...Rice cakes and Starbucks by Ester Freud The text”Rice cakes and Starbucks” by Esther Freud from 2009 is about a British couple, Dan and Beth, who are married and have three children. They are now in Los Angeles, because Dan is an actor and he wants to get a career in USA. The day of the casting in the morning Dan and his family go to Starbucks to get some coffee, while he waits to go. Beth and the children wait for him there. At midday, Dan meets a casting woman from CBS, and she asks him some question about his experience and he mentions his family. At the end of the interview, she says to Dan that they will see him again soon. Back to Starbucks, he meets Beth. She asks about the casting, but he is not sure about how it went. However, he gets a call from his American manager, and finds out that she wants his daughter instead of him. Characterization of Dan and Beth Dan is married with Beth and they have three children. He is the provider in the family. He is ambitious about getting a career as an actor. Dan is an insecure person, because he does not believe in himself. For example at the casting, when the woman asks him about his experience and how his American accent was, he was a little nervous. He lies often and he is afraid to say the truth. He is a soft man and sometimes weak, because he is not strong enough to say his opinion and feelings. The fact that he only wanted a child and not three, says a lot about him, because he thinks about it, but he does say it to...
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...Mike Dayoub Fairytale Once upon a time there was these two young friends, Carlos was ugly but Maria looked like an angel. She has beautiful long hair that she does at the mall every weekend. They were best friends. They met at college 3 years ago. They are not studying the same thing but they have some classes together. The first time Carlos met Maria was during rotation. They chatted for a little bit and when Carlos got home, He went on his facebook to see if Maria was there and luckily he found her and added her. When Maria saw that he added her, she thought he was weird because nobody adds someone on facebook the minute after you met them. Carlos knew it was going to be difficult to see her again because they weren’t studying the same thing. But as he entered class the next day, there she was sitting in the classroom. Carlos thought he was dreaming for a minute but he didn’t panic. Carlos walked towards her at the same time waving his hand continuously, which made him look stupid. They chatted a little bit more but Maria was still a little bit uncomfortable. As time passes by, Carlos and Maria became best friends. They hung out at the mall almost every Saturday and also sometimes on Sunday just to get ice cream. Maria had a blackberry but Carlos didn’t and she was always on her blackberry talking to someone else. Carlos got jealous so he went on her facebook to see the news of this random guy he knows nothing about. Carlos suspects that he might be losing the...
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...As art, any tale reflects the social order and worldview of those who create it and makes a statement about their goals for telling it. The distinction between a fairy tale and another kind of story, however, lies in the cultural significance of the fairy tale as a form of folklore. In his essay “The Four Functions of Folklore,” William Bascom indicates that those functions are amusement, validation of culture, education, and enforcement of cultural mores; folklore is “a means of applying social pressure and exercising social control” (346). Fairy tales reflect society’s perception of itself and the desires of the portion of society in which the fairy tale originated. Many fairy tales reinforce stereotypes, as well, providing dire predictions of doom for straying from the prescribed path, particularly for personal gain. Zipes argues that, as folk tales moved from oral to literary at the end of the 17th century, they were appropriated: these “products of the imagination are set in a socio-economic context and are used ultimately to impose limitations on the imagination of the producers and receivers” (9). This presumes that there was a change in folk tales which resulted in their being used to perpetrate the value system of the upper class upon the peasantry. This seems like a very difficult assumption to prove, given that the majority of folk tales, in all their multiplicity of forms, reinforce long-standing cultural beliefs; additionally, Zipes implies that folk tales belong...
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...A fairy tale (pronounced /ˈfeəriˌteɪl/) is a type of short story that typically features European folkloric fantasy characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants, mermaids, or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends (which generally involve belief in the veracity of the events described)[1] and explicitly moral tales, including beast fables. In less technical contexts, the term is also used to describe something blessed with unusual happiness, as in "fairy tale ending" (a happy ending)[2] or "fairy tale romance" (though not all fairy tales end happily). Colloquially, a "fairy tale" or "fairy story" can also mean any farfetched story or tall tale; it's used especially of any story that not only isn't true, but couldn't possibly be true. In cultures where demons and witches are perceived as real, fairy tales may merge into legends, where the narrative is perceived both by teller and hearers as being grounded in historical truth. However, unlike legends and epics, they usually do not contain more than superficial references to religion and actual places, people, and events; they take place once upon a time rather than in actual times.[3] Fairy tales are found in oral and in literary form. The history of the fairy tale is particularly difficult to trace because only the literary forms can survive. Still, the evidence of literary works at least indicates that fairy tales have existed...
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...De Beaumont’s “Beauty and the Beast” and Angela Carter’s “The Tiger’s Bride” differ in many ways as to how each author chose to depict different social groups. First and foremost, the stories have an extreme variation in the way gender roles are portrayed. In De Beaumont’s version, the women are presented as much more civilized individuals. Beauty is the prime example as it states, “…she was such a charming, sweet-tempered creature, spoke so kindly to poor people, and was of such an affable, obliging behavior,” (De Beaumont, 1). She is making a point that kindness, gentleness, and shyness are associated with being feminine. To most, this is how women should be perceived. As girls, we are thought of as the more passive and nurturing gender, where as it is acceptable for males succumb to their beastly urges and animalistic instincts. Carter challenges that notion by allowing her Beauty to be enraged at the trade-off. She is not showing fear; she is strong, brave, and angry. “I saw within it not my own face but that of my father… What, you self-deluding fool, are you crying still? And drunk, too,” (Carter, 60). This Beauty is more selfish the De Beaumont’s. She feels betrayed for being handed off as a prize. The dominant story of being a female has always been to respect the male-have you own ambitions-but nothing that will emasculate the male. De Beaumont’s version goes along with that dominant story. Beauty, firstly, has dependency on her father, whom of which she willingly...
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...Introduction to The Classic Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar is a scholarly article that focuses on how different aspects of society influences fairytale. The author stated that even though fairy tales are not “unique one-offs”, as said by Angela Carter, they still “circulate in multiple versions, reconfigured by each telling to form kaleidoscopic variations with distinctly different effects”.Various theorist were also incorporated into to explain what truly makes a fairytale and the components. She mentions how fairytales are viewed in each culture whether it be the different names of the characters or the morals of the story that is conveyed. One of the basic plot structure mentioned that is part of the components was the episodic structure. For instance in the tale of Beauty and the Beast regardless of how many version of the story there are or what language it is translated in there are five parts that are always similar. Those five parts are the monster as husband, disenchantment of the monster, loss of the husband, search for the husband and recovery of the husband.This is an example of what our author states in her thesis concerning the multiple version and having distinctly different results. The second form of evidence that she provides to reinforce her thesis is the explanation on how we ingest the fairytales along with the values and consciousness as children and not before long we are adults with the same ideas. Boys dream of rescuing girls and the girls “aspire to be...
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...King: Where is Alexandra? Queen: She better not be out on that horse again! She knows how much we disapprove of such rough activities Servant: Yes your majesty, Princess Alexandra is out on her horse, she has been gone for quite some time now, I’ll go find her. King: She needs to start cooperating with us so we can find her the right prince for her to marry. Queen: Remember your majesty, she will need to fall in love with him first! Alexandra: Sorry father I was out in the garden King: Never mind that lie, we need to discuss wedding arrangements! Queen: Prince Liam from Aarondell is a fine gentleman! Or even Prince Harry Alexandra: They’re both wimps! They couldn’t even beat me in an archery competition if they wanted! Queen: Alexandra! You need to stop fooling around and doing such manly activities! You are 16 now, start acting like the lady that you are! Alexandra: I told you I want to be called Alex from now on, please! Mother those dresses are so ugly and plus I feel more comfortable in my slacks! Queen: You’ve been like this since you were little and we have letting you get away with it but now that you are 16 and a young lady you need to present yourself as one! King: Such a mature and beautiful young lady and she still does not have interest in finding a prince to marry! Alexandra: Father I am sorry I just simply do not see myself with a man in my future! Queen: *gasp * You cannot stay single your whole life! Alexandra: Mother I do not intend to stay single...
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...Snow White and the 10 planks of confidence “Hello my name is meera, im allison, and im fayha and we will be presenting the 10 planks of confidence through the story of snow white and the 7 dwarfs” Narrator: Once upon a time in the depths of the Planko Forest, a long lost princess makes her way to an isolated cottage in the middle of the forest. As she approaches the small house hoping to find help, she notices a bright light and hears a cry for help. She peers through the window and sees a strange image. Witch: “You dwarfs haven't been very loyal, so for that I take away any memories you have of yourselfs. See if you can find your way out of this.” [witch gestures hands in a spell like movement] [witch leaves] Narrator: Confused Snow White slowly makes her way into the cottage Snow White: “Hello? Is anyone there?” [walks around the class slowly, looking around] Narrator: She stumbles upon a group of small people Snow White: Hi! What’s your name? Dwarf 1: Umm I…. i dont know.. none of us do Snow White: You don’t know your name? well then I’ll name you Contenta, it stands for content. Narrator: Content: you pick a topic worth talking about. And you Research, research, research. Snow White: Do you want to help me name your other friends? Dwarf 1: Yah! [Snow White and dwarf 1 goes around naming 9 other dwarfs] Snow White: Your name is going to be Orgo for Organization. Narrator: Organization: You have a well planned outline that is easy for you and your...
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...Not long ago, a young lad was standing in the dead centre of nowhere. He was scrambling to see anything. After a while, everything went colourful , but soon after he heard breathing. He started wondering what and where it was coming from? When things became 101% clear, he saw in the corner of his eye a shadow of a beast that was coming close. Suddenly, something made him frolic with fear, he aimed to make a run for the closest civilisation he could find but he went numb with fear. The breath of the beast was so strong, the man could smell it from a distance. As the mysterious figure came from the shadow, It turned out it was a legendary beast known as a Griffin. But as the man was glancing at it, the man noticed something that made him swallow with disgust, in its mouth was a big, brown free range chicken. The man was so disgusted about how that Griffin gobbled that chicken up so fast he didn’t notice anything irregular going on in the backdrop. But then he did notice something going on, when he heard it, he could tell it was coming up closer by the second, the man started thinking he was back at his childhood farm and that his old horse was standing before him. “ I must be dreaming” the man wondered to himself “My horse died a long time ago and I’m pretty sure that Griffins weren’t around at that time?” but a that time, he realised that the horse standing before him, in fact, wasn’t a horse. As he took a better look at it, he thought of a creature it could be, but then hesitated...
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...Hi, Be Our Guest & Be A Part of Our World I know they say that every fairytale starts with “Once upon a time…” but honestly this fairytale happened last week and it won’t be all that magical to tell you. I guess I should probably introduce myself right? Hi, I’m Cinderella. I’m just your average blonde who looses glass slippers at balls. Don’t let me fool you though. This story has absolutely nothing to do with me. I’m just the narrator. It all began last Tuesday when this guy named Ryan met a beautiful girl walking along the pier. I know this just sounds so romantic right? Trust me it gets better. This beautiful girl, well, she didn’t have a name, but let me tell you she was one beautiful person. Ryan, being the typical guy who thinks he’s hotter than the sun and that every girl should bow down in his presence, chased this girl all day long using every pick up line he’d ever heard. Here’s the catch my friends. This girl, wasn’t just any girl, she was Ursula, the evil sea witch. This is where that gloomy music that sounds like “dun dun dun” is played right? Anyway, Ursula saw right through this superficial man and put a spell on him that split him into seven little men that represented his traits and characteristics. Ryan was no longer Ryan, in fact he was now Studly, Jockey, Druggy, Dummy, Lusty, Nerdy and Giant. I didn’t pick the names so don’t blame me. Ursula told these seven little men that the only way she would restore them into one was if they mined for her...
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...Hollywood has a habit of taking classic fairytales and spinning them in new and imaginative ways to create the next big blockbuster hit. Whether it’s changing the perspective or just adding a more modern setting, it’s clear that remastering fairytales is big right now. After viewing the trailer, I had high expectations about the 1987 musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine directed by Rob Marshall “Into the Woods”, an intermingling of the Grimm fairy tales, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel. Except for an occasional giggle, magical scenery and period costumes, the Disney rated PG film adaptation musical “Into the Woods” was a dark, hodge-podge of Grimm fairytales with themes of pedophilia, murder, disfigurement, child abuse and infidelity....
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...Symbols and allegories are used to promote a deeper engagement with morality, discuss this statement in light of The Snow Queen and Thumbelina and by Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen promotes a resounding meaning of morality throughout his fairy-tales, (1), as eighteenth century author Schiller stated “deeper meaning resides in fairy tales told to me in my childhood than the truth that is taught in life.” (2) He is able to present various morals specifically targeted towards children by using an intricate web of symbols throughout his tales. The underlying roots of Andersen’s tales could be ascribed to Christian ideology and teachings which are depicted in the Bible. The symbols are used individually in order to implant Christian ideas subtly in the mind of the child reader which otherwise may be concepts which are too large for the young reader to grasp. Andersen also uses his tales as allegories for Bible teachings. They stand as “metaphorical representation(s)” (3) of various Christian teachings, mirrored as they are written in the Bible. The symbols and allegories used allow a deeper engagement of the text and explore morality issues in hopes of educating young children in terms of Christian morality. Critic Ruth Eshbaugh remarked upon Andersen’s work that “there is no real evidence he is trying to teach spiritual lessons in any of his works.” (4) However in disagreement with this statement I have explored the symbols and allegories that Andersen uses to...
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...In traditional fairytales, ogres are man eating beasts. The prince usually rescues the princess and they live happily ever after. 18.10.10 The main themes in a traditional fairytale are always either based on Romance/Magic & Evil. The main elements always are the antagonist (the bad guy), the protagonist (The good guy) and mainly sometimes the helper. In traditional fairytales the antagonist, the protagonist and the helper are often stereotypical, take Cinderella for example the princess is warm hearted, beautiful, nice and kind. The prince is always often handsome, charming, brave and wealthy The film ‘Shrek’ begins in a traditional way by using the most common phrase ‘Once upon a time’ that gives you an idea that the film has used some traditional phrases. Well you can tell by the opening scene that ‘Shrek’ is different to a traditional fairytale on how it shows Shrek doing his own thing. Shrek is very not like a stereotypical prince. Shrek is an Ogre which straight away puts a picture in your mind of like a dirty, scary and ugly and also could be the enemy. The music when we first meet Shrek is a contrapuntal sound. It doesn’t really match the things he was doing. For example, when Shrek is in a mud bath. The music gave you a happy/exciting feeling and quite a good/bad impression; it also sets the mood throughout the scene. Shrek threatens the villagers in the film. On this scene you see Shrek as a dangerous monster, which looks ugly and also very angry;...
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...The Bretagne battleship served the French Navy, British battleship sunk Bretagne. The Bretagne battleship was built in 1913. The materials they used to build the battle was steel and armored. “The builders were Arsenal De Brest, France. Bretagne was one of the many French ships anchored in the harbor still” (Chen). Bretagne battleship was sunk July 3, 1940 (Chen). The battleship was sunk by British naval gunfire. 977 men lost their lives during the battle. Before the battleship went down, Bretagne and Cruiser Algeria, escorted by destroyers Vauban, Agile and Breze (Chen). She was also the one to take the main brunt of the British salvos and endured the first of such hits onto her design. The Bretagne was an impressive vessel. She held two...
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...In Arthur Miller’s controversial play, “The Crucible,” John Proctor suffers the consequences of committing adultery. John Proctor has an affair with Abigail Williams, who is his house keeper. If John Proctor didn’t have an affair with Abigail then the witch trials would have resulted much differently. John Proctor goes against his religion, the Puritan way of life, and cheats on his wife, Elizabeth Proctor with Abigail. So now Abigail is starting to make all this remarks about their relationship back then but Proctor tries to deny every last bit of it and tells her that he has never once laid a hand on her and what not. It also seems that Proctor was quite attracted to Abigail’s corrupting personality when she and others are just “dancing” in the woods. “Proctor, his smile widening: Ah you’re wicked yet aren’t y’... You’ll be dapped in the stocks before you’re twenty.” In all this Proctor pulled a very foul move to cheat on his beloved wife, Elizabeth. Abigail is after John Proctor’s wife. Ever since Abigail’s brief affair with him, she’s been out to get Elizabeth, hoping to get rid of her and take her place at John’s side. Abigail tries to call Elizabeth a witch in the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail changes Elizabeth’s life upside down. John just wants to save his name in court. When asked to sign his name, he refuses. if he had signed it he would be basically signing away his soul. John Proctor conquers the final hurtle on his path to redemption. He lied to himself saying that...
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