Once
upon a time, not long ago, in a land far far away, I had to choose my
First Year Seminar. McDaniel offers many First Year Seminars, but I
didn't want to "read the recipe" or learn about- in my opinion- the
world's most boring sport; baseball. All of these other options paled in
comparison to learning about the Grimm Brothers' work and how Walt
Disney built an empire based on some of the most popular fairy-tales in
the world. I grew up reading fairy-tales and now I readily accept the
chance analyze and re-read some of my favorite tales. I know that the
Grimm Brothers' tales are more gruesome than Disney's but the stark
contrast will enable me to see beyond what the media and other influencers have fed to me since I was little.My Goals for this Seminar....
I hope to improve my knowledge about the symbolism of fairy-tales. Obviously
each story is meant to entertain children or teach a lesson, but there
are hidden meanings behind each story that involve the time period,
culture, or beliefs about the creators of the story. I also hope to
focus on my writing abilities. I have always shied away from writing
because I felt that what I was saying was "cliche" or typical and
unoriginal. Because the topics discussed in the seminar are some I find
intriguing, I will be more willing to master the content and enjoy
creating a writing piece involving each subject. Lastly, I want to be
able to understand the historical context behind each story. The Grimm
Brothers obviously collected and published these stories to not only
preserve the German culture, but to broadcast messages to the world. Once Upon A Time...
As an avid fairy-tale enthusiast, I have read everything from Hansel and Gretel to The Goose Girl. Despite all of my experience with fairy-tales, my favorite will always be The Little Mermaid.
This is mostly due to the Disney cartoon adaptation, which I fell in
love with when I was barely 4 years old. Ariel was portrayed as a
beautiful, kind, and talented mermaid that was also a princess- what
little girl wouldn't fall in love with her?
I
think I am drawn to this story because of the main topic: mermaids. The
creativity behind this creature is more than my boring, unimaginative
brain could muster in a life time. That, and if I could breathe
underwater, I would take a vacation anywhere in the world as long as I
could swim there. Hopefully my freshman year won't be as bad as my volleyball teammates have made it out to be. I am optimistic as the school year begins and i look forward to this course.
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