Introduction and My Favorite Fairy Tale

Introduction:  

Hi, guys! My name is Danielle, and I’m a freshman here at McDaniel. I originally found this course because I saw it fulfilled an honors credit, but I chose to take it because fairy tales and folk tales align with my interests. I love telling stories - two of my favorite things are reading and writing. Even more so, my favorite types of stories, fantasy, have similar fantastic elements to fairy tales. I’m also a huge Oncer (Once Upon a Time fan) as well as a Disney fanatic, and I am interested in seeing how those versions of the stories compare to the original versions of the tales.

In taking this course I hope to learn more about different versions of fairy tales and, in the process, learn more about different culture and ideologies. I want to be able to look deeper into stories, be able to see them from different perspectives and potentially learn more about myself and my own beliefs at the same time. Hopefully, with hard work, I will be able to do this throughout the semester.

My Favorite Fairy Tale:

It is very difficult for me to choose just one fairy tale as my favorite. Once Upon a Time has established my favorite versions of fairy tale characters that I have encountered so far. The show is unique, mixing characters from multiple stories to create original, complex tales and individuals. I love the show’s messages: it speaks of hope and of compassion.

But it would be almost impossible to separate one story from Once Upon a Time from another, and so I cannot say my favorite story from the show. If I were forced to pick just one fairy tale as my favorite, I would pick Beauty and the Beast. There is something beautiful to me in the idea of falling in love with someone for who they are on the inside, the idea that inner beauty matters more than outside appearances. I also appreciate that Belle is one of the more empowered Disney heroines of the bunch - she sacrifices herself for her father, and she never lets fear or intimidation bully her into staying subservient or silent. She speaks her mind and makes her own decisions, and for that, I admire her character and the story in itself.