Questions to help you plan

Initial ideas:

Do I know enough about that context to be able to be able to confidently set my story there?

Then…

How will my chosen context affect the…

 Setting? When and where will it be set? Why have you chosen this setting? Are
attitudes different in this time and place? For example, if it is a modern retelling, you might
consider the perception of marriage/women/gender in your story.

 Characters? How will they appear? How will they speak? How will they behave? How will
you report their speech? Think carefully about thoughtful construction of characters that
show understanding of the last 4 weeks.

 Plot? How can you create interest without lots of factual explanation of events and
circumstance?(especially the opening and developments in the story). Consider planning
your story along the following lines:

Setting, problem introduced, development, climax, resolution

Introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution

 Ending? We have looked closely at how the endings are important in terms of contextual
understanding. How will you construct your ending thoughtfully so as to fit the social and
historical context of your fairytale?

 Language? Important! Each of the three fairytales we have looked at have differed in the
way they use language.

Consider Perrault’s way of reporting speech: ‘said he/said she’. This is archaic, reversing the
modern order of the words. Or consider his description of clothes and finery…

Consider the use of more sinister imagery and lexis in Grimms’ tales, or the use of natural
imagery and comparison in Native American tales.

How will YOU use language intelligently to create interest and at the same time make it fit
context?

 Moral? What will it be? How will it be contextually appropriate?

You have considered the above in some detail over the past few lessons. You should have a good
understanding of how context affects what we find in a text.

Use the questions to help plan your version of one of the three fairytales.