I think they are kinda different.  The Greek Myths rely on the gods to help them. Man is only played, he shows little of his own thoughts. their problems are because of stuff they did, but they are powerless to solve them. in the African myths they seems to solve thier own problems. they dont have some all powerfull being aidding them in any way. Departure, I chose "The life aquatic." 1)The call to adventure- Steve must set out to avenge the death of his friend. 2)Refusal to the call- He is unshure whether he is worth a damn, he questions his life in many ways. 3)Super Natural aid- OK this is a little shakey, but Ned is the super natural. he comes from no where, and is the long lost son, seemingly sent to steve to help him accomplish this task. 4) Crossing of the first threshold- he gets the money to go on the trip to kill the shark. 5) the belly of the whale- his wife leaves him for his ego, and his inability to be faithful. The trials and victories of initiation. 1) road of trials- he has lost his equipment and must get new stuff. plus the ships crew is kinda unshure about this trip. 2)the meeting with the goddess- he sees his opertunity to help ned out, to be a good father and give him a new shot at life. 3)the women temptress- kate blanchettes character she is the temptress. 4) the ultimate boon-  he finds the damn shark, but he wont kill it. Return 1)refusal to return- even after this is over he cant forget ned or esteban. he wonders if he is washed up and done. he doenst feel returning to the starlight " home" is right. 2)the magic flight- the new flag. it is the escape from the past. a look into the future. 3) return to the threshold- he finally decides the ned and esteban have a story that needs to be told, and he will tell it. 4) master of two worlds- steve is not only a great explore of the ocean he is now able to see the feelings that he overlooked for so long. 5)freedom to live- he is able to regain his honor as an explorer, father, friend, husband. the shark frees him from his past life.  

These myths are similar in that they use stories and folklore to explain common occurances that may or may not be understood by the cultures telling them. The african myths seem to be simpler, but they both give a sort of moral or deeper understanding than just "a guy went around and did things". In the greek myths, the tale is told in a sort of poetic form, not necessarily rhyming but following chapters and so many lines per paragraph and the african myths were just one big paragraph (web formatting perhaps?).2. The Dark Tower by Stephen King (actually 7 books but one big long tale) Separation or Departure1.      The Call to Adventure : Roland of Gilead is known as the last knight/gunslinger and is given a call to pursue and climb to the top the nexus of the universe symbolized by the Dark Tower. 2.      Refusal of the Call (the folly of the flight from the god): At first roland does not feel able to achieve the daunting task, and instead flees westward with his friends as he is too young to undertake the quest as well. 3.      Supernatural Aid : roland is assisted throughout the entire novel by various objects/texts/ and people. His biggest asset (although an enemy) is Marten Broadcloak who gives enlightening details throughout the entire story. 4.      The Crossing of the First Threshold: Rolands first threshold is his choice to sacrifice loved ones in the pursuit of his ultimate goal. 5.      The Belly of the Whale: after sacrificing his friends, roland contemplates whether or not he has damned his own soul in the pursuit of his "destiny".   The Trials and Victories of Initiation1.      The Road of Trials : throughout the entire series, roland conquers the low men, Blaine the Mono, illness and vampires along his entire trek. 2.      The Meeting with the Goddess : after defeating the crimson king, roland is tempted by an easy path he does not take. 3.      Woman as the Temptress : rolands mother offers an alternative life to the pursuit of the tower. 4.      Atonement with the Father: roland comes to grips and is exhonorated by his son when he is told "go then, there are other worlds than these"5.      Apotheosis : roland is given the key to the tower6.      The Ultimate Boon: roland begins his ascent and eventually climbs to the top of the tower. Return1.      Refusal of the Return : At first roland doesnt want to believe what he sees at the top2.      The Magic Flight ; he is sucked through the door and is forced to accept reality.3.      Rescue from Without : To save his own sanity, his mind is clensed4.      The Crossing of the Return Threshold : the story ends with the opening paragraph of the first book5.      Master of the Two Worlds : Roland is destined to repeat his quest6.      Freedom to Live: Roland realizes destiny is not set, and that with each passing of the wheel of time he is allowed to improve and adjust his decisions, giving hope that ultimatly there is salvation for him even though it may take ages to achieve.

The stories compare with each other by telling stories of young girls but are different in their styles. the grimm tales seem to be a lot older, and they dont seem to be set in a very contemporary environment like where are you going was. the grimm tales also dont explicitly mention sexuality, wheras the company of wolves and where are you going mention specific sexual acts. overall i would say the grimm tales are more vague in their definition of the path from which it would be wise not to stray.  In where are you going, the story is structured to where you are given a background about the character connie. you are told about her family life and given crucial details about her relationship with her mom and dad as well as her sister. you find out about her attitudes regarding looks and vanity, as well as honesty. then the story progresses by giving a situation where connie faces the fork in the road and you see whatdecisions she makes. I dont know what proairiatic code is though.  The earlier versions have some similarities to the disney versions. they both follow the idea of a pure woman falling for a handsom prince etc. the disney version is certainly much lighter though, and i feel like it emphasizes the good much more. for instance the disney version of cinderella doesnt talk about the sisters cutting off their toes, instead it talks about how perfect cinderellas feet were. i think they do this to appeal to a broader audience as well as to avoid lawsuits and keep the movie tame. in hollywood it seems the original was useful for a rough template, but moretickets could be sold with a "softer" presentation of the story.

1) When comparing Grimm and Andersen's fairy tales and the stories of Oates, Jewett, and Carter, the stories all seem to have one thing in common, a young girl that is going on some type of journey and in the end either learn something, find something, or become something. Grimm and Andersen's works have that fairy tale feel, easily made into a Disney movie style, but still have some dark parts to them. Oates and Carter's works, while easily made into made-for-TV movies, show the darker side of things to portray a message of sticking to path otherwise for example, wolves will get you. Jewett's story was not dark at all, but when compared to the "Little Mermaid", they both displayed characters that were faced with giving up something they loved.  2) The story "In the Company of Wolves" is about a girl that is instructed to stay on the path to her grandmother's house but instead cuts through. She is previously instructed to not go throught the woods because of fear of the wolves that lived in the woods, either actual or werewolves. While in the woods, she encounters a man who says she can beat her to her grandmother's house. When she arrives, her grandmother has been eaten and is then faced with being eaten by the werewolf. An example of hermenutic code in this story could be when she parts ways with the man in the woods and he takes her basket that has the knife in it. It makes you wonder how her not having that knife is going to affect the remainder of the story. Proairetic code comes up at the end of the story when she faces the wolf and go back in forth with the statements about the features of the wolf. Once he mentions that his teeth are meant for eating her, you want to read on to see if he does or if she gets away.3) The earlier readings of the fairy tales were very dark and some ways disgusting to recent versions of the tales. I think that the stories' contemporary versions appeal to a larger crowd, the same way Disney adapted them. Their cartoon renditions are accepted across the board by people as great stories and family-oriented, but the earlier readings are too graphic for everyone. They also don't display a genuine happy ending. Cinderella's sisters have their eyes plucked out and lose toes by the end of the story. It's kind of disgusting, but some people might view it as a good story, I did.

1. The fairy tales by Grimm and Andersen are different then the stories by Oates, Jewett, and Carter in many ways, but the one I found to be most prevelent was the fact that in the Oates, Jewett, and Carter stories, the tales are not as fairy-like. Take "A White Heron" for instance. The little girl was in a real like situation living in the woods with her poor family. She didn't have a gravesite she could go to and cry for a gold dress if she wanted to like in "Cinderella." 2. In "A White Heron," the narrative is structured so that you will keep interested by not knowing what the little girl is going to do. Proairetic code is shown when she goes to find the heron, and Hermenetic code is shown when she gets back to the house that morning and you don't know whether or not she is going to tell the man what she has seen. 3. Disney (and other companies) has been able to take these tales and turn them into fairy-tales by cutting out and/or changing certain parts of the stories. In the Disney version of Cinderella, for example, her mother is dead when the story begins, but her father also dies leaving her alone with her evil step-mother and step-sisters. In the original, her father is there throughout the story, but does nothing to stop the step-mother from the horrible way she treats her. It is impossible to believe that if these stories had been left the way that they were origianally written that any child would have taken such interest in it as so many children have.

1. The fairy tales by Grimm and Anderson, and the stories by Jewett, Carter, and Oates, all have very similar underlying meanings.  They all have a central character who is young and pure, who is later corrupted by a menacing figure.  They all have a path that they are supposed to stay on, or they are supposed to act or live a certain way.  The young, pure character’s all have some sort of temptation or things that draw them off the path.  In the Grimm and Anderson stories however, the pure character maintains her purity and moral throughout the story.  In the other stories, however, the young girls almost seem to part of the temptation or “evil” and they do not maintain their innocence in the end.  2.  In the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, it starts out describing Connie personality and relationship with her family.  The story builds up as you learn that Connie strays of her path when she lies about going to the mall and goes with her friends to hang out with boys.  It climaxes when an older man she saw once shows up at her house when she is alone and convinces her to leave with him.  There are examples of the Hermeneutic Code when you realize that Connie kind of leads a double life and when she first sees Arnold Friend when he says, “Gonna get you, baby.”  It raises questions about what might happen.  There are also examples of the Proairetic Code when she skips the mall to go somewhere else so she meets Arnold Friend, and when her family leaves so that she is home alone.  These events just lead into the story.  3. The stories of “Cinderella” and “The Little Mermaid” are very similar to later versions such as Disney.  The main difference in “Cinderella” was that they took out the gorier parts that would not be suitable for a younger audience.  The main difference in “The Little Mermaid” is the ending.  In the earlier version she does not end up with the prince and the witch is not as evil as she is portrayed in the Disney version.  It is more a story of her search for a soul, rather than the normal contemporary fairy tale where the main character ends up with the prince.  The more contemporary fairy tales are made to fit the common mold and have happy endings.

The fairy tales by Grimm and Andersen are classic stories which most children grow up on nowadays before any changes were made to them. The works by Oates, Jewett, and Carter are more dramatic and are not stories most people would consider suitable for young children. There is a similiarity between "Little Red Coat" and "In the Company of Wolves" as both stories comply with the idea that girls are expected to portray certain qualities and act specific ways. Both of the girls rebelled against how they were expected to act by traveling off the path. One of the reasons I remember "The Little Mermaid" being so popular when I was younger is due to the amount of detail which was given. The way it is being described almost seems as if you are there allowing me to picture the scene in my haed. This would be an example of proairetic code. The grandmother's description of what she sees is able to draw a reader in and keep them reading. It seems as if the early versions had more representation. Sometimes when people read stories the true meaning and reason for things seems to be forgotten. Today many fairy tales are made so that everything works out great for the good guy and the bad guy doesn't win. However, real life doesn't always work that way. A possible reason of this could be writers don't think young children can handle the concept of death and violence at a young age, which is probably true.

(1)   The best comparison of the works in question is the similarities between “Little Red Cap” and “In the Company of Wolves.”  These stories build you up in exactly the same way.  There is a young girl traveling a lot a path to her grandmother’s house along a path that they aren’t supposed to leave in both stories. The narratives are different.  The main characters end up being very different.  It seems that the girl in “In the Company of Wolves” is in all actuality a witch.  The girl in “Little Red Cap never loses her innocence.  (2)   “In the Company of Wolves” is structured similar to “Little Red Cap.”  The story is based on a little girl who shouldn’t go alone to her grandmother’s house but does anyway, then during her travels should always stay on the path, and finally gets to her grandmothers house where the conflict in the story takes place with the wolf, but in a suprising ending I think the girl is in fact a which.  A few examples of hermeneutic code would be: why does this girl’s mother let her travel into the woods by herself, and why doesn’t she ask the man for her knife?  I chose to talk about this story because it had what I thought was a really good example of proairetic code.  When she is standing in front of the wolf at the very end of the story you have to keep reading and reading to finally find out what is going to happen and then it ends up being so twisted at the end with the girl throwing the wolf around. The readings of fairy tales are much more gruesome than those of later interpretations.  I believe that the best example of this is Cinderella.  The mother cut the toes and heels off her daughters in the stories.  This is definitely something that would have to be changed in a contemporary reading because when Disney produced this story it was to appeal to young children specifically girls.  Some parents wouldn’t want there children watching stories where parents would be sick enough to remove their childrens toes. Most parents would probably believe that would scare their children. 

(1) In "Little Red Cap" and the "Company with Wolves" both had similar stories but the Company had a more vivid detail of how the characters were eaten at the end of the story.  Also, "The Little Mermaid" and "A White Heron" were also very similar in that in both stories, the main character had to give something up that they really cared about and grew to love.  (2) In "Cinderella", I feel as though the beginning of the story could be seen as a flashback.  They talk about Cinderella's real mother and her death and then they would show the title sequence.  After that we would come out with the main story where Cinderella gets her step-mom and 2 step-sisters.  This is an example of hermeneutic code.  (3) For the most part, the stories stayed the same the only thing that Disney did was they had to change the endings so it was happier for children.  Disney also took out some of the vile things the original authors had written.  Also, in "The Little Mermaid", Hans Christian never uses anyones names; Disney had given a name to every character.  Also, the biggest ending difference is in "The Little Mermaid" because Arial does not end up marrying her prince.  Instead she ends obtaining an immortal soul which is something mermaids can not have. 

The fairy tales by Grimm and Anderson have much more fantasy when compared to the works by Oates, Jewett and Carter.  In some ways the stories are the same. They are the same in that they all involve a young girl who in a way in each story goes on a journey.  In the narrative “A White Heron” there is a clear beginning and end to the story, but in between are proairetic and hermeneutic codes.  There is hermeneutic code when Sylvia finds the heron and has to decide whether or not she will tell the hunter where the heron can be found.  The fairy tales by Grimm and Anderson are much more graphic than today’s versions of the stories.  In today’s version of these fairy tales everyone always lives happily ever after.  In Anderson’s version of “The Little Mermaid,” the prince and the mermaid do not end up together, which is not what most people would consider a happy ending.

The fairy tales by Grimm and Andersen seem much more whimsical and romantic than the tales by Oates, Jewett and Carter.  Several of the stories seem to overlap and reflect similar themes and motifs.  I believe that they are different narratives but contain similar aspects for example, the Little Mermaid and A White Heron seem to covey the same message of desire and sacrifice.  Each character, Sylvie and the little mermaid, both choose nobility over selfishness.  The Little Mermaid could have killed the prince in order to save herself but instead accepted her fate and in turn was rewarded for that decision.  Sylvie could have revealed the location of the White Heron’s nest to the hunter and could have been made rich by exposing this information.  She instead thought it better to save the bird and give up the opportunity to better her own life.   In the Little Mermaid we see examples of the hermeneutic code when we learn of the other woman that the prince has fallen in love with.  We are unsure if there really is another woman or if he was really remembering the mermaid saving him.  We are unsure what he really remembers and what he doesn’t when he is saved. We see examples of the proairetic code when the mermaid is given the choice to kill the prince who she loves or to accept her sacrifice and perish.   The earlier readings of Little Red Cap and The Little Mermaid were quite different than those that were recreated by Disney.  Disney chose to neglect the information regarding the “immortal soul” in The Little Mermaid.  Perhaps this was to make the movie more universal and also less controversial by skipping the religious aspects of the original story.  Disney also, of course, assured a traditional happy ending with each of its films. While the happy ending scenario may be comforting and familiar to the viewer it is unpractical and irrational in real life.  The story of the Little Mermaid is one of fantasy and love but also one of sacrifice and salvation.  Disney focused their particular version less on the deep spiritual message and more on the superficial aspects of the tale.    

1. In my opinion, “Little Red Cap” and “The Company of Wolves” are the same narrative.  Both have the basically the same characters and the same plot.  Although Carter’s version is a little more disturbing.  Also, “The Little Mermaid” and “A White Heron” resembled each other.  At the end of both stories, the main character has to let something go that they really wanted: the white heron for Sylvia and the prince for the little mermaid.  I tried, but I couldn’t really put a connection together for “Cinderella” and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”  I feel like the plots are very different.
2. In “Little Red Cap”, right at the beginning Little Red Riding Hood sets out on a journey to her grandmother’s house (this is the hermeneutic code.)  It gets the reader interested right away as to what is going to happen along the way.  There are a few examples of proairetic code.  One is when she meets the wolf on the way to grandma’s house.  The reader knows that the wolf is an evil creature, but Little Red Riding Hood is oblivious to this fact.  Another time is when Little Red Riding Hood enters the house and the wolf is waiting for her.  The reader is left wondering what is going to happen to her.
3. The older versions are much more gruesome than the newer ones.  I think this is so children would watch out for the dangers that were around them back when the stories were written.  Also the endings were changed to appease the audience.  It is much more pleasant to see a happy ending than a sad one.

Hi all,

If everyone could post to let me know if you're interested in an extra credit movie night (or not) and what nights you're available, that'd be great. Yeah. Um-yeah.

Alice

UPDATE: The date for the movie night is Thursday February 15th at 6:00PM (right after class). Let me know if you have any conflicts with this, as I'm delving into my bank account to buy the pizza.