Key texts and films Themes and Conventions

Cinderella (Disney) A young girl is forced to work for her wicked stepmother and sisters. Thanks to a fairy godmother and some Heroes Usually handsome, strong and male. Usually magical creatures, she attends a ball where she falls in love with a prince. They marry and live happily ever rescue damsels in distress and / or defeat after. monsters.

Cinderella (The Brothers Grimm) A young girl is forced to work for her wicked stepmother and sisters. Thanks to a fairy godmother and some Villains Often motivated by jealousy or greed and magical creatures, she attends a ball where she falls in love with a prince. They marry and live happily ever after. The stepsisters’ eyes are pecked out by a pigeon. take this out on beautiful young people.

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (G. The stepsisters’ only crime is that they weren’t blessed with beauty. They struggled living in the shadow of Help from magical Fairy godmothers, golden geese, talking Maguire) Cinderella’ beauty. One sister helps the prince marry Cinderella whilst the other sister is consumed by creatures household items, animals that can talk, jealousy. mythical creatures, etc.

Hansel and Gretel (The Brothers Starving, a mother and father send their children to fend for themselves. They comes across a Honesty / intelligence Outwitting a villain, rescuing a trapped Grimm / Phillip Pullman) gingerbread cottage and are invited in by a witch disguised as a kindly old woman) who plans to eat them. rewarded princess, successfully completing a test, etc. Gretel tricks the woman into burning alive in the oven; they race back home to their father, their pockets filled with treasures stolen from the witch. Foolishness / evil Placing a curse on somebody, kidnapping a The Company of Wolves (Angela Wolves and werewolves lurk throughout the dreams of young Rosaleen, who imagines she must journey punished princess or young children, etc. Carter through a dark forest to live with her grandmother. When Rosaleen meets a rugged hunter in the woods, she discovers that she has an animal-like attraction to him, leading to a macabre turn of events… Characters transform Beasts and frogs turn into handsome princes, into something better servants transform into beautiful princess The Werewolf (Angela Carter) A twisted take on : Little Red is alarmed to learn her grandmother is a werewolf… and household creatures turn into humans again. The Star-Talers and Other Stories (The Lesser-known fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. Brothers Grimm) Characters marry into Ordinary girls marry handsome princes – royalty their lives are complete! Hurrah! Revolting Rhymes () A collection of humorous ballads based on fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. Characters live happily They enjoy lives filled with comfort, wealth Shrek (Dreamworks) The traditional themes and conventions of fairy tales are turned on their heads in this film. ever after or, above all, their one true love!

analyse analysis atmosphere annotation classic climax communicate comparative connotation contemporary conventions convey demonstrate evaluate fairy tale falling action highlight judgement moral portrayal reflect reverse rising action stereotypes suspense technique tension themes Key vocabulary Conjunctions Relative Clauses Johnny reminded “Take care with your My grandmother (who is ninety-two) is a Subordinating Coordinating us, “Always begin punctuation,” he added. gymnast. a new speaker on so that after For Italy – where pizza is said to have been a new line!” Semi-colons separate two independent unless although invented – is in Europe. clauses until as And The vases, which were antiques, were A whale is not a fish: it is a warm-blooded mammal. when because Nor extremely valuable. Colons separate two dependent clauses whenever before But where even if Instead of ‘said’, try: Whales are mammals while sharks are fish Or shouted ~ yelled ~ called ~ laughed ~ giggled ~ → whales are mammals; sharks are fish. whereas if cried ~ whispered ~ muttered ~ explained ~ wherever that Yet Simple sentences exclaimed ~ questioned ~ announced ~ protested These contain one idea as a main clause. A verb and a subject while once So ~ argued ~ sighed ~ moaned ~ complained ~ must be present. however since disagreed ~ agreed ~ lied ~ admitted The werewolf growled. Word Class Compound sentences Nouns Proper nouns Cinderella, Shrek, Birmingham, Tuesday, January, Mr Roberts, McDonalds, Mum These contain two or more ideas (main clauses), connected by a Concrete nouns chair, sky, uniform, rucksack, pen, notebook, wolf, child coordinating conjunction. Pronouns he, she, we, they, you, I, my, their, yours, mine, his, hers, ours The werewolf growled and stalked the oblivious girl. Abstract nouns boredom, anger, rage, despair, disappointment, happiness, bliss Determiners qualify the noun a, an, the, some, many, several, five, one thousand, plenty Complex sentences These contain two (or more) ideas – one as a main clause and the Adjectives describe the noun obnoxious, jealous, elated, enigmatic, rambunctious, ethereal, iridescent other as a subordinate clause. If the subordinate clause is placed Verbs ‘doing’ or ‘being’ words consider, justify, contemplate, understand, demonstrate, organise at the beginning of the sentence, it requires a comma before the Adverbs describe the verb understandably, angrily, seldom, straight, fast, often, never, always, very quite, too main clause is written. Prepositions show you where a noun is in under, over, behind, adjacent to, opposite, in front of, behind, ahead The werewolf growled while stalking the oblivious girl. relation to something else While stalking the oblivious girl, the werewolf growled.

DADWAVERSS! Description ~ Action ~ Dialogue ~ Where ~ Adverb ~ Verb ~ Estimation of time ~ Rhetorical questions ~ Simile ~ Subordinating Conjunction ~ Onomatopoeia!