COMPLIT 202 : Interpreting Folktales

Arts

2020 Semester Two (1205) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

An introduction to the study and interpretation of folktales. Tales from many cultures will be examined. Contrasting theories on the origins and meaning of folktales will be explored.

Course Overview

 Every society has its stock of traditional stories, passed on orally from one generation to the next, sometimes committed to writing, painting, video, or other semi-permanent media.    These narratives may be roughly divided into "myths", sacred narratives purporting to express truths about the creation of the world, the origins of human mortality and so on, and "folktales", regarded even by members of the social group in which they are told as playful products of collective fantasy yet having "truth value".    Tales such as “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Sleeping Beauty,” best known as children's stories through the Grimm Brothers and Walt Disney, derive from folktales which have been recounted in various versions by oral tellers to audiences of all ages across Eurasia for hundreds (in some cases, thousands) of years.    These stories also use motifs and narrative devices (journey or quest, transformation of humans into animals and back again, magic, subversion of authority, injustice avenged) similar to those found in folktales from cultures elsewhere in the world -- China, Japan, the Caribbean, the Americas, South Asia, West Africa and Polynesia.    This course explores international and regional aspects of folktales and fairy tales.    Are these stories products of culturally specific ways of knowing and feeling, or do they express universal human preoccupations present in the collective unconscious? What are the relations between folktales and other popular narrative forms, e.g., fairy tales, tall tales, ballads and myths? Are folktales formal constructions which are given different meanings by the particular cultures that make, reuse, or preserve them? What are the relations between the rich oral traditions of tale telling and the literary or media narratives which sometimes rely on folktale motifs and forms, for example, superheroes? What do folktale narratives as cultural forms tell us about the making and uses of stories in general?

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: 60 points passed

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: Disciplinary Knowledge and Practice
Capability 2: Critical Thinking
Capability 3: Solution Seeking
Capability 4: Communication and Engagement
Capability 6: Social and Environmental Responsibilities
Graduate Profile: Bachelor of Arts

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Analyse a variety of folktales from different cultures (Capability 1.1 and 6.2)
  2. Understand and critically evaluate the folktales in their historical and cultural contexts (Capability 1.2, 6.1 and 6.2)
  3. Discuss and compare meanings with classmates (Capability 1.3, 2.3 and 4.2)
  4. Critically analyse and compare texts (Capability 2.2, 2.3 and 3.2)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Coursework 10% Individual Coursework
Essay 40% Individual Coursework
In Class Tests (2) 50% Individual Coursework

Next offered

Semester 2, 2020

Learning Resources

 The Classic Fairy Tales. Ed. Maria Tatar. NY/London: W. W. Norton, 1999. ISBN 0-393-97277-1 (pbk).    COMPLIT 202/303 Course Reader, Parts 1 & 2.    A few additional course readings -- folktales and critical materials -- will be posted to the CANVAS course website.    Course text and readers are required and can be purchased through the University Bookstore.    Classic Fairy Tales can be ordered from Book Depository.

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week on each 15 point course that they are enrolled in, including class time and personal study and assignment preparation.

Digital Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against online source material using computerised detection mechanisms.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website at http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Well-being always comes first
We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page (https://canvas.auckland.ac.nz/courses/33894), which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter (https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html).

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Published on 05/07/2020 02:26 p.m.