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Written Task 2


TheSstudios

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Hello,

For my written task 2, I chose this question: How does the text conform to, or deviate from, the conventions of a particular genre, and for what purpose.

In that I want to do the study and analysis of author's reworking of fairy tales.

I alway seemed to get confused with the question. For example: I take a certain fairy tale, and depict that it is being re-written in the form of graphic novel, which is deviating from its original convention, which is first person narrative.

Can someone give me tips on how to the answer the "How" in the question?

Thank you

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Grrrr!

Just lost my detailed answer when looking up a feminist tale.

Anyway, as I was saying in my previous message : It is worth distinguishing between genre and convention; by confusing or conflating the two you may be making your task harder and obscuring the point of the question. Graphic novel and fairy tale are not the same genre.

In your case, it will be far more straightforward (if you want to examine fairytales) to look at stories of the same genre - the genre Fairy Tale.

Now, convention can be thought of like this. Take two fairy tales - one departing from convention and the other adhering to it. The conventional one is the easiest to follow and traces a well-worn path. You can predict pretty much everything. The non-conventional one, on the other hand, is full of hiccups or unexpected turns. The reader feels all is not "how it should be.." A good indication of convention-breaking or -bending is the surprise ending. Feminist reworkings of the fairytale do this particularly well. Here is just one example

Suniti Namjoshi ..http://kksa.ca/media/attachments/little_prince.pdf

Angela Carter is well-known for her reworked versions of traditional tales. Look her up too.

From a reader's perspective, convention can be described as the well-worn and traditional ways of reading a text, which is prompted partly by a knowledge of genre and invited by key words and structures in the text. Expectations are set up in the reader's mind. "Once upon a time..." immediately signals the genre "fairy tale". Your expectations for the rest of the tale may be for the preferred ending "And they (prince and princess) lived happily ever after in conjugal bliss - the prince having gone through a series death-threatening trials to save or win the hand of the helpless princess who has been raised to wait for her prince etc etc etc. ".... These are very powerful conventions, so much so that and they even govern our expectations in life. Our little girls are still raised in modern ways to be "princesses" which leads to a hopeless mess later in life... and programmes like Sex And the City,....anyway, I digress unnecessarily.

If you understand this, you'll know what to do with what you have.

Edited by Blackcurrant
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