives them, however, not all girls are like this. Unlike Perrault and Grimm, this version seems to be intended for an adult audience only. Thurber was a well known satirist who wrote for The New Yorker and successfully took a classic childhood tale to illustrate the changes coming about in this era for both children and girls/women.

James Thurber

Who was the fairy tales' target audience? James Thurber wrote for the New Yorker during from the 1920s to the 1950s where he not only contributed written pieces but cartoons as well. Thurber's target audience would have been adults most specifically in the upper class or upper middle class since the lower classes probably wouldn't have been able to afford the publication.

What's the fairy tale say in regard to the culture of the time? The version was written in 1940 before the United States entered WWII. The mood in America would have been somber because Americans knew about the war going on in Europe and Asia and would have been fearful of entering into another "Great War" as had occurred just two decades prior. Thurber gives the basic details to a story that Americans would be able to recognize. But instead of using the "traditional" route he changed it up by making it more entertaining. Instead of going through the long ordeal of being eaten, Thurber has Little Red Riding Hood shoot the wolf with an automatic. Clearly not a story meant for children.

Assignment 3- 27.Jan 2009

Hi Erica, Keith, Mallory and Anna,

Below is the assignment, to which you will send in responses by Midnight on Tuesday.

You have read Shavit's essay comparing the Perrault and Grimm versions of'Little Red Riding Hood'. Using Shavit's method, consider one of the other versions you read for this week (Dahl, Calvino, Thurber, Chiang Mi). With a little research (you may use Wikipedia, since this is not a research paper),outline who you think the audience is and what the fairy tale's retelling says about the culture and time in which it is written.

Looking forward to your posts,

Ann