AA Thesis Proposal

For my paper I was thinking about writing on how Maguire twists fairy tales around so that they’re from the evil character’s perspective. His books range from a book about the story of the Ugly Stepsisters to the story if the Wicked Witch of the west. His books give you a different perspective on original fairytales, and it almost makes you feel sorry for the evil characters because they have had such a hard life and it makes you realize that it is a big reason for them turning into the bad guys in the story. I mean all our lives we are told the classic story of Cinderella in her rags doing house work and then marrying the prince and then there’s Dorothy with her red slippers and meeting the Wizard and then finding a way home. These are the classic fairytales we have been told since we were young, but what if this was twisted around? What if you heard the evil characters side? Would you feel bad for them and would it change you’re opinion on the stories and them?
Those are the types of questions that go through my mind when I am reading the books and the way he writes these books you can definitely picture the characters having a life like that, because he writes it in a convincing way. I still have to think about a good thesis for this topic, but I think it would make an interesting paper and I could probably take some of these questions that I put forward and make them into a thesis by combining them in some way. Some things I could talk about is how he twists these fairy tales, some examples from the books as to how he writes about these evil characters pasts in a convincing way, I could give my own personal experience from reading this book and I could also give other peoples experiences of what they thought when they read this book. As far as sources go I would probably benefit the most from reading book reviews and literary criticism’s, because those tend to be peoples opinions on books or people trying to convince you of a point. I think that I could find some good book reviews or literary criticism that talk about this idea of twisting the fairy tale and how people reacted.
A challenge that I see is I might have a bit of trouble on finding people who had the same reaction as I did in literary criticism’s and in book reviews. So it might get hard to make the paper if I don’t have a lot of examples. I might have a bit of trouble writing the full ten page paper, but I think if I take the time to put a lot of effort into it and think about it a lot I can get it done. I think my next step is to try mapping out this idea and see how much I would have to write about. If for some reason it looks like I won’t have enough then I will have to pick something else to write on and I do have another good idea in mind if this one looks like it won’t work out.

Blog # 7

Since my last post I have started reading Wicked. I have read a good amount of it I am on a chapter called Geographies or the Seen and the Unseen, which is the sixth chapter, and I am on page 38. The book starts out talking about the Wicked Witch of the West’s parents who are Frex and Melena. Melena and her husband are thinking that they are going to have a boy, but they end up having a girl and she has a green face. They decide to name her Elphaba, and both parents are disappointed about her face being green. They try to get rid of it through different methods, but they have no such luck. Elphaba is a very interesting baby she has sharp teeth and likes to bite things and she does not like water.
As far as the paper goes I am thinking of two ideas right now. The first idea is writing a paper about symbolism and talking about how the symbolism has a deeper meaning and does not just stand for flowers or being descriptive. For example as I talked about in a earlier post the flowers in Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister not only stood for beauty I thought, but I thought they also stood for freedom. Its what made Iris and Ruth feel good and feel free from being kept inside with the painter and for Clara it stood for getting a sense of the outside world and being free from being looked in her room. Also the idea of a changeling child stands for in real life someone with a disability or someone who is mentally challenged and how parents guard them and want special attention for them. I have not noticed too much symbolism in Wicked, but I have realized that this clock that is coming up could stand for something more. On page 16 to the top of 17 Gregory Maguire says
He wouldn’t move, so he was bundled unceremoniously from his perch. The dwarf gave a poetic welcome. ‘All our lives are activity without meaning; we burrow rat like into life and we squirm rat like through it and rat like we are flung into our graves at the end. Now and then, why shouldn’t we hear a voice of prophecy, or see a miracle play? Beneath the apparent sham and indignity of our rat like lives, a humble pattern and meaning still applies! Come nearer, my good people, and watch what a little extra knowledge augurs for our lives! The Time Dragon sees before and beyond and within the truth of your sorry span of years here! Look at what it shows you!’ The crowd pushed forward. The moon had risen, its light like the eye of an angry, vengeful god. ‘Give over, let me go’, Frex called; it was worse then he had thought. He had never been manhandled by his own congregation
This Dragon clock is not really a clock it has a dragon on top and then it has a painted on clock. Then at certain times there are people that put on a puppet show which is the person talking in that block quote. The dragon clock reminds me of a dictator or president how they in a way hypnotize people and try to get people to believe stuff that they say and how it’s a good thing. Just like this clock some people are inspired and get drawn in when a dictator or president is talking and can’t take there eyes off and are under that persons control, but I need to pay attention and start thinking of some more symbols in this second book, because right now I just have a lot of ideas for the first book. So maybe a thesis could be Gregory Maguire uses a lot of symbolism in his books that stand for deeper meanings. It ranges from flowers meaning freedom to a clock meaning a dictator and then go on to prove this and why I think that.
The second idea I had was to talk about how Gregory Maguire twists these common known fairytales and peoples reactions. In these books he focuses on the villains and there lives before they met the main characters, like the evil stepsisters before they met Cinderella and their story and the wicked witch before she met Dorothy and her story. These villains have had really bad pasts and it makes you feel sorry for them in from the way Gregory writes it, because from his view he is writing about them and how they had a bad past. In Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister the sisters are first working for a painter and they don’t have much freedom and then they go on to live with this family where they are stuck inside and Iris has to teach Clara english and try to get her to come out more. In Wicked the witch is born with a green face and the parents think she was cursed. On page 27 the Nanny say ‘Well…’ “Nanny asked practically, ‘if through a curse the goods were damaged, then through what might the ill be overturned.’ They think that she is cursed and the dad gets used to it, but the mother hasn’t really and does not pay much attention to the daughter and it makes you feel bad for her. I mean yes she is not such a good child and she bites things, but if her parents paid a bit more attention to her maybe she would be friendlier. So a thesis could be something about how all our lives we watch these movies and are taught to hate the villains, but what if they did really have a bad past like this and does it make you feel different about them? I could look up other peoples reactions to the books and see if they felt the same way as me, but also be persuasive in the paper and prove to people how this manipulates you’re thinking on the characters and how you can start to feel sorry for them in a way.

Blog # 6

Since my last post I have read two more chapters which are Rue, Sage, Thyme and Temper and Reception and I am now up to page 123. In this first chapter the master ahs finally finished his painting of Clara. Iris, Ruth and Margerethe are getting ready for a dinner party that Van Der Meer is throwing. And Clara is upset because she does not want to go to this dinner party. In the second chapter they are done setting up for the dinner party and the dinner party starts. The master shows everyone his masterpiece and then Iris goes to get Clara to come down to the dinner party and to see her painting.
The paintings I think might have some symbolism in them. The master’s paintings are always so perfect, so maybe they are representing in a way what people can never have a perfect life no matter what they do. You can have lots of money and fame, but you still might not be happy. Paintings are the closest sometimes people can get to having a perfect life, because in paintings all the details and strokes are done beautifully and if the person is a good painter then there are no flaws in the painting. I have also noticed that flowers keep getting mentioned through out the book. I think that the flowers could also stand for beauty. In Clara’s painting there are tulips drawn in and then for the party tulips are used brought for the merchants to make the room prettier. Other then that I have not really noticed any other symbolism in the book.

blog # 5

Since my last post I have read another chapter of my book and I am now up to page 109. I realize that I am pretty far behind, because I am still on my first book, but I am going try and do a whole bunch of reading over the weekend and hopefully by Tuesday I will either be done with the book or really close to being done. This chapter that I finished was really short and it was about the master and his painting. The master who Iris and her family were staying with has been working on a portrait of Clara and in this chapter he is finishing it up and there is a lot of talk about the style of the painting and what is going on in the painting. Unfortunately since I have not started my second book I cannot really answer the prompt question, but as soon as I start my next book I will answer the prompt question. I would assume though that there is going to be a lot of show not tell detail like in this book in the second one.

Blog # 4

Since my last post I have read one more chapter called The Small Room Outside and I am now up to page 98 at a chapter called Small Oils. In this chapter Iris and her family have finally settled into the Van Den Meer house. Iris is trying to find a way to get Clara to come out and hang out with her so that she can teach Clara English. Iris starts talking to her sister Ruth about the gypsy queen and since Clara believes she is a changeling she is interested by this and comes down to see Iris and her sister. The rest of the chapter is about Iris, Ruth and Clara in the garden talking and Iris finding out information about Clara. Maguire uses a lot of show don’t tell detail which I really like and could help with writing the paper. I could talk about how he instead of saying something like the grass is green would say something like the grass was vibrant with different colors. He also uses a mixture of big and small words to get a point across which I find interesting.
I think the idea of a changeling kid has to do with some symbolism in the book. I have noticed that the word keeps coming up a lot through out the book. The changeling I think stands for a kid that we would in real life call special or have a disability. For example someone who maybe does not learn as fast as someone else or has a disability like has a speech impediment or is handicapped. Just from clues from the reading I get the idea that it relates to some one that has a disability whether it’s a big one or small one.
I think the flowers might also have some symbolism to them, because when the family was living with the painter they would pick flowers everyday and at the Van Den Meer’s Clara wants to show them her flowers. I think from the way that they are mentioned that the flowers could stand for freedom and the life beyond closed doors. When iris and her family are living with the painter they are almost like prisoners, because they cannot roam in the city or really leave the house. So when Iris and her sister Ruth are set to get flowers in the field, they are free from the house and get a sense of some freedom away from everything in the field. With Clara, because she is considered a changeling she has to stay in her house. So when she gets to go out side and pick flowers and smell them its like her freedom from the house and gives her a sense of the world outside of her house.

Blog # 3

The book Confessions of an ugly stepsister, which I am reading first, is very long. So unfortunately I am not quite halfway through the book, but I am a good chunk of the way through it. I am not quite sure exactly what my thesis will be, but I was thinking maybe something like how people react when they read a book that is put in another perspective that they did not thin of them selves. This would apply to all the books and I could use my own personal experience of reading it to help me with this thesis idea. I am still however going to think of other ideas as I read further in this book and then start my next book.

Block quote from Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

Screeeee-an airborne alarm. Seagulls make arabesques
near the front of the church, being kept from the fish tables
by a couple of tired, zealous dogs. The public space is cold
from the ocean wind, but it is lit rosy and golden, from sun
on brick and stone. Anything might happen here, thinks the
younger girl. Anything! Even, maybe, something good(Maguire, p. 5-6)

Maguire uses show not tell detail in this book. Instead of just saying the seagulls fly around he says “Seagulls make arabesques near the front of the church”(p.5).So far he has done this on every page that I have read. He really adds a lot of detail to the story which makes it come to life which I am really enjoying. For example he says “The public space is cold from the ocean wind, but it is lit rosy and golden, from sun on brick and stone”(p.6). He could have just said the public space was pretty or lit nice, but that would have made it boring. I can tell that he likes to make his writing engaging so that people can get into it. He also uses a mix of big words like arabesques and then little words like sun or lit.
I just started the first chapter of Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. So far it is interesting. From what I read its just introducing the characters. There is Iris and her sister Ruth and then there mother Margarthe. They have just moved from where they lived. I have not noticed much yet about symbolism because I have not read that much yet, but like I said I do like how he uses a lot of show not tell detail.