Read the excerpt from "How the Grimm Brothers Saved the Fairy Tale."What compelled the Grimms to concentrate on old German epics, tales, and literature was a belief that the most natural and pure forms of culture—those which held the community together—were linguistic and based in history. According to them, modern literature, even though it might be remarkably rich, was artificial and thus could not express the genuine essence of Volk culture that emanated naturally from experience and bound the people together. Therefore, all their efforts went toward uncovering stories from the past.
Read the excerpt from "How the Grimm Brothers Saved the Fairy Tale."Turning to the tales of the first edition, a reader might notice that many of the stories such as "The Hand with the Knife,” "How Some Children Played at Slaughtering,” and "The Children of Famine,” have nothing to do with fairies or happy endings. Instead, these are stark narratives about brutal living conditions in the nineteenth century. For instance, "The Children of Famine” begins this way:Once upon a time there was a woman with two daughters, and they had become so poor that they no longer had even a piece of bread to put in their mouths. Their hunger became so great that their mother became unhinged and desperate. Indeed, she said to her children, "I’ve got to kill you so that I can get something to eat.”
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Read the excerpt from "How the Grimm Brothers Saved the Fairy Tale."All of the tales in the first edition bear the marks of their diverse storytellers who believed in the magic, superstitions, and miraculous transformations of the tales. It may be difficult for us to understand why this is the case, but for the storytellers and writers of these tales, the stories contained truths about the living conditions of their times. The tales in the first edition were collected not from peasants, as is commonly believed, but mainly from literate people whom the Grimms came to know quite well. Evidence shows that these people often obtained their tales from illiterate or anonymous informants. Even if they did not know their informants, the Grimms came to trust almost everyone who contributed to their collection. It is this mutual trust that marks the tales as something special and endows them with a certain humanity, what Germans call Menschlichkeit, and it is this mutual trust among folklorists in the nineteenth century that marks it as the golden age of folk and fairy tales. The tales in the first edition set a certain standard that collectors began to follow and still follow even today.
Read the excerpt from an essay about fairy tales.The Grimms’ fairy tales address the experiences of people who are living in difficult situations. For example, there is the story of Rapunzel. There is also the story of Hansel and Gretel, who had to escape their house in order to find food and were locked out.Which revision would best help the author support the thesis more effectively?
Read the excerpt from "How the Grimm Brothers Saved the Fairy Tale."When Jacob (b. 1785) and Wilhelm (b. 1786) began collecting folk tales and songs at the beginning of the nineteenth century, they were precocious students at the University of Marburg, still in their teens. They grew up quite fast, plagued by money problems and caring for their siblings—their father died in 1796, leaving the once middle-class family in poverty. Their situation was further aggravated by the rampant Napoleonic Wars. Jacob interrupted his studies to serve the Hessian War Commission, although Wilhelm passed his law exams and found work as a low-paid librarian in the royal library. In 1807, Jacob lost his position with the War Commission, when the French occupied Kassel, but he was then hired as a librarian for the new King Jérome, Napoleon’s brother, who now ruled Westphalia. Amidst all the upheavals, their mother died in 1808, and Jacob and Wilhelm became fully responsible for their three younger brothers and sister.
Yael is writing an essay about the development of folk tales. Read the excerpt from her essay.Every culture throughout time has had its own folk tales, which were first transmitted from person to person with the technology available at the time. Folk tales began as an oral tradition. With the invention of written language, folk tales were recorded by community scribes, until 1450, when the printing press was invented. The result was a wider distribution of folk tales, which were collected in books.
Read the excerpt from "How the Grimm Brothers Saved the Fairy Tale."In contrast to the final 1857 edition, most of the tales in the first edition are shorter and sparser. They have a rawness that was later to be refined. For example, "Rapunzel” is embellished a great deal in the final edition:First EditionOnce upon a time there lived a husband and wife who had been wishing for a child for many years, but it had all been in vain. Finally, the woman became pregnant.Now, in the back of their house the couple had a small window that overlooked a fairy’s garden filled with all kinds of flowers and herbs. But nobody ever dared to enter it.Seventh EditionOnce upon a time there was a husband and wife who for quite some time had been wishing in vain for a child. Finally, the dear Lord gave the wife a sign of hope that their wish would be fulfilled. Now, in the back of their house the couple had a small window that overlooked a splendid garden filled with the most beautiful flowers and herbs. The garden, however, was surrounded by a high wall, and nobody dared enter it because it belonged to a sorceress, who was very powerful and feared by all.
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