Seeking assistance in answering question (1 Viewer)

[dragon658]

Hi,

So I've got an essay coming up. I'm in two minds as to how I'm going to structure it and interpret the question.

So, I'm about to do an essay on Red Riding Hood. We got given the exact question and it's pretty much a take home assessment, what I'm planning on doing is formulating the 'perfect' essay and then writing it out in class which for the purpose of this task is alright I guess. The focus is essay structure according to our teacher. I'm just not sure how. (Haven't really thought about it much mind you, it's just not clear)

So the question is: "The reworkings of a Fairytale, while not always successful, can ensure it remains relevant through time"
It also says: Evaluate this statement for "Little Red Riding Hood". In particular comment critically on the audience, purpose meaning and values and how these were shaped in Perrault's original version, one written version and one visual version. So yeah, it's not too bad its just I'm unsure on how to really integrate the 3 in each paragraph.
Maybe I should have 4 paragraphs, addressing the audience, purpose, meaning and values?
And it says, "while not always successful", am I obliged to call one unsuccessful because I believe that any reworking is successful - because it'll get spoken about either way and associated with the fairytale regardless.
I've written my intro, probs gonna revise it though so yeah.

 

[myu85]

The question that "while not always successful" should be raising for you is, "what is the storyteller trying to achieve?" Is it simply to entertain the audience, or is it teaching a lesson, for example? The point of breaking a piece down into elements like you're required to do here is to see how each element contributes towards that goal, so you might see different versions of a story use different elements to achieve the same or different goals.

So in short, this is mainly a contrast essay, and you'll find it easiest to divide your paragraphs by version, which you're comparing by elements. Here's a simple example of structure:

"Little Red Riding Hood" dates back to X, where it was originally told to achieve Y. Over time, Y has changed/remained the same, and subsequent versions have used different methods to attempt to reflect Y.

Par 1: version 1
element 1
element 2
element 3
These techniques were most appropriate for this version because Z1.

Par 2: However, Z2 resulted in the need for different techniques in version 2.
element 1
element 2
element 3

Par 3: version 3 also requires different techniques because of Z3. For example,
element 1
element 2
element 3

In conclusion, one can see that an author's success depends on attention to Z. Z1, Z2, and Z3 all required changes in techniques of 1, 2, and 3. Therefore...

 

[dragon658]

I think that's a pretty logical perspective. Was I missing the point by saying success is obviously subjective and every text was successful?

 

[myu85]

Not necessarily, but when you're writing essays, very few things can truly be called obvious. You mentioned originally that you think the reworkings were successful because they've raised awareness of the story, so you might want to support that perspective by demonstrating that they were all well-received by the public.

 

[dragon658]

Oh ok, and by general public it's really just my subjective viewpoint right?