Overall Interpreting Folklore

Reflection:
This semester has been a lot of fun between some of the projects that we do and some of
the field trips that we go on. The environment in class is always full of energy and has the feeling
of welcome and non-judgement between the students in the class and the teacher. Much of what I
have learned is from the other students in the class. We had plenty of opportunities to research a
certain topic and then teach the class what we had learned. Some of these activities included
bringing items and telling stories of what kind of folklore we were involved in, sharing other
religions and cultures folklore, and being able to show how folklore can change over time.
One of the first things that we did as a class was bring an item, or material lore, that was
special to us and share it with the class. Some of the students brought things that were really old
and had been passed down for generations while others had picked some newer things to bring.
This was a very interesting day since we were able to recognize the material lore and then the
verbal lore of the story behind the item. It was really cool to see what other people valued in their
different cultural groups. It was because of this small and quick thing that each of us were able to
do that I realized that folklore was not what I thought that it was. It was so much more than
fairytales and myths, but everyday life.
Another cool thing that we did after learning just what folklore actually is and how to
recognize it we split into groups to research different cultures and their beliefs about rites of
passage. This was another activity that we had to teach and learn from other students in the class.
We went through all four stages of life: birth, coming of age, marriage, and death. This was a
really fun activity because not only were we recognizing what folklore is in our everyday lives

but we were not able to recognize it outside of our own culture and be able to know more about
what others believe and gain that since of respect for various cultural groups.
We also did something very similar to our rites of passage presentations when we created
posters for the Utah Cultural center. For this we had split into groups of two and we each had to
choose a different ritual dealing with death to go along with the day of the dead gallery that we
were donating these posters to. Unfortunately I wasnt able to read all of the different posters that
my fellow classmates had created but it was an interesting experience to see other celebrations
similar to Day of the Dead looked upon death. Most of what we had discovered is that death is
not something to be sad about or to fear, it is a normal part of life and we should celebrate the
life that our loved ones had lived.
My favorite thing that we did as the semester started to come to a close was find a folk
tale and follow it through time, explaining how and why the tale may have changed. Most of
what was said was popular stories that most people know about and it was cool to see where they
originated and how they became the stories that we know and love. This project was my favorite
because I love fairy tales, and I always have. Learning more about where they originated from
was such an amazing experience and I loved every minute of it. Like I had said before, this
project was what I had expected what we were going to only be learning about in the class and I
was pleasantly surprised that it wasnt.
The last big thing that we had to work on over the semester was a field note journal. This
helped encourage students to take what they had learned about folklore and go out to two
different local festivals. At these festivals we had to write down notes of the different feelings
about the place by describing the people, the items, and some of the traditions that they had

there. It was because of this assignment that I was able to step back from the festivals that I had
gone to since I was a child and think of them in a different way they I had ever done before.
Overall this class was a ton of fun, and I had learned a lot from both the teacher and from
some of the other students. It was a very interactive class with one another and everyone had the
chance to share their thoughts and what they had believed. We had created a bond together in that
class and I am so sad to see that coming to an end. I loved having this class, and I loved learning
new things and being proved wrong. This class was a huge eye opener and I would take it again
if I had to.

Representation of Coursework:
Rites of Passage presentation:
Show video of African naming ceremony.
Singing and dancing with village
Wait 8 days before naming ceremony to make sure baby will live.
Killing of the goat to distract spirits while name is whispered into babys ear.
Name is very special/ connected to the soul
Father or chief names baby
Baby wont be put down for 3 months, unclean
Show roots video of being named.

Day of the Dead:

Lemuralia
By Celeste Graham and Madison Jaques
In Rome, the festival for honoring the dead was called Lemuralia, which can be traced
back of the founding of Rome. The Lemuralia festival would take place on three different days in
May, the ninth, the eleventh, and the thirteenth. During these days, Roman householders would
give offerings to their deceased ancestors. They would do this to make sure that their angry
grandparents wouldnt haunt them.
To celebrate Lemuria, you have to remove your shoes, and anything with knots. This
allows natural forces to flow properly. You must then walk around in your bare feet and make a
sign to ward off evil, a gesture that is called mano fica. The next step is to scrub down in fresh
water and throw black beans over your shoulder, or place the beans in your mouth and spit them
out over your shoulder, looking away and repeat These I cast; with these beans I redeem me and
mine nine times. By throwing away the beans, you remove potentially dangerous spirits from
your home. Next, you must wash yourself and bang together pieces of bronze from Italy. You
must then ask the shades to leave your home, repeating Ghost of my fathers, go forth! nine
times. This completes the ritual.
Rituals like this negotiate with the dead. They arent a type of magic to ward off negative
influences. The ghosts and spirits are often seen as venerable souls of the past, that will not harm
you if you observe certain rites. They are not always inherently evil. Lemuralia was a way to rid
the house of many different kinds of gods and spirits all at once.

Interpreting Folklore Presentation:

Scottish Folktale

Main three characters are all female.

Men are gone hunting throughout most of the story.

Probably told by women for women.

Was first written down by Joseph Jacobs in the early 20th century

Joseph traveled the world in search of stories for him to collect.

Published several books before he died in 1916

Nationalism
Magic Trout in a well
Evil Mother wanted to eat Gold Trees Heart and Liver
The King married his daughter to a nearby prince and gave the Queen an animal heart

and liver.
1 year later the Queen found out the truth and visits her daughter.
Gold tree locks herself up in a room but her mother tricked her into poking a finger out
then stabbed it with a poison object.

Prince preserves Gold Tree in the room and gets remarried.

2nd Wife finds Gold Tree in locked room and pulls out the stab which causes her to wake
up again.

2nd wife offers to leave but Prince insists she stay

Silver Tree comes back with a poison drink but 2nd wife tricks her into drinking it and
together Gold Tree and the 2nd wife burry Silver Trees dead corpse and live long
peaceful lives with the prince.
Texture
Dark
Own mother wants to kill her
Greedy
2nd wife kills Silver tree
Feminist
Main characters are female
Teaches that beauty is the only thing a women has

19th Century Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

National identity for children.

No polygamy, Step Mother vs Mother, and the Queen dies from an illness

They show that all a woman has is her beauty and if they arent beautiful that they we be
worth less than they already are.

More male characters are introduced and are constantly the ones that save Snow White

Age 7 was introduced

The Evil Queen was her stepmother and not her biological mother

Magic Mirror vs Magic Trout

Hunter and Dwarfs first introduced

Similar story to Goldilocks and the three bears when Snow White arrives at the dwarfs
cottage.
Queen dresses in disguise 3 times to kill her
Laces too tight
Poison Comb
Poison Apple
Share two halves of the apple
Dead for 3 days rather than 1 year
Prince woke her up by moving her coffin after paying the dwarves for her.
Marries Prince to be safe

Queen dies from seeing Snow White still alive

Texture
o Dark

Stepmother want to kill her

Almost killed four times

o Men Reliant

Adds dwarfs and huntsman

Dwarfs take care of her

Disobeys dwarfs and gets hurt

o Not a love story

Dwarfs save her from the queen more times than the prince

Prince bought her from dwarfs to look at

Waking her up from the poison apple was an accident

No true loves kiss

This version was created by Walt Disney, loosely basing is off of the Grimm Brothers
Little Snow White (1812).

The film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was released in 1937, 125 years after the
Grimm Brothers released their version of the tale.
For little children
uses songs to tell a story
The dwarfs are given names, instead of numbers
Was the first full length animated film.
Women were seen as the damsel in distress, waiting for their prince to come. Someday
my prince will come.

Snow White is tormented by her evil stepmother, the Queen

The Queen is jealous of Snow White because she is the fairest of them all

Snow White is singing into the well and meets the Prince

The Queen is so jealous of Snow White that she hires a huntsman to kill her so that she
may be the fairest of them all

The Huntsman shows kindness to Snow White and lets her life, killing a deer to try and
fool the Queen that Snow White was dead.

Snow White, afraid, runs into the woods to hide.

While in the woods, she finds a cottage. The cottage is home to seven dwarfs, Doc,

Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, and Dopey.

The dwarfs come to love their new visitor, and let her stay. She cleans the house and
cooks meals for them.
When the Queen discovers Snow White is still alive, she makes a plan to get rid of her.
The Queen disguises herself as an old hag and creates a poison apple to give to Snow
White.
The Queen takes the poison apple to the dwarfs cottage, where Snow White has been
staying.

The Queen offers Snow White the apple. Not knowing the apple is poisoned, Snow White
takes a bite, and falls into a coma.

The dwarves discover what happened and rush home from the mines they were working
in.

The dwarfs track down the Queen, which is followed by a short fight. The fight ends by
the Queen falling off a cliff, dying.

The dwarfs build Snow White a casket made of glass for her to rest, believing she is dead.

The Prince finds Snow White and kisses her, causing her to wake up. The dwarfs dance
with joy and Snow White and the Prince go and live in the castle together.

Texture
o Songs
The flowing melody of the tunes and lyrics
o Facial expressions

 Very little technology to create extravagant facial

expressions
Simple
o Sounds
Dark
Happy
sad
o Tone
Dark
Joyful
Romantic

Bibliography:
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2011. Web. 25 Sept. 2016

"Gambia Rite of Passage." Gambia Rite of Passage. Gambia Information Site, n.d. Web.
25 Sept. 2016.
Haley, Alex. Roots:. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976. Print.
Carly Silver Ancient/Classical History Expert. "Lemuria: Ancient Roman Day of the
Dead." About.com Education. N.p., 2014. Web. 07 Oct. 2016.
"Lemuria." Hhh-stic.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2016.

"SurLaLune Fairy Tales: More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs." SurLaLune Fairy
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Home - School of Communication and Information - Rutgers University. N.p., n.d. Web.
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Grimm. Grimm's Fairy Tales. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2012. Print.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. By Walt Disney, David Hand, Perce Pearce, Larry
Morey, William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Ben Sharpsteen, Hamilton S. Luske, Vladimir
Tytla, Fred Moore, Norm Ferguson, Ted Sears, Otto Englander, Earl Hurd, Dorothy Ann
Blank, Richard Creedon, Dick Rickard, Merrill De Maris, Webb Smith, Albert Hurter, Joe
Grant, Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline, Paul J. Smith, Eric Larson, James Algar, Al
Eugster, Grim Natwick, and Jimmie Culhane. N.p., n.d. Web.

"Jacobs, Joseph, 1854-1916." Library of Congress Authorities. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov.
2016.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "Snow White's Stepmother in Grimms' Fairy Tales."

Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 2008. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.

Sleeping Beauty PowerPoint