"a book of fairy tales"

Your entries on this blog should contain three elements:

(1) source - where does the quote or term come from (might be an essay, a novel, an autobiography, the chronology, or lecture)
(2) what does it describe - literally.
(3) significance - connect this item to the work it comes from in terms of its significance to plot, theme or structure. connect also to larger themes discussed in the course.

You are not being asked to compose a finished ID for each item, but rather to identify the information and connections that you could use to build a successful ID.

This exercise is intended to facilitate cooperation between section members and to help you study effectively for the midterm. I will read them over to see what you've done, but will not be checking for accuracy. Please respect your classmates by double-checking your information. If you are unsure of something, make a note of that in your post. Use the comment feature to suggest changes or additions to posts you think may be inaccurate or incomplete, or to request clarification. The terms I have posted here are to get you started and NOT a comprehensive list of every term that could appear on the midterm, so help each other out and post additional terms and passages from your lecture notes.


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source: Alcott's Little Women

what: Jo's collection of her own fairy tales, which Amy burns

significance:

- fairy tales' figuring of women's role in romance plot - beautiful damsel perhaps persecuted by other women (stepmother), heroine helpless but rescued by prince charming - influences the way we imagine female happiness
- for thinking about Amy - shows her spite and disappointment at being left out of the adult world. She destroys the book but ironically fulfills the fairy tale dream in her marriage to Laurie (young, handsome, wealthy)
- trial of Jo's temper (which she considers to be her primary defect)
Jo "confesses" to Marmee who councils her in how to restrain her temper
- Jo's continued literary production testifies to perserverence dispite initial setback
- the youthful fairy tales suggestive re: Jo's romantic aspirations and literary ambitions, so this episode may foreshadow Jo's rejection of youthful fancy's fairy tale version of life. Perhaps Jo trades them in for a more mature version in her marriage to Mr. Bhaer (also associated with fairy tales).

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compare to Prof. Rowe's example of a complete ID entry for this prompt:

In Alcott's Little Women the heroine Jo reacts angrily after discovering that her younger sister Amy has, out of spite and disappointment, burnt her treasured collection of fairy tales. Not only does this betray Amy's childish malice at being left out of the adult world, which includes a play, but it also generates the severest trial of Jo's primary defect, her temper. Understandably, Jo resents the destruction of her writing, the youthful fairy tales that tell so much of her romantic aspirations and her literary ambitions. But she learns the values of patience and forgivenes when she "confesses" to Mermee, who tutors daughter Jo in the restraint of temper. Never entirely "temporized," owever, Jo cannot fully supress her individuality and her outspokenness, and her literary creations are a testament to her perserverance despite the initial setback. But the episode may also foreshadow the route that Jo will travel, either in rejecting the fiary tale version of life that youthful fancies create, or perhaps in trading the vision in for a more matur, final marriage to the prince of her dreams, Mr. Bhaer. Amy, ironically, fulfills the very dream she almost destroys, the "fairy tale" marriage to the young, handsome, and wealthy Laurie.