Jack tales
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The Easter Egg Tree: Finding Inspiration by Chrissy Dart
While doing research on Easter traditions in Germany, I came across the “Osterbaum” or “Ostereibaum” or Easter Egg Tree. Of course, I have seen the little white twig trees made in China that one can buy at craft stores. They come in a box and there are tiny pastel colored Easter ornaments that come with…
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Stepping into the Light by Chrissy Dart
Jack Zipes states on page 200 of his book Why Fairy Tales Stick,“The past is problematical because we both need it and need to transcend it. We must recognize its anachronistic features that may weigh upon us, and we must work through them and their ramifications to start anew. The…
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Springboards for Imagination by Eva Valdez
Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Wild Swans” has proved to be a door to other tales similar but still unique in their composition. The book Tales, Then and Now by Anna E. Altman and Gail de Vos provided a sound foundation and springboard for my adventure with this tale type. The motifs also provided a base…
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Breathing Easier by Eva Valdez
This has been one of the most exciting and challenging seasons in my life. I feel awkward writing a blog and don't feel as eloquent as others. It’s not that I don't have something to say about everything – it’s just that I’m a bit skittish. This past few months have been a storytelling…
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My Own Wicked Old Witch by Joan Misek
When I read Hansel and Gretel a long forgotten story popped into my mind. When I was seven or eight years of age all my friends were very excited. A snow storm had covered the ground and we made plans to take our sleds and go belly whooping down…
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Johannes Gutenberg and the Printing Press by Joan Misek
Oral Tales began to change in the 1440s. Johannes Gutenberg began to experiment with metal type for each letter of the alphabet. He designed a mold to hold individual pieces of type. He found the best formulas for black ink. He designed a press to hold the paper against the inked type. In a time…
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The Narrative Capacities of Rapunzel by Dixie Walljasper
Whenever I hear a very compelling storyteller I wonder how they know just the right story for that particular time. I have had that question in the back of my head during all of my classes and I have to say that reading Letting Stories Breathe by Arthur Frank has provided…
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Rapunzel by Dixie Walljasper
My fairy tale for this semester is Rapunzel. Rapunzel is a story of maturation for young women and especially for all of the feminine roles that women play in their lifetime. The tale type is 310, the maiden in the tower, and it falls within the large category of supernatural opponents…
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Shedding the Frog Skin by Marian Giannatti
The choices we make and the paths we take are lifelong. To make mistakes, to take risks, and to have an opportunity for a “do-over” each day. Life seldom offers us the chance to kiss a frog and find a “happily ever after.” but we do have some control over our destiny – we just…
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Taking Charge of My Own Metamorphosis by Marian Giannatti
The plot of The Princess and the Golden Ball – of a young girl forced to honor and submit to her own promises, the admonitions of her father, and of the social mores of the time – reminds me of the woman who raised me. My mother married at the age of 15, at a…
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50 Shades of Green Frog by Marian Giannatti
There have been quite a number of analyses of The Frog King/Prince tale by many great scholars – but most center around the sexual awakening and fears of the young girl. Imagine taking a frog to bed: repulsive, cold, wet and slimy? Sex at first is scary, messy and unpleasant – until it has time…
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Frogs in Folktales . . . Ribbit.
As I ponder the tale type 440, Frog Prince/Frog Maiden, it’s clear that the issue is metamorphosis. Metamorphosis: a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means. - one thing to another - one environment to another - one reality to another…