SLFK 211 - TALE AND LEGEND
2002 FINAL EXAM REVIEW
DIRECTIONS: Please read the entire exam through before you start. This will allow you to best allocate your time. As on the midterm, please give cohesive and well-argued answers and please substantiate them with examples. Be sure to answer all parts of whichever questions you select.
PART I - Video identifications (15 points, one paragraph per ID maximum)
You will watch two sets of two video clips. The first set will be Russian cartoons. The second set will be live-action documentaries. Pick one clip out of each set. Tell us what is going on in the clip and why it is significant.
1) Cartoon clips, choice of one clip out of two.
2) Documentary clips, choice of one clip out of two.
PART II - Zipes (20 points, one page maximum)
Please write an essay on one of the topics below.
1) According to Zipes, Hansel and Gretel continues to be told because it rationalizes abandonment and abuse of children. In his opinion, what is the nature of this rationalization and to whom does it appeal? Compare the abandonment in Hansel and Gretel to that which occurs in the story The Bear, the Dog, and the Cat (Afanas'ev, pp. 453-455). To whom might the Russian story appeal? In a Russian cartoon version of the same tale, the wife is responsible for exiling the old and no longer useful cat while the husband protests. How might Zipes analyze the cartoon version?
PART III - Terminology (10 points, 2 sentences per ID maximum)
Please identify five of the terms below, briefly noting their significance to the course.
1) Suicide rule
2) Pleasure principle
3) Trickster tale
4) Dramatis personae
5) Skomorokh
6) Historico-geographic method
PART IV - Synthesis (40 points, 1_ pages maximum. You may use a chart as part of your answer. However, a chart alone is not a sufficient answer.)
What are the three types of folktales? How are they related to each other? How are they related to legends? How are they related to myths? Myth is a very difficult concept which has been variously defined. Take myth to mean a story of origins, a narrative about ancient concepts of the world.
PART V - Russian Legend (10 points, _ page maximum)
Please write a short essay on one of the topics below:
1) Many contemporary Russian legends tell about dreadful food contaminations. Give a synopsis of a Russian legend about contaminated food. Try to explain why contaminated food legends would be popular in today's Russia. Compare to American legends about contaminated food.