Children's literature is analyzed and evaluated in several different ways. The traditional approach to evaluating any type of literature is used, as well as some more contemporary models as society advances. The traditional approach evalutates the story based on very fundamental ideas of what comprises a story. These are the analysis of the elements 0f literature such as character, setting, narrative point of view, plot, conflict, theme, style, and tone. I will be analyzing the picture books of adaptations of Little Red Riding Hood based on this criteria. I will use the original translation of the story as the traditional written version and compare the other versions to it. The red text indicates the evaluation results of the original story. The grey text is the evaluation of this story. If the evalutaion produces the same elements, then the text will stay black.

Characters: "At the heart of every good story are believable and memorable characters." (Russell 39)

protagonist: Little Red Riding Hood, a country girl that was the prettiest little girl ever born with the christian name Biddy

-Little Red Cowboy Hat, Little Red for short, a little girl with red, red hair

antagonist: Gossop wolf

-Wolf, who wore a cowboy hat "three shades darker than a locomotive."

flat characters: faggot-makers, little red Riding-Hood's mother, little red Riding-Hood's grandmother

-pony, and Little Red's mother

round characters: Little Red's Grandmother

dynamic character: non-existent because little red Riding-Hood gets eaten

~ Little Red, she learns she has to stick up for herself

static characters: Gossop wolf, wolf

foil character: (Gossop) wolf is used to highlight the goodness of little red Riding-Hood and her vunerablity to outside threats

Setting: "The setting refers to the time, geographical location, and general environment and circumstances that prevail in a narrative." (Russell 40)

~"There was once upon a time..." common setting for folktales

-"Once upon a ranch, far away in the wilds of the West..."

~ a village surrounded by wood

~ the grandmother's ranch and little red Cowboy Hat's ranch

~canyon and a wide mesa

Plot: a series of connected events throughout the narrative

foreshadowing: " ...she met with Gossop Wolfe, who had a good mind to eat her up..."

"Don't dillydally along the way...and be careful, it's rattlesnake season."

"The wolf stood between her and the pony."

"A creepy feeling ran up her backbone, and tingled in the roots of her hair."

"The poor child, who did not know how dangerous a thing it is to stay and hear a Wolfe talk..."

dramatic plot: progresses in order of setting, conflict, rising action, climax, and conclusion

The original folktale follows the dramatic plot outline. We are introduced to the setting first, "There was once upon a time a little country girl, born in a village, the prettiest little creature that was ever seen." Then the reader gets the information about the conflict that it going to happen. The reader finds out that the conflict is the grandmother, who lives in another village, is sick and little red Riding-Hood must take her some custards and butter. The rising action is the wolf who sees her in the wood alone, asks her where her grandmother lives, and the wolf eats the grandmother. The climax takes place when little red Riding-Hood sees the wolf dressed up as her grandmother. The conclusion is when she gets eaten.

-This adaptation follows a dramatic plot outline as well, but different events occur. The setting is similar except the story is placed out West. The conflict is the same, the little girl must take her sick grandmother a loaf of homemade bread and a jar of cactus jelly across several miles away. The rising action follows her riding through a canyon, and stopping in a wide mesa to pick some flowers. Another event in the rising action is her meeting the wolf in the mesa, and in disguise as her grandmother. The climax is when the wolf is about to eat Little Red and her grandmother jumps out of the closet with an axe. The conclusion is that the wolf is chased off of the property and Little Red and her grandmother live happily ever after.

 

Conflict: an event that is usually a battle between good and evil or right and wrong (part of a plot)

~protagonist against another (the wolf against Little Red and her grandmother)

Theme: tells the reader the purpose of the story and plot, also referred to as the underlying meaning

~The discovery that ultimately we are all alone on our journey to maturity is fraught with struggle and danger

~especially to young ladies, do not be lured by a seductive "wolf" to lose virginity, or pureness

~Family will always be there to help you.

~ A girl has to stick up for herself in the dangers of the un-sheltered world

Style: the way in which the narrative is written

formula and repetition: "There was once upon a time..."

"Once upon a ranch, far away in the wilds of the West..."

"Grandmamma, what great arms you have got! It is the better to embrace thee my pretty child. Grandmamma, what great legs you have got! it is to run the better my child. Grandmamma, what great ears you have got! It is to hear the better my child. Grandmamma, what great eyes you have got! It is to see the better my child. Grandmamma, what great teeth you have got! It is to eat thee up."

"What big eyes you have, Grandma! The better to see you with pumpkin. What a big nose you have, Grandma! The better to smell you with, dumpling. And what sharp teeth you have, Grandma! The better to eat you with, angel pie!"

motifs and imagery: a motif is a recurring thematic element

~little red Riding-Hood makes a journey to her grandmother's house through a desert

~encounter with a talking wolf

~trickster antics on the part of the wolf when he pretends to be little red Riding-Hood and the grandmother (the wolf only pretends to be the grandmother in this adaptation)

~deception: the wolf decieves both grandmother and little red-Riding Hood

magic: folktales often accept magic as a normal part of life

~the talking wolf

~how the wolf devours the people so quickly

sublimation: folktales often display this by taking something ordinary and making it devine, more refined, or more socially acceptable

~little red Riding-Hood is made more beautiful and socially accepted by the little red-Riding Hood her grandmother made for her (in this adaptation it is a Red Cowboy Hat her grandmother gave her)

Additional criteria:

cultural depictions: the basis of the original story has been adapted to fit into certain societies standards of life, i.e. different geographical locations

~the setting and language used in the story reflect historical Europe

~custards and butter, loaf of bread and cactus jelly

~red Riding-Hood, Cowboy Hat

~use of names, i.e. mother, grandmother, christian name

~the setting and language used in the story reflect the wild West

~directions that explain past the mill and in the village

~little red Riding-Hood chases butterflies, gathers nuts, and makes nosegays of flowers (she collects gold poppies and blue lupines instead)

~ little red Riding-Hood undressed and got into her grandmother's bed with the wolf

~The grandmother chased the wolf out with an axe, shot gun, and herd of animals

Narrative Point of View: the type of storyteller/storytelling

external omniscent narrator: not a character in the story, "all-knowing"

The narrator in this story does not side with either main character.

Color Coded References (grey text refers to grey reference/red text refers to red reference):

Lowell, S. (1997). Little red cowboy hat. New York: Holt.

Perrault, C. (1729). Histories or tales of times past with morals (R. Samber,

Trans.). Retrieved November 3,2004, from University of Southern

Mississippi, Department of English Little Red Riding Hood

Project Web site:

http://www.usm.edu/english/fairytales/lrrh/lrrhhome.htm

Russell D. L. "Literature for children: A short introduction." 5th ed. Boston: Pearson:

Allyn and Bacon 2005