Of all the incredible stories in Kissing the Witch I would have to say my favorite is “The Tale of the Voice”, which is an adapted version of Hans Anderson’s The Little Mermaid. The portion of the story that really caught my attention was in the beginning when the girl who is so in awe by this one prince’s beauty that she is compelled to ask a witch for help, because she just has to have him. Throughout the witch’s and the girl’s conversation the witch continually pokes fun at the girl for being so naïve to think that giving up something so powerful as her voice would cause a man to fall in love with her forever. My favorite lines are when the witch says, “But I can see by your face that you’re sick for him. If he was ugly as Lucifer you’d still see the sun shining out of his breeches and the stars in the leavings on his plate. No matter how greedy he may be you’ll think everything belongs to him by right. No matter how stupid he is you’ll think he converses like an angel. Am I right (pg. 191)?” I laughed at the witch’s remark because it was so true! There have been plenty of times (myself included) where a person sees another human being so beautiful in their eyes that they would do anything to walk beside them and have them forever, without taking the chance to truly know who they are before taking such a leap. “The Tale of the Voice” underlines the concept of logic and love. How much are you willing to give up for someone you don’t even know? That is a powerful lesson for young children I think. And when asked these questions, the young girl shows signs of doubt because there’s always the possibility that person you don’t know will never love you back. Which leads me to the second reason of why I enjoyed the story, the young girl’s return from a life with the prince. At first the young girl is angry at the witch, but after the witch leads the young girl to her lost voice and tells her of how her family has yearned for her, the girl realizes she has the power all along by being herself. The love of herself and all that comes with it, as well as the mutual love of her family, is more valuable than the act to sell a part of you that someone will never appreciate.

When comparing the two versions of “Snow White” as illustrated by Walt Disney and Brothers Grimm, it is obvious after reading Brothers Grimm to say which version is the darker one. Personally, after reading the different versions of all these common fairytales I find myself liking the scarier versions more because of how exhilarating they are! I recall my mom and older sister telling me when I was in middle school that Disney’s “Snow White” was not the original version, and that the original was much scarier, which definitely rings true. I just wish I had the opportunity to gain the perspective I have now from reading these classic fairytales. Actually, I find it wildly appalling that many high school students are not exposed to the distinct, yet related fairytales told around the world until much later in life. Based on the discussions we’ve had in class such as how themes of these stories relate to the present, I think it would be beneficial to promote such form of higher order thinking to high school students. Especially for stories like “Little Red Riding Hood”, where the lead female character is innocent and naïve in one story, then calm and cunning in another. I see it as an opportunity for young minds to really re-build their own ideas of what a fairytale is supposed to entail. However, that may be easier for the next generation to do when considering the radical changes in the common Disney animated fairytales such as “Brave”, “Frozen”, and “Maleficent” (the new version of Sleeping Beauty). Reading multiple renditions of the same tale also keys students in on how students their age in a different country were influence by their culture’s rendition. For example, the Chinese interpretation of “Red Riding Hood” is far different from the American interpretation. Questions such as, “Was the author of culture A attempting to convey a different message than culture B?”, or “Do you think a different version of fairytale ‘X’ should have been told in our culture, and why?”, would be interesting to see in a high school English course.

No locked door or little key

Forget the stained eggs that be

 

No ladies filled with wine

Or murderers exposed at dinner time

 

For the story you must know,

Was unfortunately not a dream

Or was it so?

Hey there! I’m Leslie Eigle, a third year here at Chico State. I grew up in a small beach town called San Clemente, which is located at the very end of Orange County. Although I love the beach and miss it all the time, I am not at all a stereotypical beach junky who can shred gnarly waves and wear extremely tiny bikini bottoms while doing it. Personally, I love to spend my free time playing sports, especially soccer.  You name it and I’ll play it! Except, tennis. For some reason I can’t play tennis. Anyways, I currently compete with the women’s club soccer team here on campus and actually manage the team as well. Lastly, like the majority of our class, I am majoring in Liberal Studies, but I am working towards a Special Education minor.

I like to think I participate in a wide genre of literary options, but as I compare what I actually read to what I want to read, I notice a large difference. Typically, the books I enjoy reading are composed by authors like Jodi Picoult, who is presently my favorite fiction author. Furthermore, I enjoy reading articles from National Geographic every once in a while, and mainly become interested in some of their magazines through Instagram and Facebook. One of my favorite things to read, however, is a blog called “People of New York” which can be “liked” on Facebook and Instagram. It was created by a photographer who travels around New York (and now the world) interviewing people in an effort to listen for a piece of their life story that he can share with the world. It’s actually really fascinating! In regards to my personal library connecting with the reading I need to do for school, I would say that it doesn’t necessarily connect to the articles or books provided by my professors. Although I’m sure that will change once I enter the real world and am forced to engage in mountains of scholarly articles which will help me in my career as a teacher.

In my opinion, being a reader means to actively comprehend the arbitrary symbols which make up a language. However, I also believe there is a difference between being a reader and being literate. A reader is someone who chooses to read, whereas to be literate simply means possessing the skills to read. Being a reader doesn’t necessarily characterize a person as someone who reads a new novel every week. To me a reader is someone who takes time to read what they are interested in.

One particular claim Williams makes in his article, is that each generation at one point in time will analyze the literary practices of the generations below them and generally complain how “the young people’s” literacy skills are declining when in fact they are not. In short, the literary practices of each generation changes. This is one of the main reasons for the anxiety experienced by former generations because they fear that these changes will not aid in development of adequate literacy skills needed to survive in the professional world. However, the professional world is constantly changing. Developments in technology, major world events, and new forms of unconventional writing (i.e. texting) influence the professional world on a large scale. Thus, the form of literacy each generation takes part in generally relates to the professional world they prepare to enter.