Poetry hints

Can you identify the fairy tale references in this poem by Anne Caston:

Prelude  by Anne Caston

Every tree is one tree. That tree
grows in every forest, that forest always
dark and deep, always lying precisely
at the edge of every village everywhere.
Be there lost children, you will
have abandoned them there with a sack
of breadcrumbs; you will have filled
the trees with hungry birds.
Be there a huntsman, you
will have honed the hidden
blade he carries and sent him
in search of a girl’s heart.
Monsters, wolves or witches,
they are yours. Destroying angels,
devils, a crooked mirror on the wall, one
ripe bite of fruit lodged in a throat: yours.
The paralyzing poison. Drifting
snow. A wall of thorns. A coat of nettles.
Likewise, all extinctions. You have
traveled the deep Nothing to arrive here.
It is time.
Sleeper; waken.
Look: there. A tree.
What are you waiting for?
Find a grove of trees, enter it, close your eyes and listen…

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Story Prompt

Use this image to create a fairy tale to share with others…  we will do this in class

dragon-image

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Let’s get started with fairy tales

If you were to craft your own folk/fairy tale, who would you make as your main character and why?

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Welcome to the SJNY Freshman Seminar on Fairy and Folk Tales

fairy-talesWe all recall the fairy tales that entranced us when we were young… and maybe still do.  Before they were called “fairy tales,” they were folk tales.  Where do fairy tales come from?  What makes a story a “fairy tale?”  How are they related to myths, if they are?

In our freshmen seminar and on this site, we will explore how fairy and folk tales captivate our imaginations, their history, their meaning and the many ways that scholars have attempted to “tame” them and unpack their influence on us.  Welcome!

What fascinates you most about these kinds of tales?

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Welcome to the world of fairy tales

Fairy Tales are both completely familiar and mysteriously alien.  Most of us grow up hearing the stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast and there are many films and TV shows which can capitalized on our love of these stories.  While we tend to relegate them to “children’s literature” these stories were originally told within the family circle as entertainment for all ages or written down in versions which clearly were intended for adults, not kids.

One of the most important goals of education is to encourage us to question, examine, reflect on what seems obvious but as we explore it carefully, not so much.  Education is essentially regaining our childhood talent at questioning for meaning.  This site is connected to a freshman seminar course at St. Joseph’s University in New York where first year college students will share in a collaborative adventure in inquiry.  In exploring fairy tales and their interpretations we will range through psychology, history, sociology, philosophy, literature, and education.  Join us as our website develops over the next couple of months.

Dr. W. C. Turgeon
June 2025

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Philosophy and Fairy Tales

I found this excellent Prezi on philosophy and Fairy tales.  Kudos go out to Belinda Tamrakar.

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