Die Verwandlung – Franz Kafka (1915)
(Novella)
Audience: High School
(Novella)
Audience: High School
Die Verwandlung is one of Kafka’s most famous
stories. It is often translated into English as the Metamorphosis. This may not
be a fairy tale in the traditional sense, but it is a fantastic tale with a
moral in the spirit of fairy tales. The protagonist, a middle-aged bachelor,
frustrated by his mediocrity wakes up to find himself transformed into a
beetle. As time passes he comes to the realization that no one really misses
him and miss only his small financial contribution to the family, but in his useless
state they become independent and end up doing better without his contribution.
As in most German fairy tales, there is no happy ending, the protagonist
eventually dies as a beetle to the relief of his family. I am including this in
my text set to expose students to a broader definition of fairy tale as well as
a very important work in the canon of German Literature.
Der Schimmelreiter – Theodor Storm (1888)
(Book)
Audience: High School
Der Schimmelreiter is Storm’s most widely read work and
is considered a classic in German Literature. It is also not a fairy-tale in
the traditional sense. However, this work is also an important contribution to
German Literature as well as an expansion to the definition of fairy tale. The
story is about a young man who follows his father’s footsteps to become a
dykemaster. He experiences much success and becomes very wealthy. However,
during his tenure as dykemaster a mysterious horse skeleton disappears from the
area he oversees. The townspeople believe his white horse is the ghost horse returned
and the ensuing bad weather season is a result of the disturbed skeleton.
During a storm he sees his wife and child about to drown and rides to save them.
However, he drowns as well. After the storm subsides, the skeleton returns. The
dyke he built saves the town and holds for many years to follow. Any discussion
of traditional German literature including fairy tales would not be complete
without this story.
Aschenputtel (Cinderella) –
Brothers Grimm
Audio
This links to an audio version of the Grimm
Brothers’ traditional version of this famous fairytale at project Gutenberg.
Audience: High School
Cinderella might be the most well-known fairy
tale of all time. Any discussion of fairy-tales would be incomplete without
this classic tale. The Grimm Brothers version of this story may be the closest
to the original. I have included this in the audio version because fairy tales
were told in the oral tradition long before the Brother’s Grimm put them in
writing.
Cinderella – Walt Disney Productions (1950)
Movie
Audience: Elementary- High School
This is the best known version of the fairy
tale among American students. I am including it my text selection to illustrate
the difference between the original German version of fairy tales and the
Hollywood version of fairy-tales. I would show the German language version in
my German classes since most, if not all, of the students would have already
seen the movie in English.
Drosselbart – Brothers Grimm
(Audio)
Audience: Middle School – High School
This fairy-tale, while known, is not as
popular and over-used as many other fairy-tales. It exists in several versions
as many other fairy tales, all of them are derived from the version recorded by
the Grimm Brothers. The story is about a haughty young princess who is taught a
lesson in humility. She makes fun of her suitors to the point of angering her
father with her pride. She makes particular fun of a kind suitor with a thrush
beard. Out of anger her father vows to marry her to the next suitor regardless
of station. She is forced to marry a lowly minstrel, who we later find out to
be the king she scorned. In some versions the princess dies before she
discovers the true identity of the minstrel/king. In other versions, the
princess finds out and lives happily-ever-after.
Das Märchen – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1795)
(Book)
Audience: High School
This story is about the conflict and
coexistence of the senses (human nature) and self-actualization. It is a fantastical
tale full of imagery and metaphors. The multi-layered text have many abstract
concepts too difficult for high-school students to grasp in the target language
but with lots of scaffolding they will be able to reach a basic understanding
of the text. It appears in English as The
Green Snake and the Beautiful Lilly. I would probably have my students read
this story in English first, but I think it is important for them to be exposed
to this in the original German as written by Goethe so they understand the
rhythm and flow of the language.
Der Erlkönig – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1782)
Performed by Baritone: Dietrich
Fischer-Dieskau
Music by Franz Schubert
(Video)
Audience: Elementary – High School
This poem is about a boy being carried home by
his father. Many of the details of the poem are left out. We don’t know where
or what kind of home the poem refers to. In the beginning the boy sees the Erlkönig
but the father thinks it is an over-active imagination. As the story progresses
the father becomes aware that something is really wrong with his son and “sees”
the Erlkönig, however, it is too late to save his son and the boy dies. This
poem, while abstract in content, is easily within the grasp of students
language ability with some scaffolding by the teacher. I have included in video
form because I think the performance set to music helps students to deduce
meaning from the poem.
Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten –
Brothers Grimm
(Short Story)
Audience: Elementary-High School
In this fairy tale, four animals past their
prime set off to find their fortune by becoming musicians in the city of
Bremen. Even though the four traveling companions never make it their intended
destination they find a safe-haven and new life for themselves by striking out
on the journey.
Die Furchtlosen Vier (The Fearless Four) – Warner Brothers (1997)
(Film)
Audience: Elementary-High School
This is an animated movie adaption of Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten targeting
child audiences. I would include this film to show how the story can be adapted
to many different formats and audiences. Even though the film is produced in
German the Hollywood influence in the story is notable.
Der Hauptmann von Köpenick - Carl Zuckmeyer (1931)
(Play)
Audience: High School
The best known line from this play: “We can
find something better than death anywhere,” is the same theme as in the Bremer Stadtmusikanten. This film
compared and contrasted to the Bremer
Stadtmusikanten provides an excellent example of intertextuality. I would
include this to show how a story can be adapted and retold to suit a different
audience.
Hänsel und Gretel – Brothers Grimm (1812)
(Short Story)
Audience: Middle School – High School
A brother and sister, children of a poor
woodcutter, are left in the forest by their parents to starve. In later
versions, the woodcutter is remarried and the children are left at the prodding
of the stepmother. The children find out about the plot and plan a way to find
their way home. However they become lost but find a cottage in the woods where they
are lured in by a witch who tries to eat them. They outwit the witch and return
home with her treasure to find their father happy to see them again. I am
including this in my text set because it allows students to examine acts of
desperation and how people could be driven to such extremes.
Rotkäpchen – Brothers Grimm
(Short Story)
Audience: Middle School-High School
In the Grimm version of this well-known tale,
both the Grandmother and Red Riding Hood are eaten by the wolf. The wood-cutter
disembowels the wolf and both Red and her Grandmother emerge unharmed. I am
including this story because students will most likely be very familiar with it
and even able to tell a version of it from memory from their own childhoods. The
version they were told as children is likely to be very different from the version
originally told by the Brothers Grimm.
Little Red Riding Hood – Gustave Doré (ca. 1860)
(Illustration)
Audience: All
Red Riding Hood – Warner Brothers (2011)
(Film)
Audience: High School
This film takes a lot of artistic license with
the fairy tale as told by the Brothers Grimm. However, it is an excellent
example of how a fairy tale is taken and turned into a form of entertainment
for today’s audiences expecting a Hollywood thriller with a happy ending. One
way that is similar to the original fairy tale tradition is the way that horror
and romance/sexuality are intertwined. This may not be a subject appropriate
for all high school classes. But the film could still be a useful tool to point
similarities in how fairy tales often blur the line between the beautiful and
the grotesque.
Once Upon A Time – ABC (2011)
(Television Series)
Audience: High School
This television series is based on Grimm’s
Fairy Tales. I am including it in my text set because it is a great example of
how stories are told and retold and adapted to fit each generation. I would
probably only show clips of particular scenes to discuss similarities and
differences in the Grimm versions and the modern version.
Grimm – NBC (2011)
(Television Series)
Audience: High School
This television series is in the genre of
police dramas that have become so pervasive in our culture. While not all the
episodes are based on Grimm Fairy Tales, it is still a useful tool to compare
and contrast the purpose of fairy tales in our culture. The merging of fairy
tales and crime drama is an interesting commentary on our generation.
I really like this text collection. Who doesn't like fairy tales? I like the diversity in the resources and how they can be incorporated in a wide range of grade levels. One question came up as I was looking this over. How would you utilize these text resources in your classroom?
ReplyDeleteWell, I think as you suggested about the diversity it would be dynamic. I could use them interspersed within other themed units when they fit well with a certain grammar construct or culture concept. Or, I could a Culture Thematic Unit on Fairy Tales. These resources are the tip of the ice berg. There are so many more I wanted to incorporate, but I had to stop somewhere. I also have really great PPT that a native speaker created and sent to me that I could use to introduce students to fairy tales as a genre. I would love to teach an upper level language class based around fairy-tales because they really allow a safe platform for addressing serious social ills. The are marvelous for HOT topics and higher-order thinking. But they can also help lower level language students reach these goals if scaffolded correctly and heavily supported.
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