Monday 14 October 2013

Narrative Theory


1.  Read the mini-saga and complete the grid below.

Emily and the Dragon.
Emily was tired of watching wimpy princes trying to get rid of the local dragon, so she decided to have a go herself. Soon she came upon the dragon who was singeing the top of a freckle-faced boy's head.
Being a resourceful princess, Emily set a trap for the dragon and then tricked him into following her..
"You're just a silly girl, and even though it's hardly worth it, i'm going to toast you to a crisp and have you for pudding' boomed the dragon. Just then, the branches he was standing on gave way, and he fell down a very deep well, his fire put out once and for all.
Emily returned to the boy.
'What's your name?' she asked.
'Prince Mathew' said the boy.
'That'll do nicely,' said Emily. 'Where do you live?'
'In Happy-Ever-After,' he replied.
'That'll do nicely too,' said Emily.
And with that, she and Matthew rode off together to Happy-Ever-After.


Todorov’s Stages
Todorov applied to 'Emily and the Dragon.'
1. Equilibrium
We meet key character Emily and find out that she wants to kill the dragon

2. Disruption
when she meets the dragon.

3. Recognition of disruption
dragon wants to kill the princess.

4. Attempt to repair disruption
she leads the dragon to a trap. 

5. Reinstatement of equilibrium
goes to happy-ever-after land with prince Mathew. 


2. In pairs or small groups, identify each of the stages in a film you know well.

Name of film: Shrek



Todorov’s Stages
Applied to one of the films
1. Equilibrium
shrek lives in the swamp, and meets donkey.
2. Disruption
gets told to rescue the princess or his swap will be torn down.

3. Recognition of disruption
a dragon is protecting the princess, so he cant reach her.

4. Attempt to repair disruption
the dragon falls in love with donkey and gets distracted so shrek can rescue the princess. 

5. Reinstatement of equilibrium
shrek keeps his swap and him and the princess live happily ever after. also donkey and the dragon get together. 



3. Think of your own simple narrative featuring a small girl or boy. Write a 50 word story
that follows Todorov's narrative structure.

The princess and the frog.
One day, the princess was alone in her castle and she was very lonely. She was locked in her room, out of sight
from anyone, trapped by the evil witch. To get out from this evil trap, she needed to escape and kiss a frog to
turn him into a prince and live happily ever after. One day the princess managed to escape from the castle and
she was on the hunt for the prince frog. When she finally came across the frog, the evil witch appeared and
took him away before she got the chance to kiss it. Days later the frog appeared in her room and told the
princess about how he had fallen in love with her. The princess then kissed the frog and he turned into a prince.
They then lived happily ever after.

Todorov’s Stages
Applied to your story
1. Equilibrium
the princess meets the frog

2. Disruption
gets told to kiss the frog to turn him into a prince of she will be alone forever. 

3. Recognition of disruption
the frog keeps getting taken away from the princess by the evil witch so she cant kiss it. 

4. Attempt to repair disruption
the frog falls in love with the princess and the kill the evil witch.

5. Reinstatement of equilibrium
frog turns into a price and they live happily ever after. 

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