LIT 327 The Fairy Tale
The fairy tale is a global genre that seems simple, but actually reveals
many of modern literature¿s earliest conventions. This course explores the fairy tale¿s structures, characters, uses of oral and written narrative, and its employment of the idea of magic to explain and debate social order, across a variety of cultural contexts and forms. Students will also learn about cultural theories that are commonly applied to the analysis of fairy tales, and how the change from the folk tale to the fairy tale, and contemporary retellings, gives important context to today's understanding of fiction and its uses.
Prerequisites
4 Undergraduate credits
Effective May 5, 2015 to present
Meets graduation requirements for
Learning outcomes
General
- Students understand theories of narrative, characterization, and rhetorical style in fairy tales, and can explain how they function together to create a complete story.
- Students can describe and recognize common tropes, characters, dilemmas, and resolutions in the fairy tale and can compare these tropes across cultural contexts in a global frame.
- Students can distinguish the differences between fairy tales, and other folk narrative forms and articulate their cultural implications locally and globally.
- Students can explain the significance of written and oral forms of the fairy tale and how their adaption in contemporary literature and media demonstrates their continued role in contemporary global society.
- Students can critically analyze how fairy tales narrate social difference (in both positive and negative ways) among cultural institutions such as government, religion, education, and family structure.
- Students can construct a thesis, use scholarly and primary sources to support the thesis, and argue analytically in grammatical prose at the upper-division level.
Minnesota Transfer Curriculum
Goal 6: The Humanities and Fine Arts
- Demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of works in the arts and humanities.
- Understand those works as expressions of individual and human values within a historical and social context.
- Respond critically to works in the arts and humanities.
- Engage in the creative process or interpretive performance.
- Articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and humanities.
Fall 2026
| Section | Title | Instructor | books | eservices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | The Fairy Tale | VerMeulen, Caroline | Books for LIT-327-50 Fall 2026 | Course details for LIT-327-50 Fall 2026 |