Comments on revision: Tascha, it looks like you focused most of your revision on organization, which makes sense since that was the biggest issue with your draft. Your revisions make your internal paragraph organization much clearer. Your paragraph to paragraph organization was largely unchanged, with the exception of the deleted paragraph near the end, and that is something to think about for the next paper. One of the best tools for revising for paragraph to paragraph organization is a reverse outline, which you can read about here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/689/1/ . The other thing to work on is making sure your main claim is as specific as possible, or at least as specific as the paper that follows. Most of your claims center around a child’s identification with the prince as a way of learning self-acceptance, and some specific information about that to clarify early on for a reader the kind of argument you are making about the tale will greatly help that reader follow the logic of your argument.

Comments on draft: Tascha, you have a strong voice and some great analysis of PP here. You really seem to have taken to B’s approach, and are able to bring out the ways the tale could help reassure a child in ways that generate new insight about the tale. My main concern right now is that your organization is getting in the way of some of this analysis, particularly in the first half of your paper. I recommend in a marginal comment, but I’ll repeat it here, that instead of doing a plot summary and analysis simultaneously over the course of the paper, you begin with a simple plot summary and then organize the analysis in terms of ideas rather than narrative sequence. This will help you lead a reader through your ideas, and give you more flexibility to relate your different ideas to one another.
The other thing that would help bring your strength at analysis to the fore is to be much more specific in your thesis/main claim about what you have to say about PP—not just that you can interpret it in a “more meaningful way,” but what the specific meaning or meanings are.

Natascha Qu
Professor Ruch
English 1010-34
February 5, 2013
Destroying Problems as Pigs do to Wives When reading a fairy tale, a psychoanalytic lens can be used to understand the tale in a much more intricate way and to realize how it could be impactful on individuals’ lives. Giovan Francesco Straparola’s “The Pig Prince” is an ideal example of a fairy tale Interpreting fairy tales, especially using a lens such as this one, is difficult and usually impossible to generalize and simplify into one meaning that would be universally agreed upon. According to Bruno Bettelheim, fairy tales are one of the most important and effective ways to communicate life lessons and acceptable moral behaviors to people of all ages, but especially children. By reading Straparola’s “The Pig Prince,” using a psychoanalytic lens such as Bettelheim describes in “The Struggle for Meaning,” to analyze it, readers are able to interpret and comprehend the tale in a deeper, more meaningful way. A fairy tale is the ideal means for relaying meaningful messages to children. Like many others, these stories keep the child entertained by “arous[ing] his curiosity,” but fairy tales also effectively add meaning to the child’s life by “stimulat[ing] his imagination” and relating to several aspects of his life that may seen like troublesome challenges at the time (Bettelheim 5). Bettelheim’s approach in interpreting fairy tales is brought about by Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic model (Bettelheim 8). Bettelheim argues that “fairy tales carry important messages to the conscious, the preconscious, and the unconscious mind” while also giving “body to id pressures and show[ing] ways to satisfy these that are in line with ego and superego requirements (Bettelheim 6). These stories basically speak to all parts of the child’s psyche in a subconscious manner that later may surface throughout his conscious self in his words, actions, values, and beliefs . Although most fairy tales include extraordinary and mythical elements, they also deal directly with real life dilemmas or hardships that everyone experiences at least once in their life such as “the need to be loved and the fear that one is thought worthless” and offer solutions to problems such as these (Bettelheim 10). “The Pig Prince” is a short story with several underlying messages. This tale starts off with a queen who cannot seem to get pregnant no matter how hard she tries. One day, because she is such a good person, three fairies wish that she will have a son, but one of them wishes that her son will be born a pig. So finally, she gets pregnant and has a pig son. Because he came out a pig, the king was going to kill him but decided against it since it’s his own blood. The queen found the son a wife, but on their first night together, he killed her because he had overheard her saying that she was going to kill him. He did the same to his next wife. His third wife accepted him for who he was so he did not kill her and instead, he told her his secret: he was a handsome prince under the pig skin he had to wear everyday. His wife told the queen so one night, the king and queen went into their room, took the pig skin, and burnt it so that their son could never wear it again. When the king saw that the prince was such a great young man, he crowned him king. Giovan Francesco Straparola’s not-so-well-known short story, “The Pig Prince,” is a fairy tale that seems to include many of these messages described within “The Struggle for Meaning.” Right from the beginning of the tale, readers can begin to interpret what some of these messages might be. Straparola describes the princess as one “whose beauty, virtues, and grace outshone those of all other ladies of the time” in order to separate her as a “good” and likeable character who later on is rewarded (with a son) for her goodness (Straparola 51). Bettelheim explains how and why characters within fairy tales are so polarized and obviously made out and described to be either good or evil; there are rarely any characters that are “drawn more true to life” in the aspect that they can be seen as in between good and bad. He explains that this is so that the child will easily be able “to comprehend… the difference between the two” and desire to be more like the good ones, as they are rewarded (Bettelheim 9).
Even though she was rewarded with a son, he was not as perfect as she expected (because he was born a pig). This can teach children that even when they are rewarded for something or blessed in some way, it may not be perfect or how they expected it to be. Because his son was not as expected, the king contemplating killing him but decided against it because he’s of his own blood. Regardless, the princess and her husband still loved their son, displaying the unconditional love all parents have for their children no matter how they may look or even act. Children can relate to the pig prince as many often feel unloved or mistreated at times. Children need to know that no matter what they do or how they look, their parents will love them and they can learn this lesson from the pig prince.
Using a pig- an animal usually thought of as dirty and disgusting- as a mask for the son may relate to children who view themselves as monsters in some way (either looks, acts, or beliefs) or wear masks because they are ashamed of themselves. When a child sees himself as a beast or a bad person, he may think others see him in the same light. This idea is portrayed in the tale when he asks his mother for a wife and she responds to him saying to not “talk so foolishly,” and that no “maiden would ever take [him] for a husband” because he’s “dirty and [he] stink[s]” (Straparola 52). This idea is also conveyed by the first two women who at first deny his marriage proposal because they are “disturbed” by the mere idea of taking a pig as a husband. Children of this kind may also believe themselves incapable of achieving certain tasks as the pig prince’s first wife tells him that “neither [him] nor any other swine in the whole entire kingdom of pigs could ever have made” the dress she was wearing because it is too beautiful (Straparola 53). Because children recognize “that they are not always good,” they need to be reminded that this is normal and that they can get through it (Bettelheim 7). Many times, children attempt to hide or disguise ideas they hold about themselves as the pig prince killed his first wife because she was a living reminder that he viewed himself as a beast (or rather she symbolized his view of himself as a beast). As the pig prince simply dealt with his problem (his wife) “as she had intended to deal with him” by killing or ignoring the her, the thing that was killing him and bringing him down, just brought him down even more as happens to children if they don’t face their inner anxieties (Straparola 53). When asking his mother for another wife, the pig became extremely angry and threatening as children do when they are unable to kill the beast within or when they are “struggl[ing] against severe difficulties in life” that are “unavoidable” (Bettelheim 8). As the pig prince begged for a second wife, children learn to persevere on through a second chance to help themselves, although it may be difficult. As with each next wife, fixing one’s problems can become more and more difficult. Children can learn that if they face their inner struggles, they can erase them from their lives and eventually be happier and satisfied with themselves and all they have.
The prince’s acceptance (or his not killing) of his third wife symbolizes a child’s acceptance to any problems or monsters he faces. As he learned to trust this wife, a child learns to trust himself. As the pig prince “shook off the dirty and stinking sin of the pig from his body, and he stood there before her as a handsome and attractive young man,” so will children unmask themselves and recognize their own beauty by trusting in themselves (Straparola 55). The prince’s perseverance depicts to kids that “if one does not shy away, but steadfastly meets unexpected and often unjust hardships, one masters all obstacles and at the end emerges victorious” (Bettelheim 8).
For the pig prince, the final step in his permanent unmasking of himself is telling others about his problem as he tells his wife who relays the message to his parents. This shows children that lying will not get one anywhere, while telling the truth “redeems us” and makes us better people (Bettelheim 14). This also reminds children that telling their parents their problems or anxieties will help them to cope and get through them. Children can learn that when one admits and faces the truth about himself, his true identity will be found even if other have to help him uncover and discover it. When one learns that others see him for what he really is, he will then learn to see himself for the truth to and learn not to be ashamed by it. When one sees himself for who he is, he will notice that others do to and love him for it as the pig prince was “crowned king… [and] thereafter known as King Pig” and of course, as in most fairy tales, “lived long and happily with Meldina, his beloved wife,” who first saw him for who he truly was (Straparola 56).

Only by going out into the real world can a fairy tale hero, much like a child, find his individuality (Bettelheim 11). Just as the pig prince did, children must learn that we are all different and unique; we must learn to appreciate ourselves as a unique individual instead of trying to be like everyone else. When one dislikes himself, he will only lead himself into destruction whereas one who learns to like and accept himself will be led to happiness. Bettelheim’s psychoanalytic lens aids in interpreting “The Pig Prince” in a way that may affect children in the future or even at the moment.

Works Cited

Bettelheim, Bruno. "Introduction: The Struggle for Meaning." The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. New York: Vintage Books: A Division of Random House, 1989. 3-19. Web. 4 Feb. 2013.
Straparola, Giovan Francesco. "The Pig Prince." Trans. Array The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm. Jack Zipes. New York: W W Norton, 2001. 51-56. Web. 4 Feb. 2013.

Points | Category | Breakdown | Description | 18 | Analysis | | Assignment-specific grade is sum of breakdown | | 5 | Critical approach | describes critical lens accurately and effectively | | 4 | Evidence | effectively uses direct quotations from the tale as evidence | | 5 | Analysis | adequately interprets the evidence from the tale | | 4 | Synthesis | draws logical and compelling conclusions from the analysis | 6 | Main Claim | | Main claim grade is the lowest of breakdown grades | | 7 | Contestable | could reasonably be argued against | | 10 | Interpretive | goes beyond recognized facts to present original insight | | 6 | Specific | defines key terms and criteria in sufficient detail | | 10 | Based in fact | interpretations arise from factual basis from which evidence is drawn | | 7 | Significant | relevance of claim to reader is either obvious or explained | 18 | Argument | | Argument grade is sum of breakdown | | 5 | Comprehensive | provides sufficient evidence and analysis of that evidence | | 5 | Complex | goes beyond commonplaces and entertains objections and complications | | 4 | Coherent | maintains focus on main claim, and explains how sub-claims relate to the whole | | 4 | Compelling | demands interest and effectively links evidence and reasoning | 16 | Organization | | Organization grade is sum of breakdown | | 9 | Within paragraphs | individual paragraphs develop logically to present coherent points | | 7 | Paragraph to paragraph | movement among topics develops logically and clearly | 8 | Style | | Style grade is sum of breakdown, and is weighted toward current style objectives | | 4 | Clarity | structures sentences around concrete actors and dynamic actions | | 4 | Conciseness | says what needs to be said economically, avoiding empty verbiage | 10 | Formatting | | Formatting grade is sum of breakdown | | 2 | Document | margins, headers, footers, etc. are appropriate for the style used | | 4 | Citations | in-text citations and work cited are both clear and accurate | | 4 | Work Cited | list of references is properly formatted and complete | 10 | Grammar | | Grammar grade is 10 for full correctness, and reductions for specific issues will be noted in breakdown | | 10 | All correct | | 86 | Total | | |