Transcript Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Ella Enchanted
by Gail Carson Levine
Mary Stec
LIS 403LEB
OUTLINE:
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Beginnings
Literary fairy tale
Levine’s twist on an old tale
Levine’s background
Story analysis
Discussion
Annotated bibliography
Charles Perrault
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Born to a wealthy French family
Well educated
Served King Louis XIV
At age 67 began to write his Tales and
Stories of the Past with Morals
Best know fairy tales: Cinderella, Little Red
Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Puss in Boots
Illustrations by
Gustav Doré
Although tales came from the
common folk, they were adapted
for the wealthy.
Messages
Moral:
Beauty is a treasure rare.
Who complains of being fair?
Yet there’s still a something more
That good fairies have in store.
It’s that little gift called grace,
Weaves a spell round form and face,
Of each word makes magic, too,
Lends a charm to all you do.
This it wasn’t and nothing less
Cinderella’s fairy dress!
And if you would learn the way
How to get that gift today
How to point the golden dart
That shall pierce the Prince’s heart
Ladies, you have but to be
Just as kind and sweet as she!
Representation of
women figures:
“Carol de Dobay Rifelj contends
that they are portrayed as
victims --weak, passive, unable
to defend themselves”
Noted scholars of the
subject:
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Bruno Bettelheim
Jack Zipes
Literary Fairy Tale = written down, static
Folklore
Fairy tales
Myths
Legends
Literary
Oral
“Fairy tales are the original fantasies. These sweepingly romantic sagas and adventures
incorporate magic, enchantments, transformations, quests, tasks, and trials; and
supernatural beings such as witches, ghosts, fairies, giants, and talking animals.”
(NoveList)
Cinderella
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Over a thousand variations of the Cinderella
tale
Plot line gave Levine an idea for an
assignment
New twist – the curse!
“I usually write about issues that trouble me.
In Ella the issue was being too compliant.”
(Cynsations blog)
Gail Carson Levine
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Born September 17, 1947
Creative family
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Father was an artist
Mother wrote plays for her students
Worked in social welfare area for 27 years
Wrote Ella Enchanted as an assignment for a
writing class while commuting to work
Took 9 years to get published
Ella Enchanted Awards (Grades 5-8)
•Newbery Honor Book
•California Young Reader Medal
•Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award
(Vermont)
•Iowa Teen Award
•Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award
•Arizona Young Readers’ Award
•Young Hoosier Book Award (Indiana)
•ALA Notable Children’s Book
•ALA Best Book for Young Adults
•Maine Student Book Award
•Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award
(Illinois)
•ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult
Readers
•ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice
•IRA/CBC Young Adults’ Choice
•Publishers Weekly Best Book
Ella Enchanted Analysis
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Retelling of “Cinderella” with changes made
to Ella’s character
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Wanted to get rid of the “goody-two-shoes”
attitude
Provides an explanation for Cinderella’s meek
behavior in the original story
Extends the plot line to include more events,
especially those prior to how the original
story begins
Ella Enchanted Analysis (Cont.)
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Reason for father’s absence – more realistic
for kids today
Prince is introduced early in the story so
readers get to know him - foreshadowing
Told in first person so we as readers know
her thoughts – we root for her
Suspense
Appealing Features
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HUMOR – “By the time she is a teenager, Ella has
perfected the art of turning any imprecision in a
command back on its giver.” (Kirkus Reviews)
Strong female character – first person narrative
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Bright
Witty
Resourceful
Good versus evil, romance
Internal battle – loving the prince but having to give
him up – Rescues herself as she rescues the prince
Familiar story
Discussion Questions
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Perrault ends his Cinderella with a moral for children. Are the
lessons of Levine’s tale apparent to children even though they
are not listed at the end? What are those lessons?
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to the Literature Resource Center, Levine believes that
she wrote Ella Enchanted as a lesson to herself. She says, “The
meaning of what one writes is rarely transparent. Many people are
cursed with obedience and with attending too much to other
people’s expectations. We are cursed with constraints on our
freedom to act as we wish, even uncertainty about what we wish. I
know I am!”
• Publisher’s Weekly Review offers the only hint of criticism about Ella
Enchanted when stating, “Although the pace of the story flags in spots,
and the author never wholly engages a suspension of disbelief (Ella’s
escapes often come too easily – for example, when she tames ogres
who want to make a meal of her)…” Do you agree with this
assessment? Why or why not?
Bibliography
Bottigheimer, Ruth B. “France’s First Fairy Tales: The Restoration and Rise Narratives of les Facetieuses
Nuictz du Seigneur Francois Straparole.” Marvels & Tales 19.1 (Apr. 2005): 17-32. Expanded Academic
ASAP. Thomson Gale. University of Illinois Urbana, IL. 30 Sept. 2007
<http://find.galegroup.com.proxy2.library.uiuc.edu/itx/start.do?prodId=EAIM>.
This article provided me background knowledge about the history of fairy tales being passed on from wet
nurses to the wealthy. The majority of this article is devoted to following Straparola’s tales from Italy to
France.
“Charles Perrault.” Literature Resource Center. Thomson Gale. University of Illinois Urbana, IL. 30 Sept. 2007
<http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/?db=LitRC>.
Literature Resource Center provided information about Charles Perrault’s writings, background, and critcal
reception. This source also provided a list of further readings about the author, focusing on criticism of his
works.
“Cinderella or The Little Glass Slipper.” Perrault’s Fairy Tales. Classics Illustrated. 30 Sept. 2007
<http://classics-illustrated.com/>.
This website offers Charles Perrault’s text and Gustav Dore’s illustrations for seven of Perrault’s fairy tales.
I used the illustrations along with the moral at the end of the fairy tale.
“Gail Carson Levine.” Harper Collins Children’s Books. 2006. 19 Sept. 2007
<http://www.harperchildrens.com/authorintro/index.asp?authorid=12385>.
Gail Carson Levine’s website provides a biography, book list and summaries, reading guides, author’s
notes and interview. This site is sponsored by her publisher HarperCollins.
Bibliography
Hastings, A. Walter, Dr. “Gail Carson Levine: Ella Enchanted (1997).” Northern State University. 10 Dec. 2005.
Rpt. in Lecture. English 240 Literature for Younger Readers. 10 Dec. 2005. Northern State University. 27
Aug. 2007 <http://www.northern.edu/hastingw/ella.html>.
Information from this site that was helpful was the background about the different approaches used to
“modernize” fairy tales. This site also discussed modifications made to the original fairy tale as well as
noting it as a coming of age tale.
Heiner, Heidi Ann. “What is a Fairy Tale?” SurLaLune Fairy Tales. 2 July 2007. 27 Sept. 2007
<http://www.surlalunefairytales.com>.
This site offers a comprehensive study on the history of fairy tales, studies that have been done about
women and fairy tales, children and fairy tales and Disney and fairy tales. Numerous links are provided to
discussion boards, articles, and books that focus on fairy tales and all of it helped me build background
knowledge.
Judy, Freeman. “Fantasy Versus Realistic Fiction: Teaching Genres to Middle Grade Readers.” NoveList.
EBSCO. Barrington Middle School Prairie Campus Barrington, IL. 19 Sept. 2007
<http://search.ebscohost.com/>.
Freeman describes practical ways to teach students the difference between fantasy and realistic fiction
through booktalking. Specific examples of books to use with grades three to eight will highlight the
particular elements of both genres. I considered these elements while reading Ella Enchanted and
creating this presentation.
Bibliography
Leitich Smith, Cynthia. “Author Update: Gail Carson Levine.” Weblog entry. 2 May 2006. Cynsations. 31 Sept.
2007 <http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2006/05/author-update-gail-carson-levine.html>.
This blog details an interview with Gail Carson Levine just after her new book Fairest was published.
Many of Levine’s comments revolve around how she gets her ideas, the connection between Fairest and
Ella Enchanted and her growth as a writer.
Levine, Gail Carson. Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith. Cynthia Leitich Smith. 2007. 21 Sept. 2007
<http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit_resources/authors/interviews/GailCarsonLevine.html>.
This is the first interview conducted via email between Gail Carson Levine and Cynthia Leitich Smith.
Questions dealing with story ideas, writing research and author’s background are included in this interview.
Rev. of Ella Enchanted. Kirkus Review (Apr. 1997). NoveList. EBSCO. University of Illinois Urbana, IL. 20
Sept. 2007 <http://search.ebscohost.com/>.
The Kirkus Review included a description of Ella’s character that I could not have worded more
accurately. I included this direct quotation in my presentation. This review also supported my own
thoughts about why this book would succeed with young people.
Rev. of Ella Enchanted. Publishers Weekly (Apr. 1998).
This review was actually retrieved through NoveList where several reviews were listed for the book. I
was unable to gather all of the information regarding this source so I have listed what I know. This
review was particularly helpful because it addressed the pacing of the book. I wanted to use this as
part of a discussion question I formed for the group.