Project One Instructions

Format for printing
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Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice…

Writing a Feminist Fairy Tale

(Approx. 500 words)

How many hours a week would you guess that a 1 year old toddler watches television? Well, given that the American Pediatric Association recommends that children under 2 years of age don't watch any television, it's surprising that, on average, those one-year-old toddlers are watching about 6 hours a week ! And that's even better than the 20 hours (on average) that children ages 2-10 watch! So as parents across the country pop in the next Disney DVD, let's take a moment to think about the gender messages that come across and see if we can do a bit of intervention.

Group Project: Read the classic fairy tales Snow White and Cinderella . Collectively, choose one story to rewrite from a feminist perspective. You will be graded on creativity and originality, as well as your ability to consider new ways of understanding gender roles. Your story should challenge conventional themes such as rescuing others, submissiveness/ aggressiveness, domesticity, concern with physical appearance, etc. You should target this story to a young audience—feel free to situate the story in any setting. You may tailor the story to suit your needs, but the overall arc of the story should remain intact. Be imaginative.

Logistics: Visit the message board to work with your group on the story. Once you've agreed on the final draft, have one member of the group post your story to our course website by NOON on Friday.

•  Select Post Project Blog from the left menu

•  Title: Group #

•  Course Project: Project One

•  Copy and Paste or type your project into the text window

•  Click Preview to review your project

•  Click Submit to turn in your project

NOTICE: You will not be able to see your story until after NOON, when all of the other stories have been submitted.

Class Poll: Once all of the stories have been published, read over each group's tale. Then, go to the Class Polls section of the website and vote for the group that created the best story. The authors of most popular story will be awarded extra credit.