Call of the Wild

Greetings from the past!

     Hello future victims- I mean future victors of success and achievement of Professor Hicks English class. Everyone is going to say this so I’m just going to repeat it anyways, but it is best if you start the paper early. However, what not everyone is going to tell you is that this doesn't necessarily mean you have to start writing any of the portions; it could also mean brainstorming, organizing ideas, taking notes, thinking about it in the shower, dreaming about it, having an existential college life crisis about it- you get where I’m going. I say this because one of the major problems I had with this assignment was to actually start the writing. I had a bunch of ideas that I wanted to put down on paper, but I couldn't connect or reiterate or organize them very well. As a result, much procrastinating ensued, procrastinating for days, days on end. But once I got passed that writing slump, I noticed that sections 1,2, and 4 were much easier to write than section 3. So, another piece of advice would be to get those out of the way early so you can focus on section 3 (which is where the bulk of the points are anyways). Another thing you should do is to make an outline; having something to follow makes the entire writing process significantly easier in terms of organization, getting ideas down on paper, and knowing how your paper should look overall. Finding appropriate research for your topic is important as well; finding good information is even harder, so make sure you allocate a fair amount of time to that. And if anything happens and you get stuck, feel free to ask Professor Hicks for help. She’s awfully nice and chill, so no need to fret!

     My research question was "What happens to fairy tale characters when they enter the woods?" This question explores the psychological and symbolic aspects of character interaction with their environment in fairy tales. From my research, I was able to conclude that fairy tale characters undergo a transformation when they enter the woods; this transformation is brought upon by resolving the problems lodged within their unconscious, which is represented by the woods. Sources that helped me to reach this conclusion will be shared below. In regards to finding sources, I would suggest using the library database, but I had a fairly difficult time with it, so instead I suggest using websites. However, since websites are not credible sources, I suggest take the information they have to offer and cross-reference it with a journal article or a more credible source to gauge accuracy. Here are some helpful sources:

Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses Of Enchantment: The Meaning And Importance of Fairy Tales. New York: Vintage Books. 1975. Print. (This one is good for fairy tale analysis)

Cirlot, J.E. A Dictionary of Symbols. New York: Dover Publications. 2002. Print. (Great resource for symbology)

"Storynory.com." Storynory Site RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. (Need primary sources? Go here)