ascendo_tuum

As a double major in Biology and Philosophy it is no surprise that I have had the longest and most through exposure to material pertaining to these two areas of study. Biology, to me, has always been about memorization and philosophy, about contemplation. In many cases, philosophy has no specific answers and this is where abstract thinking about hypothetical problems comes in. I find both majors immensely interesting but I’ve always had a knack for being revolutionary and learning about something completely different (like photography). Being in Macaulay Honors College, I was lucky enough to be exposed to many other areas of study in the seminar classes: Genetic Engineering, Homelessness, History of Yellow Fever in Bay Ridge, and diverse art and literature in CHC 1. It was an amazing feeling learning about things I either thought about but never had the time to learn or never even though about in the first place.
When Professor Natov asked me to intern in a CHC 1 class three years after I took it I was thrilled. It was a chance to experience the class again, which out of all four seminars was my favorite. Unlike my experience in CHC 1, this one had a slightly different focus, which included fairy tales. The class read Beauty and the Beast and The Frog Prince and it was fascinating to see how the fairy tales as we know them today were completely different centuries ago. I conversed with Professor Natov and a close friend who took Professor Natov’s Children’s Literature course and was almost shocked to find out what a close tie fairy tales had to the social context in which they were composed. Since then, I’ve wanted to learn more in-depth about fairy tales. Originally, however, I decided to take a slightly different approach to them and look at them from a philosophical perspective (i.e. what philosophical issues and morals do they convey). In formulating my thesis I soon realized that the values that are conveyed in fairy tales have changed over time, as fairy tales themselves have changed. So it is essential to look closer at
these changes and the social context that accompanied these changes.
The senior-thesis class is my chance to address this task. After much research, it was clear that fairy tales started off as one thing and centuries later ended up as we know them today from, perhaps, Walt Disney. They began as oral narratives, and after being documented, underwent a series of significant revisions. It would be almost impossible to look at every single interpretation since the beginning of time due to the () of material (i.e. almost every culture has their own Cinderella). However, there are certain peaks in history that are vital in the evolution of fairy tales, such as 18th century Charles Perrault in France, 19th century Grimm brothers in Germany, and 20th century Walt Disney, to name a few. Currently the questions I seek out to answer are 1) When and where were the significant milestones of fairy tale evolution? 2) What were the changes that the fairy tales underwent (in a more general sense, the underlying themes)? 3) How do these various interpretations of fairy tales reflect the social values and morals that were relative to the culture and time period in which they were made? And 4) How do Snow White, Cinderella, and The Little Red Riding Hood serve as prime examples of fairy tale evolution (closer analysis)?
In presenting my topic I see myself as assuming the role of communicating to my readers something they may not know and may find interesting about the evolution of fairy tales. In addition, I seek to partially assume the role of a scholar in answering the question of what influenced the evolution of fairy tales throughout specific points in time to increase my audience’s understanding of the topic (especially if part of it already has some knowledge of the topic). I imagine that some of my readers are scholars as well and I seek to provide sufficient and relevant evidence in addressing my thesis and answer any questions they may have. In doing so I will also increase the understanding of the general readers who perhaps don’t know much about
the topic.