Classroom assignment, students created synthesis prompts like those on the AP exam.

1. ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
SECTION II
Total time- 2 hours
Question 1
(Suggested time- 40 minutes. This question counts for one-third of the total essay score.)
Fairytales have become a staple in the American bedtime ritual. Many adults reflect
fondly on their memories of otherworldly stories of magic and heroism. However,
recently many of these stories have been deemed inappropriate in theme or content for
small children.
Consider the implications of fairytales on child development. Carefully read the
following seven sources, including the introductory information for each source. Then
synthesize information from at least three of the sources and incorporate it into a
coherent, well-developed essay that states your opinion on the effects of telling fairytale
stories to children, keeping in mind your own outside sources or experiences.
Make sure that your argument is central; use the sources to illustrate and support your
reasoning. Avoid merely summarizing the sources. Indicate clearly which sources you are
drawing from, whether through direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary. You may cite
the sources as Source A, Source B, etc., or by using the descriptions in parentheses.
Source A (Danish)
Source B (Schussler)
Source C (Patterson-Neubert)
Source D (Kerr)
Source E (Evans)
Source F (Weaver)
Source G (Comic)

2. Source A
Danish, Elizabeth. "Influence of Fairy Tales on Children." Influence of Fairy Tales on
Children. Web. 13 Feb. 2015. <http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/15745/1/Influence-
of-Fairy-Tales-on-Children.html>.
The following is an excerpt from an article written by a health author, with a focus on
psychology.
In theory then these fairy tales which stick so closely to the hero's journey should be a
healthy thing to expose children to – a universal metaphor for the way their life is going
to turn out and for the journey that they should feel a pull to embark on. It should
encourage them to dream of leaving home and having grand adventures and of growing
and meeting new friends. However these stories are also very old, and in some ways very
dated; what you need to remember is that things have changed since the times of fairy
tales, and the concern is that these tales might now be less relevant and so even
damaging.
In particular the concern is that fairy tales might be a bad influence on women, whose
roles are less liberated in most fairy tales. For the woman's part of the story, the heroine
stays trapped often in a tower guarded by a villain or a dragon. This dragon is often
believed to represent the woman's father who keeps her trapped and prevents her from
setting out on her own journey. The girl is then forced to wait for her savior – prince
charming or a knight in shining armor to come and fight the dragon and then free her so
that she can get married in a huge castle and live happily ever after.
In other words, the woman's portion of the story involves staying trapped in the castle
and awaiting her rescue – much as once women would once have stayed at home with
their parents until they met a man who could support them. Today though things are
different and women are expected to have the same 'hero's journey' as men – and to live
life as they choose and pursue a career and go traveling and do all the other things that
men do. It could be that children who read fairy tales a lot end up with outdated views of
the woman's role and this could potentially have a negative impact on their ambition and
their eventual life outcome.

3. Source B
Schussler, Arielle. "The Case Against Fairytales." Caliber Magazine RSS. Web. 13 Feb. 2015.
<http://calibermag.org/articles/the-case-against-fairytales/>.
The following is an excerpt from an Internet magazine article.
Let’s face it, fairytales have become quite the staple in our society. Not only do
the Disney Princesses continue to reign supreme in the preschool to elementary
school crowd, but we have currently seen quite the boost in fairytale inspired
cinema – whether it be live action remakes of classics such as Snow White and the
Huntsman, Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Jack the Giant
Slayer, ABC’s Once Upon A Time, and NBC’s Grimm… just to name a few. To be
perfectly honest, it seems like none of us can withstand the nostalgic allure of
fairytales. But perhaps that is due to a misrepresentation in the rose-tinted hues of
these beloved classics, as upon further examination, these stories darken
considerably. The question we arrive at is this, should we continue exposing our
children (and ourselves) to these tales? To a certain extent, given fairytales’
explicit themes, absolutist nature, and use of scare tactics… I would argue no.
“Grandma! What big… errr…thing you have…Grandma, what is that?” Truth be
told, fairytales are somewhat infamous for their explicit sexual and violent subject
matters. As Maria Tatar, a Professor of German Literature at Harvard University,
states in her book The Hard Facts of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales, “sex and violence:
these are major thematic concerns of tales in the Grimm’s collection… [they]
frequently take the perverse form of incest and child abuse…” Still don’t
remember anything too disturbing? How about in Little Red Riding Hood when a
very naked Little Red gets into bed with the wolf? Or in the end of Cinderella,
when two doves peck out the eyes of the evil step-sisters during the
wedding? Chances are that you have never heard of any of these candid details due
to the extensive censorship fairytales had to go through in order to join the Disney
oeuvre. This is not to say that Disney completely cleaned up all of the creepiness.
Remember in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves when the evil queen wants
Snow White’s heart? True, it may not be as bad as the original where the queen
wants the heart so she could devour it, but this does not take away the frightening
idea that someone wants the heart of a little girl in a box. Truth be told, that movie
frightened me so profoundly as a child, I had to ask my mother to hide the VHS
case to avoid seeing the frightening witch posed on the cover.

4. Source C
Patterson-Neubert, Amy. " Purdue News." Experts Say Fairy Tales Not so Happy Ever after.
Web. 13 Feb. 2015. <http://www.purdue.edu/uns/html4ever/031111.Grauerholz.tales.html>.
The following is excerpted from a Purdue news report, based on research done by
associates of the University.
Liz Grauerholz, an associate professor of sociology, teamed with Lori Baker-Sperry, an
assistant professor of women's studies at Western Illinois University and a former Purdue
graduate student, to study how beauty is written about in fairy tales and whether stories
with beautiful princesses are more likely to be popular. Grauerholz says parents need to
be aware that some stories tell children that unattractive people are more likely to be evil
and reinforce traditional gender roles that may be confusing for today's young
women."Fairy tales, which are still read by millions of American children, say it pays to
be pretty," Grauerholz says. "It's important to understand the messages our children
receive about traditional gender roles, especially during a time when women are
encouraged to be independent and rely on their brains rather than beauty."Women today
– despite increasing independence for many – still tend to value beauty and appearance.
Why is it that attractive women and men are socially rewarded more than unattractive
people? From early childhood, girls are read fairy tales about princesses who achieve vast
riches simply because their beauty makes them special. That's a powerful message that
can inhibit young women who feel they do not meet society's expectation of what it
means to be attractive."

5. Source D
Herbert, Kerr. "Fairy Tales: Healing Food For The Child’s Soul." Waldorf Homeschoolers. Web.
13 Feb. 2015. <http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/fairy-tales>.
The following is an excerpt from an online source for parents homeschooling their
children.
Fairy Tales Are Healing To The Soul of a Child….
Fairy tales have an enormous and irreplaceable value in the life of a child. They educate,
support and liberate the emotions of children. Fairy tales provide a unique way for
children to come to terms with the dilemmas of their inner lives.
The prince, the tailor, the miller, snow white – all of these are images of different
elements of our own nature. It is this resonance which endears these figures to us. There
is a wisdom in these characters which runs much deeper than allegory or what can be
found is psychoanalysis.
“In the art and fantasy of fairy tales lies a very deep wisdom which has power to awaken
children from the sleep of ordinary life. Forces of healing are also hidden in each fairy
tale. The most important effect of the fairy tale is that they stimulate the feeling that man
is a being of development, of struggle, of metamorphosis, and that behind all the adverse
forces of giants and dwarfs, witches and demons there lies the good world of the true
genius of man.” ~ Frederick Hiebel

6. Source E
Evans, Stephen. "Are Grimm's Fairy Tales Too Twisted for Children?" BBC Culture. 1 Aug.
2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2015. <http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130801-too-grimm-for-
children>.
The following is excerpted from an online article, from BBC online, on the topic of the
influence of fairytales.
These tales of gore and sexuality – John Updike called them the pornography of an
earlier age – are still going strong. “I can't even keep track of the number of new versions
of Snow White,” says Professor Tatar. “And these aren't just Disney productions – you
have film-makers making very adult versions of the fairy tales, drawing out the perverse
sexuality of some of these tales.”
They are tales of right and wrong. There are clear morals to be drawn – deception and
dishonesty are punished; honest hard work is rewarded; promises must be honoured;
beware of strangers – and especially the forest.
But that can’t be the enduring appeal. Moralistic lectures never entertained anyone – but
gory tales of suspense are a different thing. They do have an eternal following. As
Professor Tatar puts it: “They give us these ‘what if’ scenarios – what if the most terrible
thing that I can imagine happened? – but they give us these scenarios in the safe space of
‘once upon a time’. I'm going to tell you the story and I'm going to show you how this
hero or this heroine manages to come out of it alive.” And not just alive, but also ‘happily
ever after’.
It’s clear that many children love the gory bits. And it’s clear that many parents don’t. A
survey last year found that many reported that their children had been left in tears by the
gruesome fate of Little Red Riding Hood. Some parents wouldn’t read Rumpelstiltskin to
their children because it was about kidnapping and execution. And many parents felt that
Cinderella was a bad role model for daughters because she did housework all day.
Some pop culture versions of the tales have sugar-coated their more unpalatable aspects.
It’s true that the Cinderella made by Disney in 1950 is a work of schlock – the titles of
the songs (A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes”, Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo and Sing Sweet
Nightingale) give the flavour. But Disney’s older animated versions of Grimm Fairy
Tales are much darker.
“In Snow White which was made in 1937,” says Professor Tatar, “the Wicked Queen
goes down into the basement where she's got a chemistry set which she's going to use to
turn the apple into a poisoned apple. There are ravens down there and skulls and
mysterious dusty tomes.

7. Source F
Weaver, Matthew. "Richard Dawkins: I Did Not, and Will Not, Condemn Fairy Tales — They
Are Wonderful." Raw Story. Web. 13 Feb. 2015. <http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/richard-
dawkins-i-did-not-and-will-not-condemn-fairy-tales-they-are-wonderful/>.
The following is excerpted from an Internet news source interviewing a well-known
author.
In an interview with the Guardian, Dawkins, who is professor of the public understanding
of science at Oxford University, attacked the way his remarks had been reported and
insisted he thought fairy stories were wonderful and could in some ways stimulate the
kind of skepticism he is keen to promote.
“I did not, and will not, condemn fairy tales,” he said. “My whole life has been given
over to stimulating the imagination, and in childhood years, fairy stories can do that.”
He added: “What I actually think is that fairy tales can be wonderful. They are part of
childhood, they are stretching the imagination of children.”
Dawkins, author of bestseller The God Delusion, was quoted as saying: “I think it’s
rather pernicious to inculcate into a child a view of the world which includes
supernaturalism – we get enough of that anyway.”
Dawkins’ reported remarks have been widely condemned. The former Labour minister
Tom Watson described him on Twitter as “soulless bore”.
The children’s author and creator of the popular Charlie and Lola series, Lauren Child,
defended fairy stories. Speaking on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, she said: “I don’t
think they are anything to do with supernaturalism – I’m sure he [Dawkins] must know
that. It’s about a way of working things out. Children are always using the imaginary to
work things out. Fairy stories are not so much about the magic, they are about figuring
out the world.”

8. Source G
Web. 13 Feb. 2015. <https://whendotheyservethewine.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/fox-news-or-
fairy-tale-copy.jpg>.
The following is a comic commentary on the question of appropriate storytelling for
children.