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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What animal is Jorinda turned into in Jorinda and Joringel?

2. What is the girl turned into in "Frau Trude"?

3. What negative quality is expressed in "The Wolf and the Fox"?

4. What job does the bird have that he ends up wanting to switch in "The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage"?

5. What is a common fairy tale motif found in "Brother Lustig"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the moral of The Three Little Birds?

2. What is the moral of The Poor Man and the Rich Man?

3. How does King Thrushbeard trick the princess? Why?

4. How is the story of Clever Elsie misleading?

5. What is the lesson in The Pink?

6. What are the similarities between The Queen Bee, The Three Feathers, and The Golden Goose?

7. How might The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean compare to a fable?

8. The Louse and the Flea and Clever Hans both use different story-telling styles than many of the other fairy tales. What techniques do they use?

9. Discuss Gretel's character in Clever Gretel.

10. What is the similarity between The Singing, Soaring Lark, and The King of the Golden Mountain?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the gender roles in fairy tales. Is the damsel in distress always saved by the gallant knight? Can a princess save the poor servant boy? What are the typical roles played by female characters? What are the typical roles that male characters play? Are these roles set in stone? What determines the gender roles?

Essay Topic 2

Although the fairy tales do not exactly end with the words "and they lived happily ever after," this is the general concept of the endings of fairy tales. Discuss what Happily Ever After means and how it is expressed in the fairy tales. Are the endings all similar or are there differences? Is every ending happy? If so, who is it happy for? Use specific examples to support your claims.

Essay Topic 3

The idea of good winning over evil is persistent in several stories, novels, and movies today and throughout the years. The idea that good will prevail despite hardship is also prevalent in several fairy tales. Discuss the general notion of what it means for good to preside over evil. What defines the idea of good? What actions and types of characters are generally seen as good? What defines the idea of evil? What actions and types of characters are generally seen as evil? Which fairy tales exemplify this idea? Use specific examples to support each point.

(see the answer keys)

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