Grimm's Cinderella Review

For my English language A2 coursework I need to investigate the language used in some texts. So as a great fairytale fan I decided to compare the language used in the original Grimm's Fairytales version of Cinderella and a modern version of the same book. I love any film version of Cinderella so I thought it was only right to investigate it for my A-levels.

The original Grimm's Fairytales were written in the 1800s and in German! Don't worry I'm not analysing it in German. There's a reason why I dropped that at AS. The original name of Cinderella was Aschenputtel. The English translation of this is Cinderella (obviously) which means the cinders and ashes she sleeps in are as much her name as Ella (her birth name). I don't know about you but I didn't realise that even though it's so obvious.

The original is nothing like Disney's version apart from the name. Disney changed it so much to fit the opposite audience the Grimm's brothers wrote it for. I definitely won't be reading the Grimm's version to my kids.
I knew how graphic the original was but it doesn't prepare you for actually reading it.

There's no Fairy Godmother. I'm not sure where Disney got that idea from. It's a tree in the original. However it is the tree grown from a branch her mother gave her before she died and Cinderella grew and watered it with her tears. It's sad that Disney didn't put that little detail in but I can understand why. I wasn't sure whether a talking tree or a Fairy Godmother was more believable for little children. However they still both come to the rescue to save Cinderella.

The old version is definitely not child friendly and neither is the language used. Sorry. There's me thinking too much about my investigation.

The end is not just about the stepsisters squeezing their feet into the silver slipper but THEY CUT PART OF THEIR FEET OFF to fit in! That's a bit too far. The stepsisters are still just as evil in the original, if not more as they are described to be "angry because they would have liked to have scolded her." Their evilness has been toned down a tiny bit.

For some reason I thought birds pecked out the stepsisters eyes too but in this version they didn't. I'm glad because it was gruesome enough.

The story still holds the important moral that however hard life will get, it can change. Life will get better and if it's not better then it's not the end.

I hope you enjoyed this review and id love to hear any comments or book suggestions.

Forgotten by Cat Patrick

 

I've forgotten what's it all about. Just kidding. No that's what the book is about. Sorry that's an awful opening but I just thought in linked... No. Ok ignore that and let's carry on.

I looked at the book and believed I could finish it in half term but as had term whizzed by I didn't have any time to do anything but study. And unfortunately this dystopian novel can't count as context for my literature coursework.

It's such an interesting concept that London, the main character, can only remember her future and not her past. Imagine that? Every night she has to write down everything on notes so she can revise them before school. This weird concept is so unique that I kept asking myself too many questions which meant I couldn't enjoy the book. Wouldn't she 'remember' exam questions? And if she doesn't remember her past, how can she remember how to communicate and not freak out every morning? How can she get through school? I find it hard enough to remember work from the week before and homework or just before the exam. See I'm doing it again. Once you get past all this you can really enjoy this book. Just go in with an open mind.

I'm not sure what I thought the book would be about but I'm glad I read it. Normally I don't like books about love and all that stuff but this one had an interesting fall back where every morning, London forgets everything about her boyfriend, Luke. She has to revise all these notes about her boyfriend so she doesn't wake up believing he is a stranger. He doesn't give up on her though. Her neurology problem seems to bring them closer together.

This dystopian novel isn't like any other book I've read. Usually you can link ideas in the book to other books but I couldn't find any at all. I'm always jealous of authors original plots. And there's another one!

There's another book to the sequence called Revived which I'm not sure how that will go but I will let you know soon. I think with this series, I don't so much enjoy it but I'm intrigued by the idea.

I'm so stressed!!!!!

Stressed?!

Hey guys, Don't worry, you haven't entered some weird diary of mine. I thought I'd deviate from a book review because I've had a lot of work to do which means not so much reading. It's got to November and everyone is starting to stress about too many things; UCAS, coursework, upcoming exams, A-levels, new courses, starting university. And what does this mean? Stress! There's no need to though.

Everyone knows at least someone who is stressed. You might even be stressed yourself. Don't! This should not be the case. Don’t let stress keep you away from school or class otherwise it's won. Don't drop out of university just because you're stressed otherwise it has won. Stress should not be something that stops you from doing something but something you can learn from. I accept that stress cannot go away overnight but there are ways to deal with it.

First of all, you need to ask yourself…

What’s really going on?

Instead of saying “I’m so stressed” which we all say way too much, you need to ask yourself the following questions when faced with a stressful situation:

Ø  People pleasing- Are you trying to please too many people? Are you saying yes to too many things?

Ø  Pats on the back- Do you want people to congratulate you on your clothes, makeup?

Ø  Performance evaluation- Do you think you’re irreplaceable?

Ø  Possessions- Are you living for imamate objects? Grades.

Ø  Poor planning- Did you plan it badly?

Ø  Power- Do you like being stressed because it makes you feel important? Do you then feel in control?

Ø  Perfectionism- Do you push yourself too hard and tell yourself that you cannot make any mistakes?

 

 

Matthew 6 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

 

I hope this has helped as many people as much as it has helped me have a new realistic approach to difficult situations. I'd love to know if this has helped you so please leave a comment and I will get back to you.