Story Lab: TvTropes

For this week's story lab I chose to explore the TVtropes website. The writer described a trope as, 'a storytelling device or convention, a shortcut for describing situations the storyteller can reasonably assume the audience will recognize.' Comedy and Horror are my favorite genres, so i wanted to look at the tropes found in those stories. Coincidentally, there was a link that included both comedy and horror. The writers pointed out that movies/stories will use comedy in a scary entertainment to break the nervousness with a laugh. I have noticed this in a lot of books I have read. You have to keep the dominant genre more prominent or you risk ruining a scene or the entire story. If you kill of a character in a comedy, then you have to make it a humorous death or it won't make sense with the theme of your show/story. It was interesting to see how writers include tropes in their story and I bet this website could come in handy if you have writer's block!

Image Information: Comedic Horror, Web Source: Max Pixel
Story Lab Web Source: TvTropes

Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm, Part B

I really enjoyed the characters and how they interacted with one another in Bearskin. I can tell Bearskin giving the poor man money for his family will be the good turn of the story. When the sister said the wedding will be great because bears dance well made me giggle, but it was a bit confusing because before that they seemed so concerned for their sister's future marriage. I did not think the sisters deserved to die or have their souls taken.

I thought there could have been more details to help with visualizing the story. This would have been really beneficial when the half-human half-hedgehog was born. The story was sad when the father just wanted the son to die even though he wanted a child so badly. There was a comical feeling to the story, especially if you consider this sentence, "Hans the Hedgehog, however, looked after his asses and pigs, and was always merry, and sat on the tree, and played his bagpipes." I am glad Hans the Hedgehog ended up happy in his own body and found love.

Image Information: European Hedgehog, Web Source: Wikimedia
Bibliography: Household Tales by Jacob Grimm Web Source: Brothers Grimm Unit
 

Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm, Part A

I'm not sure why  but when the married couple referred to each other as 'husband' and 'wife' I felt like the relationship was less personal, or like it was missing love. The description of the forest was very attention grabbing. Normally, the mother has a more protective relationship with children so it is interesting that the father had more remorse for making the children leave home. I find that the units with just a few stories make it easier to be drawn into the story because the characters remain the same. I thought the duck carrying the two children across the water was an excellent addition to the story I am familiar with.

I was surprised when the father gave up Thumb and did not put up much of a fight. The word usage in this story was very creative. "In this little room the windows are forgotten," said he, "and no sun shines in, neither will a candle be brought," was my favorite line. The parents realizing selling their son was a bad idea was a good ending to a long journey.

Allerleirauh contained a plot twist in the beginning of the story. I would have never guessed that the King would want to marry the daughter. I don't see how he can see this as a solution because the mother would be so upset by this. Including the father and daughter relationship before he thought to marry her would have benefited the story.

Image Information: Allerleirauh by Henry Justice Ford, Web Source: Wikipedia

Bibliography: Household Tales by Jacob Grimm Web Source: Brothers Grimm Unit