Self Reflection

 

The Freshman Inquiry Writing Seminar Composition course provided me with valuable information that significantly improved my writing and comprehension of the various types of papers. Throughout the course, we were exposed to more challenging tasks that required skills that we obtained as the semester went on. In the beginning of the course, I struggled grasping a multitude of skills such as incorporating an adequate amount of evidence in my writing as well as writing in MLA format. I was able to gradually alter my writing techniques to create better work.

One of the first skills I learned was how to identify and establish a genre. The idea of understanding a genre was essential in both reading and writing a paper. The first paper assigned was a literacy narrative which, in essence, was a story exploring what the author experienced in regards to reading and writing. For this paper, I spent a lot of time recounting the experience that I was to write about in order to organize the details in a coherent manner. I did this by creating a draft with bullet points of the events in chronological order. Once I established my details, I was able to properly relate them back to the genre, which was literacy, and I expressed how my experience significantly impacted my desire to express myself through writing. I personally enjoy writing stories, so this assignment was enjoyable.

During the writing process, one thing that aided my writing was the peer review that we did in class. My peers listened to my draft and shared their input which was to make the “hook line” more exciting. This insight not only helped me become aware of the importance of gaining the interest of the audience, but the first sentence helped me cultivate the tone of the story. Since this paper was a literacy narrative, I was also introduced to the importance of rhetorical terms and situations. A literacy narrative is story telling which implies that the purpose is to grab the attention of the audience and express one’s stance with clarity. Once I became familiar with these rhetorical situations in the literacy narrative, I was able to apply them to the other two essays that were assigned as well. The exploratory paper was a bit more challenging though, as it was mostly just informing the audience of a position without including bias and by using a plethora of supporting evidence. I struggled mostly with the documentation in MLA format since the paper required many citations. I was able to thoroughly explain my research; however, it did not connect efficiently with my purpose. As a result, comments from my peers and professor guided me to organize my evidence more coherently for the next paper and properly connect my purpose to my research. I also learned to center my pieces around rhetorical situations which served as guidelines of what to address in each essay aside from outside research. Additionally, for the Researched Critical Analysis, I was much more prepared in regards to organizing my claims and staying relevant to the purpose of the essay. This essay was centralized around arguing a position and substantiating the claims using in-depth research and critical analysis of a fairy tale. It was considerably easier than the exploratory essay because I was able to make a clear argument and use research to support it. I accomplished this by beginning with a thesis in which I addressed rhetorical situations such as the purpose and the audience. I also utilized new techniques such as summarizing every text I read before I use it, which helped me analyze the works I referred to in the essay which bettered my understanding of what I was writing. Additionally, my use of MLA format improved in this essay which made my points more consistent and easier for the audience to read. However, I somewhat lacked research in substantiating my claims that there is a prevalence of child neglect in many fairy tales.

The presence of peers and the Professor definitely contributed to the improvement of my writing. The insight provided me with different perspectives that I still keep in mind every time I write a paper. I was able to improve in my usage of MLA format as well as keeping my writing relevant to the purpose. I will continue to work on minor issues as well by carefully collecting enough information to support my thesis because that can make the most difference to an audience. The skills I acquired in this course will definitely continue to help me grow and flourish as a writer.

Work Cited

Bullock, Richard. The Norton Field Guide to Writing. 4th ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2016.

Research Critical Analysis

Anjali Bali                                                                                                                              Bali 1

Professor Hoehne

FIQWS Composition

5 November 2018

The Prevalence of Child Neglect in Fairy Tales

Throughout centuries of telling and retelling renown fairy tales, there has been a common theme which is arguably present in a multitude of these stories. The theme, which is greatly incorporated in these tales, is the abandonment and neglection of children by their parents or a step-parent. This seemingly innocent and recurring trope can be found in children’s favorite classic fairy tales such as ‘Hansel and Gretel’, ‘Cinderella’, and ‘Wild Swans’. The prominence of this trope can beg questions pertaining to why a plethora of writers of the 17th and 18th centuries seemed to incorporate child neglect so frequently.

The topic of child neglect includes a wide variety of examples that present themselves in many fairy tales created centuries ago. The work of ‘Cinderella’ by Charles Perrault in 1697 introduce a common detail of a cruel step mother and a passive father (Kauffman). The protagonist, Cinderella, is subjected to harsh treatment of her step mother which becomes normalized in the household as her step sisters treat her poorly as well. They force her to handle manual labor and clean constantly, forbidding her to attend festive functions such as the royal ball (Perrault). This neglect is only encouraged because her biological father does nothing or is unable to aid his daughter in the many renditions of the ‘Cinderella’ story. The circumstances in which Cinderella lives cause the reader to feel pity for her character. The reason behind Cinderella’s step-mother’s hatred towards her is never explained or given context. In addition to this classic with an evil step-mother, there is the ‘Hansel and Gretel’ story which was published in 1812 by the Grimm brothers. This tale introduces siblings who are abandoned by their parents in the woods. Once again, the evil step-mother character is responsible for convincing her husband that it is justified to commit child neglect. In the story, the step-mother convinced the father that they are too poor to tend to the children and that abandoning them in the wood would be the best option (Grimm 1). As the story continues, not only are the children neglected by their parental figures, but also by a grandmother figure who ends up being a witch with sinister, cannibalistic intentions towards them. Whether the parental figures are displaying an unabashed dislike for their children or simply emotionally neglecting them, the themes of child neglect are apparent. Furthermore, Hans Christian Anderson’s ‘The Wild Swans’ perhaps has the most deliberate forms of child abuse and neglect than the stories previously mentioned. Similar to ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Hansel and Gretel’, the father of the protagonist marries an evil woman who goes to great lengths to convey her dislike for his children. In this case, Eliza’s step mother uses witchcraft to turn her brothers into swans in order to remove their presence from her life. Then, the step mother made Eliza unrecognizable using walnut stain so that her father would banish her from the kingdom (Anderson 1). Both instances significantly display child neglect because the children are very obviously unloved. Their own biological father allowed such horrid actions to take place and he then banished his daughter without a doubt because she looked different. The frequent child neglect trope in fairy tales elucidates the impression that there were certain standards or ideals regarding the family structure in the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe that could have contributed to this theme.

The concept of childhood being a phase preluding adulthood was only developed and normalized during the 19th century (Kroll, Bachrach, 1). Prior to this concept being accepted in society, primitive occurrences such as abandonment, abuse and infanticide were commonalities during that time. This harsh and anti-paternal nature of society could potentially have been

Bali 2

inspired by Greek and Roman influences in their works which glorified infanticide, violence and sacrifice. Additionally, since these fairy tales were written prior to global enlightenment. This suggests that demographics like women, people with illness and children were considered to be weaker and thus, they were burdens (Kroll, Bachrach, 1). This led to an “unconscious hostility” and lack of sympathy towards the children which ultimately resulted in children being pushed into adulthood or hard labor faster than they would in today’s world. Additionally, adults felt it was necessary to expose children to the harshness of the world rather than shelter them. This is reflected on the Grimm brother’s motive to “de-emphasize sexuality and increase their violence, adapting the stories to their ideas of what was best suited to the education of children”. This violence consists of unhealthy emotional or physical abuse or neglect. The fairy tales mentioned represent an era in which child neglect was normalized and even glorified in order to convey the story’s moral to the audience. In ‘Hansel and Gretel’, the children’s parents neglected them through abandonment and lack of sympathy. There was then mention of cannibalism and infanticide in the story. In ‘Cinderella’, Cinderella was abused through forced labor by her family after the trauma of her mother’s death. Lastly, in ‘Wild Swans’, the children were all physically abused and transformed. Childhood during this time was deliberately ignored and seen as a burden which resulted in fairy tales reflecting the societal belief that children were undeserving of nurturing and care. These beliefs were extremely inhumane and resulted in the endangerment and harm of children in the fairy tales.

In conclusion, the prevalence of child abuse and neglect can be found in a plethora of stories. These stories were originally written in a period of time in Europe where children and the concept of childhood was perceived very differently than it is today. In society during the 17th and 18th century, exposure to cruelty or neglect was normalized for children and was believed to be for their betterment, or it was simply out of apathy for the child. Fairy tales with these themes probably appeal to parents and children now because the morals are conveyed through a scare tactic. However, the audience must know that at one point, this scare tactic was a reality for many children of that time.

Works Cited

“Cinderella;or,TheLittleGlassSlipper.”FirewalkingMythvsPhysics,www.pitt.edu/~dash/perrault06.html.

“Cinderella.” Ohio River – New World Encyclopedia, New World Encyclopedia, http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Cinderella.

“Hansel and Gretel.” Firewalking Myth vs Physics, www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm015.html.

Jerome Kroll, M.D., Bernard Bachrach, PH.D. “Child Care and Child Abuse in Early Medieval Europe”

“The Wild Swans.” Hans Christian Andersen: The Nightingale, hca.gilead.org.il/wild_swa.html.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exploratory Essay

Anjali Bali

Professor Hoehne

FIQWS Composition

October 7 2018

The Passive and Active Tropes of Sleeping Beauty

The timeless classic of “Sleeping Beauty” retains a multitude of different iterations and adaptations all telling the similar tale of a damsel in distress. Our protagonist presents many passive features which can barely qualify her as a heroine. However, this similar theme of a passive beauty is no coincidence and is placed in these tales on purpose. The time period in which many fairy tales were developed consisted of a patriarchal society (McGoogan, Cara. “’Sexist’ Sleeping Beauty and All the Other Fairy Tales That May Need Updating for a New Generation.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 24 Nov. 2017,). While these ideals are outdated for progressive thinkers, it is possible that those ideals can still resonate with young girls today since fairy tales have similar tropes and are still prominent.

The tale of “Sleeping Beauty” has been modified throughout time but the stories all share similar events and morals. The protagonist is a beautiful, young woman who is cursed to fall asleep for a prolonged period of time, only fated to wake up from the kiss of a prince or male “hero”. The idea of a passive character represents someone who depends on the actions of others to determine the events in their life. A passive character is only responsible for reacting in a story rather than initiating. On the contrary, an active character is the cause of events and does what is necessary to ensure the fate that they want. In Charles Perrault’s “The Sleeping Beauty of the Wood”, the princess was described only as “the most beautiful ever seen”. Everything she said or did was a reaction to the actions of others. Additionally, her actions were described as “tender” or “rejoiceful” as if she was incapable of harboring any negative emotions. Her character was made to be gentle and innocent, only reacting to the actions of others. Unlike the protagonist, the prince was described with much more vigor and character in Perrault’s version. Upon hearing about the princess, the prince was described to be “fired” with passion to find her. His spontaneity was further validated when he “jumped immediately to the conclusion that it was for him to see so gay an adventure through, and impelled alike by the wish for love and glory, he resolved to set about it on the spot” (“The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood.” Perrault: The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, www.pitt.edu/~dash/perrault01.html). The reader can infer that the prince retains an “adventurous” and impulsive nature that would seem almost out of place for a female protagonist of that time period. Even in other versions like “Sun, Moon and Talia”, the prince is the character who determines the fate of the protagonist and takes risks to get what he wants. In the case of Basile’s “Sun, Moon and Talia”, he disregards his marriage to pursue an affair with Talia. This trope of passive female leads and active male leads is significantly present in many renditions of “Sleeping Beauty” as well as other fairy tales. This theme can beg the question of “why?”.

One of the earliest origins of the “Sleeping Beauty” tale come from Giambattista Basile’s “Sun, Moon, and Talia” in the early 1600s (SurLaLune Fairy Tales: History of Sleeping Beauty, www.surlalunefairytales.com/sleepingbeauty/history.html). During the 1600s in Europe, gender roles and sexism can be argued to have been greatly prominent in works like fairy tales. The character Talia’s beautiful appearance was frequently mentioned as her only important attribute. In the story, the king engaged in sexual actions while she was asleep and when she woke up she gave birth. In that time period, the king’s actions were justified through his “ambition” and willingness to get what he wanted. These works reflected societal beliefs. Between the Renaissance era and the Age of Enlightenment, women in Europe were considered significantly inferior to men and were forced to take on domestic and maternal roles (Https://Www.saylor.org/Site/Wp-Content/Uploads/2012/10/HIST201-8.2.3-WomenRenaissancetoEnlightenment-FINAL1.Pdf). Men during this era were responsible for taking action, providing for themselves and others, and had the ability to venture out in this society. This reflected the idea of active male roles. The Sleeping Beauty character was only given purpose and life through the arguably selfish act of the prince.

Additionally, this restriction to a passive, domestic sphere was also justified by Catholicism and the church during the time period. Since the church was primarily male dominated, there existed a notion that households symbolized “small kingdoms” in which men held all authority as king (Https://Www.saylor.org/Site/Wp-Content/Uploads/2012/10/HIST201-8.2.3-WomenRenaissancetoEnlightenment-FINAL1.Pdf). Any women who did not conform to the conventions of this society were ostracized or thought to be a witch in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Since men were able to obtain an education and write during this time, most works such as fairy tales were written from a man’s biased perspective which generally idealized passive women because of societal conventions. Furthermore, these gender roles are what normalized the “damsel in distress” concept. This concept perpetuates that women in many aged tales required saving from a heroic male figure. Additionally, it implies that women need a male figure for the fulfillment of a “happily ever after” ending in which they get married. Some argue that “political correctness” has no place in children’s tales as they are “meant to be taken as fantasy” while others claim that these stories can be detrimental to the mentality of young girls (Collett, Michael. “Are Fairy Tales Sexist or Is Political Correctness Complicating Good Stories?” ABC News, 6 Apr. 2017, www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-06/fairy-tale-sexism-and-political-correctness). In addition to the theme of passive young female characters and active male characters, there is another demographic who can be interpreted as active. The inclusion of older women in fairy tales, who serve as a villain most of the time, are also active characters. They stand apart from convention and cause events to happen because they are not “ideal”, passive women. In “Sun, Moon, and Talia”, the older woman figure was the king’s wife who persecuted Talia for the affair with her husband. The wife acted out of her own agenda and tried to cook Talia’s children. She also tried to set Talia on fire. An ideal, passive character would not go to these lengths out of personal gain. Also, in Perrault’s “Sleeping Beauty in the Wood”, the old fairy was offended she was not invited to the king and queen’s event so she cast a curse on the baby as an act of revenge. Thus, the active characters are generally men or older, “undesirable” women.

In conclusion, gender roles are argued to be extremely prominent in a plethora of fairy tales such as the “Sleeping Beauty” story. These ideals are dispersed into different tropes and themes such as active and passive characters. Although active characters are needed to make events happen, passive characters are also essential to the telling of stories. The subliminal insertion of these beliefs into fairy tales serve to immortalize the standards and conventions of a time period even if they are fantasy.

Works Cited

Literacy Narrative

Anjali Bali

Professor Kyle Hoehne

English 110

September 9, 2018

Art Imitating Life

The most pivotal moments of our lives can usually be remembered through the art we immersed ourselves in at the time. This can mean music, literature, poetry or whatever medium an artist chooses for self-expression. As a child, I fondly viewed literature and poetry as escapes from reality that I could live vicariously through. I would even make up my own fantastical worlds, which my family fawned over since I was the only child. However, it wasn’t until years later when I would discover the beauty of true self-expression through poetry and just how much I needed it.

During the first few weeks of seventh grade, my teacher tried tirelessly to engage us in the poetry unit we were studying. While I was interested, I had just endured a dark and somber period of my life following my grandfather’s passing. In addition to that loss, my parents decided to separate that year and things felt out of place. The concepts that had once made sense to me became abstract. The emotions that I struggled to suppress were unable to find a suitable outlet. This could have been due to the transition into adolescence or it could have been due to the series of unfortunate events occurring around me. Regardless of the reason, I needed an outlet and one fateful day of English class presented it to me.

I distinctly remember walking into class to find my teacher handing out flyers to every student who walked in. The flyers read “6th, 7th, 8th Grade Poetry Contest” and proceeded to describe how each class would select a winner to participate in the middle school contest. I contemplated for a bit but decided to shove the paper into the depths of my backpack, too afraid to consider participating in a contest. Everyone knew that I was quiet and nearly antisocial. The thought of me broadcasting my emotions to an unfamiliar audience seemed almost laughable. Once everyone was seated and prepared to listen, my teacher started off by mentioning that the classroom contest counted as an assignment. The class groaned, all sharing a general distaste for the word “assigned”. Our teacher went on to explain that whoever wins in the class will have their poem placed in the middle school newspaper alongside other winners’ poems. I caught myself getting excited at the thought of exploring my writing abilities and seeing if I was good enough to place. I grew up around poetry. The strong words of Maya Angelou that my mother read resonated with me. The dark tales of Edgar Allen Poe captivated me during class. The works of old Indian poetry read by my grandmother on my dad’s side incited interest in me as well. Poetry, I realized, was a beautiful piece of self-expression. I decided that day that I would at least try.

The next few days of class were daunting. We worked on rough drafts and were expected to allow our teacher to make small remarks on how to improve our writing. I was a prideful child and did not want to be critiqued on my writing, so I waited until the last day of rough drafts to hand mine to him. I sat patiently while he went through all the poems. I knew that for the first time, I put my heart and soul into words. I knew that even if he didn’t like it, or if there were errors, that I tried. My emotions and my fears became metaphors for flowers thriving and withering in a garden. I described the dreams that carried me to bliss and the ones that buried me deep in an abyss of insecurity and solitude. I still couldn’t help but feel my stomach churn while he went through the poems. We were supposed to be quietly reading but my eyes continuously darted to the front of the room, attempting to catch a glimpse of my work. However, he was unable to make any commentary on the poems that day since the class period ended so soon.

The next day began with thickening tension and suspense as we waited for the winner to be announced. The prelude to the announcement felt like a blur, I remember my heart pounding fiercely in my chest. I stared down at my hands nervously until a familiar stimulus jolted me from my spell. The sound of my name…followed by the sound of an applause. A sense of accomplishment and pride flooded my mind as I received a certificate. This small accomplishment was what prompted me to write more. It prompted me to use my voice and embrace being vulnerable around others. Less than a week later was the first time I had ever spoken publicly. I recited my poem with as much emotion and rigor as I had written it with. It felt liberating. There were parents, teachers and students alike expressing their awe when I was finished. This was a breakthrough. Throughout the rest of my years in middle and high school, I felt comfortable exposing myself to all sorts of poetry and submitting some of my own works for more competitions. In high school, one of my poems made it into a published book with other teen poets nationwide. It felt exhilarating to be able to express my life and my experiences into an artform that would be heard and appreciated by others.

One of the most enchanting things about poetry and other forms of literature in general, is that it represents some sort of self-expression. Sometimes it can be perceived through the underlying themes presented, the diction or the conflicts in the plot. It is a form of art. Through reading and writing poetry, I was able to open my mind and heart to raw emotion that would have otherwise been ignored and dormant. I was inspired to create. I write every day, whether it be sweet nothings on Post-Its or lengthy works derived from the soul. It is something that cannot be judged or stripped away. The most pivotal moments of our lives can usually be remembered by the art we immersed ourselves in at the time. I immerse myself in art every day because each day is a crucial piece of the story that is our lives. I want to remember all of it and so I will forever create my art imitating life.