Thursday, October 20, 2016
Question to Consider: Hansel and Gretel
Recently, we have been exploring the double-function of storytelling to teach and entertain. What do you think "Hansel and Gretel" is trying to teach us? Write an analytical paragraph in which you explore this question. As always, be sure that you support your ideas with evidence from the text. Also, continue to practice varying your sentence structure (i.e. including dependent and independent clauses).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRecently we have been discussing the double-function of stories, one of their functions being to entertain and the other to teach. I strongly believe that this idea of a double-function is apparent in all stories, including that of Hansel and Gretel. Aside from being entertaining and action packed, this story is also filled with teaching moments and morals. After I finished reading this classic fairy tale, my immediate take-away was the importance of teamwork, sticking together, and never giving up. It is because Hansel and Gretel stick together, convincing each other not to lose hope, that they survive the terrors of the witch. The reader is exposed to various examples of this throughout the tale. On page 75-77 it says, "Together they set out on the path into the forest...Gretel shared her bread with Hansel, who had used up his bread when he scattered crumbs on the path." Instead of splitting up, the children care and look out for each other. Hansel gives up his bread crumbs for their survival, and in return Gretel shares her bread with him, rather than letting him starve. The children would likely have perished if it wasn't for their commitment to teamwork. Anther example of this is on page 83-84: "Gretel gave her a big shove that sent her sprawling. Then she shut the iron door and bolted it...Gretel ran straight to Hansel, opened the door to the little shed, and shouted..." Gretel realizes that she has to kill the witch in order to save herself and her brother. Not only does this little girl get rid of the witch, but she also immediately runs to save Hansel, setting him free. Together Hansel and Gretel survive the lonely nights in the forest and the witch's house. Without their determination and steadfast teamwork, they would never have prevailed, let alone live happily ever after with their father. Teamwork is clearly apparent in this incredible double-function story.
ReplyDeleteWhile one of the functions of this story is to entertain, this story teaches many core morals a good person should have. One of the morals the story teaches is doing the right thing. For example, Hansel and Gretel's father refuses to put the children deep into the woods despite his wife begging him to. On page 74 their father says"But still, I feel sorry for the poor children." He is speaking up for t he children and not letting this go. He also says "I don't have the heart to leave the children all alone in the woods." This shows he stands by his morals and what he believes. Another lesson that is prominent in the story is the idea of pushing through. Despite the fact that everything is against Hansel and Gretel, they still push on. Their evil mother wants to kill them, and also the witch. Hansel and Gretel continue to outsmart everything that gets in their way. "Hansel stooped down to pick them up and put as many as would fit into his jacket pocket." Hansel overheard his parents and planned ahead, he outsmarted his parents and let him and his sister to safety. In conclusion, the classic story has taught various morals to a bevy of people throughout the years.
ReplyDeleteClearly, Hansel and Gretel is an entertaining fairy tale, but it also contains lessons to teach, and morals to learn from. Mostly, It shows that working together has benefits. Hansel and Gretel work together to make it back home, and to escape from the wicked witch. At the bottom of page 77, it says that Hansel scattered his bread crumbs leading back to the house. Hansel then shared her bread, and they ended up working together. Although this didn't work, it lead to their success in the long run. Also on page 83, Gretel tricks the witch into getting into the oven and she traps her in. She immediately rescues Hansel and they escape back home. With Hansel having her feel the bone, and Gretel trapping the witch in the oven, they both put in their efforts and ended up escaping. Although this is the main moral in my opinion, there are definitely others. For example, the two people that die are the witch and the wife. These are the two people who are the most evil. This demonstrates that the author is trying to show that being nice to others pays off. To sum it all up, there is a lot you can learn from just a classic fairy tail such as this one.
ReplyDeleteThe story of "Hansel and Gretel" is trying to teach us many things, but there are three main ideas. These ideas are trust, good parenting, and don't judege a book by its cover. All theses ideas are very abundant in everyday life and will help us in future dilemmas and adventures.
ReplyDeleteTrust is the key to success and failure. "Hansel and Grettle" is teaching us that you should trust in people, but don't trust in anyone. For example, Grettle was able to survive because she trusted in Hansels plans and senses, but on the other hand the kids trusted in the old lady who actually was evil and turned on them. Trust is very important. In life you must know who to trust and not trust.
Parenting has become a big topic in our society, but nothing addresses the topic better than the story if Hansel and Grettle. Basically the story tells us that we shouldn't just leave kids in the middle of the forest. Though this may sound funny and straight forward there is kind of a more metephorical meaning to this lesson. It means that even if your kids are dragging you down and struggling that you should never give up on them. Kids are the next generation so they must be treated in a way so that when they grow up they can make the world a better place.
"Never judge a book by its cover." This saying is used in many ways, but I think that the story of Hansel and Grettle addresses one of the most important kind of covers, a persons looks. People judge others by their looks all the time. Are brain is wired to see someone and make assumptions and label them for their looks. Hansel and Gretel shows that when we do this it can ultimately hurt us. They address this by making the which look like a nice old women who lives in a house made of candy. These are things that normally symbol a good person, but the story proves us wrong when the nice old lady try's to eat the kids. Though this may be a little extreme, it is a very common issue that we must pay attention to and try to avoid.
I think that the story Hansel and Gretel is both trying to teach and entertain. The entertaining parts were mainly the parts where Hansel and Gretel's parents were trying to abandon them in the woods. Regardless of their fear, they outsmarted their parents and came home. Another entertaining part was when their stepmother was dead when they came home at the end. Instead of having to confront their evil stepmother, she's just dead. The story doesn't feel a need to elaborate, it's just happily ever after. Also, this story tries to teach us. One thing it teaches is problem solving. While most kids, after hearing their parents plotting to abandon them, would just cry, Hansel and Gretel came up with a plan to make it back home. Another lesson it teaches (while using humor) is not to go into candy houses, and more generally, to not trust strangers, who might be trying to eat or hurt you. I find that Hansel and Gretel is the perfect example of how stories can teach you, while at the same time be entertaining enough to keep you reading them.
ReplyDeleteThis story is teaches the readers a lesson as well as entertaining them. The lessons that I learned where, do not trust strangers and teamwork is the key to getting out of a bad situation. On page 81, Hansel and Gretel get to the wicked witch’s house, they are greeted with an overly nice and creepy invitation to come into the house, “Well, dear little children. How in the world did you get here? Just come right in. You can stay with me, and no harm will come to you in my house.” As a reader, I saw a red flag in the situation, but since Hansel and Gretel are little and lost they probably didn’t think of the invitation as weird or sketchy. Later on the same page it reads, “The old woman had only pretended to be kind. She was really a wicked witch, who waylaid little children and had built the house of bread just to get them inside. As soon as a child fell into her hands, she killed it, cooked it, and ate it.” The children had been tricked into thinking that they were safe, but really they were just going to get eaten by a wicked witch. Hansel and Gretel had already gotten themselves out of a bad situation before by leaving a trail of pebbles, but when they end up trapped in the witch’s house they have to work together to be free. On page 83, the witch is checking how fat Hansel is getting without knowing that Hansel is tricking her, “Hansel would stick a little bone through the bars, and the old woman, who had poor eyesight, believed that it was Hansel’s finger and couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t putting on weight.” Hansel was using the witch’s poor eyesight to delay his death as well as letting Gretel have more time to think way to get both out. Then on page 83 again, the witch is trying to get Gretel to climb into the oven. “ ‘There’s enough room. Just look, I can get in,’ and she scrambled over to the oven and stuck her head in. Gretel gave her a big shove that sent her sprawling. Then she shut the iron door, and bolted it.” Gretel was able to trick the witch into getting in the oven, which killed her. Together Hansel and Gretel were able to get themselves out by using teamwork.
ReplyDeleteI think that the children's tale of Hansel and Gretel demonstrates and teaches the reader many important lessons. The story teaches not to trust strangers, things aren't always what they seem and sometimes things are in fact too good to be true. When the children come upon the wonder of the witch's house and find it is made out of various sweets, they do not think twice about what is in front of them. Once again, when the witch greets the children and offers them food and a home, they do not second guess the situation. However, the true purpose of the candy house and kindness of the witch are quickly revealed. This part of the fairy tale suggests that one should not trust strangers and that not everything that is sweet is good (i.e. sometimes things are too good to be true). Additionally, the story of Hansel and Gretel teaches the importance of taking care of one another and thinking quickly. The children make it out of the witch's house and back to their father because they never stopped having each other's backs and problem solving. Hansel first demonstrates these two lessons by taking pebbles, and then bread crumbs, to lead a trail back home. He repeatedly comforts Gretel and ensures her that things will be okay. Then, once Hansel is trapped by the witch it is Gretel's turn to repay the favor. Gretel demonstrates her wits when she tricks the witch into going into the oven and then shuts the door. She then precedes to get Hansel out of the shed and they make their way back home together. This story clearly represented the importance of problem solving/quick thinking, looking out for each other, not trusting strangers, and that things aren't always what they seem. The children in this tale were persistent and never gave up in helping one another and in the end their team work and smarts saved them.
ReplyDeleteSome ideas/morals Hansel and Gretel could be interpreted as trying to teach us would be the downsides of material greed and prejudice/when to take things at face value. When Hansel and Gretel eat from the candy house, they don't stop to think and become quite greedy, "eating without being in the least distracted" and allow this to trump forethought. This greed and/or gullibility also leads them into the witch's house, as she promises them more food. This part of the story teaches that material greed is only material, and can have (sometimes fatal) repercussions.
ReplyDeleteAnother idea this story teaches is about judgement. Hansel and Gretel seem to judge many things by their face value, for example, following the "beautiful bird…singing so sweetly". This is not always the right thing to do, as the story shows. On the other hand, by the end of the story they are not so prejudiced against how birds have treated them in the past that they refuse the help of the white duck. Instead, they remain open-minded and ask the duck for help. Hansel and Gretel teaches not to judge by face value nor to judge entirely by past experience (and remain open-minded).