Talk: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