The Representation of Women in the fairy tale Rapunzel

1. What does she look like? Pay particular attention to the question of whether she is considered beautiful.

·      Rapunzel is very beautiful, so beautiful that the enchantress locks her away in a tower

·      She has very long golden hair

2. How old is she?

·      She was taken as a baby

·      She was 14 years old when the prince found her in the tower

3. Is she in a position of power or not?

·      She doesn’t have much power over her life as she is locked in a tower

4. What does she do?

·      She doesn’t do anything about it though

·      She doesn’t ask the enchantress to set her free and she just lets the enchantress exile her to a desert and does nothing to stop her

5. What are her personal characteristics?

·      Her personal characteristics include:

·      Amazing singing voice

·      No respect for herself

·      Pathetic

·      Weak

6. What happens to her?

·      Rapunzel is locked away in a tower and a prince finds her one day

·      She plans to escape but in her own stupidity she gives it away

·      The enchantress sends her away to a desert and she is left there where she has twins

·      She is wandering around hopelessly when she is found by the prince and she gives him back his sight

·      They live happily ever after and she is at the age of 15 or so

7. How do males react to her?

·      The prince in the story immediately falls in love with her

·      Within the first 5 minutes of meeting her he asks for her to be his wife

·      She comes to see her every night yet does not really do much to save her

·      He falls in love with her because of her voice and her beauty and she is only 14 years old at this stage

8. How do other females react to her?

·      The enchantress is jealous of her beauty

·      This then gets Rapunzel locked away in a tower

9. Is she punished or rewarded by the story? What is she punished or rewarded for?

·      She was punished throughout the story but in the end she is rewarded in a way

·      The story does not give her a very good image though

10. How is she punished or rewarded?

·      She is punished as she is locked in a tower for most of her life and then thrown into a desert with nothing

·      She is rewarded though as she finds her prince, marries him and lives happily ever after

11. What qualities are valued in women in the text?

·      There aren’t many qualities valued from this text as Rapunzel did not stand up for herself

·      She also happily accepted to be the prince’s husband even though she hardly knew him

·      She could’ve escaped yet she gave the plan away in her own stupidity

·      There weren’t any good qualities shown apart from the fact that she stayed alive that long in the desert which shows that she could pull through rough times

Skulduggery Pleasant: Mortal Coil

Valkyrie Cain is the main female character in this story and she is a strong and capable character. She started out weaker and more vulnerable in book 1 but she has worker her way up the ladder and now she has quite a reputation for foiling plans and wreaking havoc. She has become one of the most feared mages and she has recently found out that she is going to be the one to destroy the world and kill everyone. She is Darquesse the girl that has been in all the visions of the future. She doesn't want this to happen though and she fears that someone will find out her true name and use it against her. She decides to act independently and not tell Skulduggery (her detective partner) as she is worried he will judge her by it and try to kill her. So she has recently gone to seal her name alone and put her life on the line for the people she loves. She literally dies and comes back to life to have her name sealed and is confident now that she has changed the future so she doesn't destroy the world. Valkyrie is a true warrior she has fought many times and is brave and courageous. She is also very intelligent and strong being able to cope and pull through the most difficult situations. She does have a boyfriend called Fletcher but she does not let Fletcher take over her life. She still likes to think of herself as an independent and capable girl.

Soul Surfer

I would recommend this book to anyone really. It is an inspirational autobiography of a girl called Bethany Hamilton who lost her arm in a shark attack while surfing. She makes an amazing comeback from what should be so unlikely and makes it to the pro circuit. I love this and urge you all to read this amazing story.

Comparing Ellie and Miley

Ellie from 'Tomorrow; When the War Began' and Miley from 'Hannah Montanna Movie' have some similarities and differences. One of the similarities between them is that they are 17 years old and they are typical looking country girls but a difference is that Miley has the choice to be either her country self or change into a glamorous pop star. Miley's problems in the movie are first world problems as she is torn between her two lives whereas Ellie has a much bigger problem as she and her group are fighting a war where they are the underdogs. Both girls though show determination and courage to try to defeat their problems and this makes them both good role models as they are not depending on anyone to help them solve them. This though doesn't mean they don't need support. Ellie and Miley find romance yet Ellie isn't afraid to call it off whereas Miley's story is a happily ever after. Ellie wouldn't do absolutely everything for Lee yet Miley would reveal her identity just for the boy she likes. Ellie's story is a lot more realistic and shows her as an independent girl that can lead a group and that has earnt her respect. Miley is still quite independent but she does put a lot on the line for a boy and this can portray women to sometimes be weak as they would do anything for a boy but she does solve her problem on her own with her conscience and she also has respect from all her fans. Both Ellie and Miley share the similarity that they can be independent and can work out their own problems and this is how women are shown in modern day texts.

Homework - Representation of Women

Tomorrow; When the War Began - Ellie

1   What does she look like? Pay particular attention to the question of whether she is considered beautiful.

·      She is a normal looking teenager that lives on a farm

·       She is just an average Australian girl

2.    How old is she?

·      She is 17 years old

3.    Is she in a position of power or not?

·      In a way she is as she is kind of the leader of the group that is trying to fight for freedom

·      She doesn’t have the most amount of power as they are the underdogs in the war so they are not in a very good position to do anything but she does as much as she can

4.    What does she do?

·      She becomes the leader of the group

·      They try to damage the enemy any way that they can

·      By this they set up many traps and blow up many of the enemies’ bases and important facilities

5.    What are her personal characteristics?

·      Leadership

·      Encouragement

·      Determination

·      Cunning

·      Wise

6.    What happens to her?

·      Her and her friends damage the enemy in any way they can

·      This included blowing up the bridge to cut the convoys from coming into the town

·      She falls in love with Lee and they have a relationship for some time

7.    How do males react to her?

·      One boy does have feelings for her

·      The other 3 boys in the group regard her as a friend and have respect for her

·      They find her a great leader and listen to her

8.    How do other females react to her?

·      Her girl friends also find her a great leader that they can trust

·      They look to her to help solve their problems

·      They, like the boys, have a deep respect for her and know that she knows what to do

9.    Is she punished or rewarded by the story? What is she punished or rewarded for?

·      In the story Ellie is punished as all her family are taken from her and her country has been invaded

·      The story also rewards her but not literally in the story as it shows the qualities she possesses of a strong, female leader

10. How is she punished or rewarded?

·      The story though, portrays Ellie as a strong, determined girl that can beat the odds

·      It shows that with her encouragement and leadership she could pull together a group that work well together to help defeat the enemy

11. What qualities are privileged – what qualities are presented positively?

·      The qualities that are presented include:

·      Her determination

·      Her will power

·      Her resilience

·      Most of all her leadership ways that could somehow bring happiness and pull the group together