FF Tuesday November 29

Tanner Carlton FSEM December 2, 2011 Dr. Mathur

WIKI notes essay: Witches Abroad

Today’s class session began with the whole group naming the key characteristics that define the fairy-tale Cinderella. These characteristics included: ‘fairy godmothers’, ‘prince charming’ , ‘glass slippers’ , and ‘evil stepsisters’. From there the class was directed to “Pick any aspect of the traditional Cinderella story that Pratchett rewrites in Witches Abroad. What does Pratchett change about the traditional story and why might he do so?” In response to this question the class discussed how the three witches basically attempt to ruin the plot of Cinderella by releasing the horses and turning the coach into an immobile pumpkin. The class also discussed how more people, than just Emberella, could fit into the glass slipper. The group also referred to a quote by Nanny Ogg in which she guesses that there must be a lot of five and a half shoe wearers in the city.

Next the Class was directed to discuss the following question, “We see three types of magic in Witches Abroad: mirror, swamp, and headology. Come up with your own definitions for the three types of magic. Which of these three forms is most powerful and why?” In response to this question the class discussed each form of magic like so. . . Mirror magic is magic by use of mirrors (and reflections). Although seemingly the strongest form of magic in Witches Abroad, mirror magic is very consuming to those who use it, as it’s can lose a grasp on their own reality, like the witch, Lilith, in Witches Abroad. Next, swamp magic, is magic very similar to that of voodoo. Swamp magic is used with special ingredients and is very powerful, as identified by the class. Lastly, the class discussed headology as a form of magic. Headology is interestingly the lowest form of magic in Witches Abroad and is used by the three witches through out the book. Our class described headology as a practical, smaller form of magic that is more dependent on ones own-self than mirrors or ingredients.

Finally to end the class period, myself and my classmate Erika Moscoso gave our own presentation on Witches Abroad. In our presentation we presented some of the major themes from the story. These themes included: ‘fate v. planned destination’, ‘fairy godmothers v. witches’ , and ‘satire of fairy tales’. We also summarized and presented "Teach the Children: Education and Knowledge in Recent Children's Fantasy" in which the author, Elisabeth Rose Gruner, takes aim at education in recent children’s literature. To end the class we held a “question and answer” discussion on Witches Abroad”. To view the questions use this link. . . https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=15-jj-73TVYsBh9EoA4uV0Z1Ok2y-jTGih49G299OTZA

Erika Paz’s Notes for November 29
Class discussion today started with naming characteristic features of Cinderella. With all the characteristics being listed, this led to the main class discussion question, what does Pratchett change about the traditional Cinderella and why might he do so? This question started off as an individual writing, but then everyone shared their thoughts on what was different. A lot of what was said was quite interesting. Some of the things that were pointed out were that Cinderella’s attitude is different from the original character and a lot of things were done to prevent Cinderella from being with her prince charming. A point that I thought stood out was the fact that the author was trying to resist the roles of Cinderella and the fairy godmother. All of the points that were mentioned during this discussion question showed and proved that this is not the ordinary fairytale.

The class later went on with everybody discussing the different types of magic that appeared throughout the story with the person next to them. The three types of magic that appear are mirror magic, swamp magic, and headology. Once everyone discussed with the person next to them, it then turned into a big group discussion. Everyone in their own words defined each type of magic and then ranked it according to which was the strongest. Mirror magic was mainly described as it being able to create stories, but also being dangerous because one can get lost in it. Swamp magic was defined as basic voodoo magic, and headology was defined as being smart enough to fool another person without their knowledge. Most of the class agreed that although headology was used more often, mirror magic was the most powerful because it is a delicate type of magic and since you can get lost in it and lose your soul it is the most dangerous. Headology was actually kind of voted to be the least powerful just because at times it seems as if it is a type of magic that any ordinary person can do.

After the class discussion wrapped up, the group leader discussion came up and gave their presentation on Witches Abroad. They asked some insightful questions that brought up some interesting points that led to a good discussion. A question that I thought was interesting, and it actually related to one of the questions that we had discussed earlier in class about the witches magic. Erika, one of the discussion leaders, brought up a point about how Magrat, one of the witches, questioned whether or not they were really witches if all they did was headology.

Overall there were lots of good topics and discussions that went on in class today. A lot of what was said once again simply clarified the fact that Witches Abroad is not the average fairytale and Terry Pratchett does a good job of illustrating that in this story.