Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What genre elements do classic fairy tales have in common? Consider the broad components of stories in your response: plot, character, setting, theme, and point of view.

Teaching Suggestion: Once students begin their discussion, it may be beneficial to broaden the examples to include motifs common to cross-cultural stories and symbols that have become intrinsically connected with the fairy-tale genre (for example: magic mirrors, glass slippers, spinning wheels), including morals or values that are regularly communicated through fairy tales.

• Fairy and Faerie: Uses of the Victorian in Neil Gaiman’s and Charles Vess’s Stardust – Sponsored by the literary magazine of the University of Florida, this article might serve as an overview of common motifs between Stardust and fantastical works of Victorian literature.
• Library Research Guide for Folklore and Mythology – This introduction to the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index of common folk and fairy-tale motifs might be useful in extended discussion on connection points and ways to categorize and classify stories of different genres.

2. What is the “Hero’s Journey” story archetype? If you are not familiar with this idea, think about books and films you’ve experienced in which a hero figure plays a key role.