Psycholgical Effects Fairy Tales Cause in Children

            The topic my partner and I chose to write our research paper on was child psychology. We wanted to relate our research paper to our major and incorporate some of the knowledge we gained throughout the course. By having the opportunity to choose our own topic based on our personal interest and own curiosities made the research paper a lot more interesting. It was more interesting because the topic was not given by the professor, instead it was chosen by my partner and I which played a huge role in writing our paper.  

            Our question was: Why do children love fairytales so much, and how do fairy tales affect children later in life?

          Some advice I would give to future students who take the class would be to begin their research by identifying their topic. Next to think about the question they want to answer and learn more about and finally, proceed by finding useful sources and by gathering information to help throughout the investigation. Organization in this project is key. It is important because by organizing yourself throughout this assignment you will be able to structure your work and plan ahead so that you do not stress out. At first the paper may seem overwhelming because a lot needs to be done, but if you organize your work and break it down into different sections rather than doing it all at once you will enjoy this project.

Finding sources for our research paper was not difficult, but it was challenging because we had so much information to choose from that we did not know where to begin. The sources that we found to be the most useful were journal articles and books. The books were helpful because they gave us a broad idea about our topic, and the journals were useful because they were more specific and detailed. Some of the sources we used were:

"Andrea Lorenz." :: Home. Sitename.com, 2006. Web. 28 May 2012. <http://bananasaysno.com/>.

Heuscher, Julius E. A Psychiatric Study of Fairy Tales; Their Origin, Meaning and Usefulness. Springfield, IL: Thomas, 1963. Print.

Stafford, Jane. "Tell Fairy Stories to Your Children." The Science News-Letter 26,.708 (1934): 278-79. Print.

Wardetzky, Kristin. "The Structure and Interpretation of Fairy Tales Composed by Children." The Journal of American Folklore 103.408 (1990): 157-76. Print.

~ Good Luck :)