8/12/2019 Task One Red Evaluation

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Task One: Propps Theory of Character & Functions evaluation of my characters

Propps theory of character includes 8 different character types. He said that each storyincluded some, if not all, of these character types. He looked at 100 folk stories & came up

with this theory. Although I believe that some of my characters could follow this path,because the theory was made a long time ago, it isnt always correct. My story Redincludes 4 characters, Red, Jack, and Grandma & The Wolf. The 8 character types that Propp

came up with were The Hero, The Villain, The Princess/prize, The Anti-hero, The

Dispatcher, The Helper, The Donor & The Princess Father.

The 4 character types that are involved in my graphic novel Red are The Hero, The Villain,

and The Prize & The Helper.

Red is The Hero as she will eventually save the day from 1) going to look after her grandma

(the prize) & 2) saving the life of the grandma. Although this is not actually found in the

first part of my graphic novel, which is the part I produced. Unlike the traditional storywhere Red would/could be seen as a Princess-like character as should would have to be

saved from the wolf by the lumberjack.

The Helper in my version of Red would be Jack. Traditionally, Jack (the lumberjack) would

be seen as the hero because he saves Red & Grandma in some stories, but in my updated

version you find him helping Red to kill the Wolf. None of this is actually heard of in the

graphic novel I produced as I did part 1 & this would not be seen in the first part.

The grandma is seen as a princess/prize as she needs to be saved from 1) her illness & 2)

the wolf. She isnt a stereotypical princess & she isnt s stereotypical prize, but she does

need to be saved.

The villain is clearly the wolf, as he wants to eat both Red & Grandma.

The four characters that are not featured in my work are:

1) The donor: the donor is someone that helps the hero in some way, whether this iswith wisdom or with an item. An example of this would be in Cinderella, where the

fairy godmother would be classed as the donor.

2) The anti-hero: the anti-hero is the character that is trying to get the princess or loveinterest from the hero. An example of this would be Lord Farquaad in Shrek.

3)

The Princess Father: thisspeaks for itself, it is the father of the Princess who usuallywants his daughter back or is against the hero (he doesnt think he is good enough

for his daughter. An example of this, using Shrek again, would be the King. He is the

father to Princess Fiona. He wanted his daughter back & did not like the person that

saved his daughter (Shrek).

4) The dispatcher: This is the person that allows the hero to know something is wrong.An example of this would be Dumbledore in Harry Potter. He lets Harry know to find

the horcrux.

Overall, Propps theory loosely works with my storyline & characters, but because I have

updated it, it doesnt fit into it as much as the more traditional story does.

8/12/2019 Task One Red Evaluation

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Propps theory also came up with 31 functions that happened in the 100 folk stories helooked at. Not all of the functions are used in every folk story, or story in general. My

graphic novel is in two parts & the functions involved in the part I produced include:

1) Interdiction: Hero is warned The hero knows something is wrong (her grandma is ill)this isnt the initial bad thing that will happen.

2) Reconnaissance: Villain seeks something He wants something to eat so he seeks whatThe Hero is doing (he wants to eat her). He also asks where The Hero is going, as she

could be going somewhere else.

3) Delivery: The villain gains information he founds out where The Hero is going. Thisalso links to Trickery & Complicity as The Hero gave The Villain the information by

mistake.

This where Part One of my Graphic novel ends, so it leaves the overall story on a

cliffhanger.

Narrative structure components:

Todorou was a Russian structualist who believed that a story is always told in 3 or 5 steps.

This theory was created a while ago, so it may not fit into modern day storytelling. The

three steps Todorou came up with Equilibrium: which is day-to-day life, Disequilibrium:

disruption of the life & sets up the story, New Equilibrium: end of the story.

My story does not follow these steps at all. As I have stated above, my story was made in

two parts. I produced the first part, so the New Equilibrium is not written about.

My story has two disequilibriums because there is a disruption because her grandma is ill

& then the wolf comes along, which is another disequilibrium. The story starts with s

disequilibrium, so no equilibrium is included as well.

Binary Opposition:

Clause Levi Strauss came up with the theory that a story can only be a story if there are two

opposites sides come together: two sides. Opposites such as good & bad, animals & humans

are both explored in my story. To a certain extent, I think their needs to be opposite sides

to a story to cause excitement. Conflicts are a large part of storytelling. Its not stuck tohaving only one type of binary opposition, which adds more layers & further contrasts to

the story.