Of the two essays, I think that the first, written by Bettleheim is most convincing that fairy tales are very different than other children's stories. It is more effective how The Struggle for Meaning focuses on children in general rather than picking apart specific details of various fairy tales. Aside from being more succinct and easier to read, Bettelheim's essay emphasizes what children need to learn at a young age. He says that deeper meaning is what's important. My favorite parts of his explaination of how to achieve deeper meaning are the stimulation of a child's imagination, and the acceptance that there will be dilemmas. Bettelheim goes on to discuss how fairy tales in gnereal address these (and other) needs of children. Although Robert Darnton goes into more specific detail about symbolism in Little Red Riding Hood, the rest of the essay goes all over the place.
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I definitely agree that its better to focus on the more general. Therefore, we can use the ideas of the article to apply to any fairy tale we read, instead of just focusing on one in particular.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Darnton article was a bit long-winded. But, I think that Darnton did a better job at trying to spread the application of fairy tales to more than just a learning tool for children.
ReplyDeleteIt was helpful to have the general concepts and ideas that come through a majority of fairy tales. I just believe that zoning in on one piece like the little red riding hood piece and going through that, was a good example of what to look for and be aware of for future fairy tales.
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