The Origins of Wonder Tales

A detailed Summary of The Origins of Wonder Tales

The Origins of Wonder Tales and the Reason for Their Creation and Evolution

Folk tales, fairy tales, wise tales, and wonder tales are all a part of virtually everyone's lives from one point of time to another. Whether your a child an adult or a grandparent these stories play a significant role in ones continuing development. Although they have an effect on people of all ages children are most susceptible to the primary goal of telling and recording these stories. The purpose of this form of interaction (again primarily focusing on the application of story telling to mold children) is to instill moral codes and hope in our youth and to do so in an entertaining way which is also most often the primary directive but should not be considered the only purpose.

The majority of these stories originated during the middle ages, or at least the written versions, given the fact that social interaction was not a concept and potentially dangerous given the territorial basis of human life before the beginning of agriculture. During this time people were what we call today nomadic: they wandered from one area to another following the seasons and whatever food source they depended upon(HY101). During this time t

The social conditions and general way of living play a considerable role in shaping fairy-tales. One could speculate that they are derived from a true story, something that really did happen "once upon a time" but only took their magical form after years of retelling. Cinderella alone has over seven hundred different versions (591), could it be that one of these is close to the truth? What about the other thousands of stories we tell our children? For example, Snow White is a very popular wonder-tale and although not necessarily feasible, could it be based on actual events? Another interesting aspect is that it seems to have a message that has survived its changing form: good vs. Evil. Beauty and the Beast shows us that it is possible to look past the physical features of someone and fall in love with the person. And of course Sleeping Beauty shows us the classic: good triumphs over evil as well.

This new way of life (agricultural) presented a problem, how do you communicate efficiently with others and keep track of debts. These were the primary directives of establishing a written language. Soon writing made the transition from purely business oriented to the social entertainment realm. These wonder tales, including Cinderella, were seldom recorded and some would argue that this very fact is what gives them their character. "The childhood game comes to mind in which one child whispers a sentence into the ear of another; by the time the second child repea

Some common words found in the essay are:
Evolution Folk, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Beauty Beast, moral code, wonder tales, WJD English, instill moral, prince means, reason creation, moral codes,

Approximate Word count = 988
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous