Research Report: [Multicultural Cinderella]
By [Steven Garcia ], [Multiculturalism in Cinderella ] Team 4
- Abstract. (100 words or less). [An abstract is an efficient thumbnail summary of the item being reported on--a so-called "executive summary."
This item (The Persian Cinderella in form of a book) is important for the group project (Multiculturalism in Cinderella) because it is an item that translates some cultural information in form of text and illustration. In the following paragraphs, there will be a description of the item and how this item can serve as part of an introduction to multicultural literature and education. A brief description of the project will be provided so that the reader has an idea of how this item can compliment the project. The limitations, opportunities, and contributions that this item brings to the project Multiculturalism in Cinderella will be talked about. Links to resources that relate to the item and project will be given at the end, links such as about plot summary, critical analysis, the item in forms of video, and other relevant information.
- Description. The description is a fuller objective explanation fo the item being reported on (basically: who, what, when, how, and/or why). It may include portions of the annotation you previously wrote for your annotated bibliography as well as quotations from the item in question (if properly cited). Please include screenshots or other images where appropriate. The goal is to give your reader a good idea of what the item is.
The item is a book called The Persian Cinderella by Shirley Climo and Robert Florczak. The item is available mostly in print and online text, but costs money. There are versions of it online for free but are without illustrations. The book is an adaptation of the traditional story “ Cinderella,” but adapted to represent a version that is shows Persian Culture. It is supposed to take place sometime in the 15th/16th century. The item is about a girl, Settareh who s forced to live with her stepsisters, cousins, and aunts, who treat her badly and has a dad who visits her rarely. She is supposed to attend a party and is given money to buy clothes but ends up giving it away to a financially poor lady and buys a jug that grants wishes. The jug dresses her in fancy clothing and she attends, but leaves an anklet behind. The prince receives the anklet and makes it his mission to find the person who that anklet belongs to. He meets Settareh and plan to get married, but then her sisters spoil their plans and turn Settarah into a dove. Luckily the Prince figures out something peculiar about the dove, it having pins, and takes them off. Settareh returns back to normal and she lives happily ever after with the Prince. Her sisters in return end up dying because of the jealousy and anger towards Settareh returning to normal and happy.
- Commentary. Your commentary should include an evaluation of the opportunities/limitations of the item as applied to your team's project. (What possibilities does this item suggest for your project and its general idea? What problems or limitations does it also suggest?)
The project centers on a blog and entries. Our project will require entries by characters from these stories (those entries will be done by the people in the team). The item (such as the Persian Princess book) will help in adding to these entries, as being one of the sources for it. The characters that the people from the group will be will consist of the group paraphrasing and summarizing key moments in the stories. The group will pick key moments, which show the culture that the story is centered around. This way, while keeping the traditional story of Cinderella in mind, they will acknowledge the differences and similarities of these stories. The group will make the entries sound as if the characters were telling and speaking to the reader. This way, the audience does not feel like they are reading a book, but instead are hearing a personal story that they can interact with by leaving questions for the bloggers.
One of the limitations that this item brings is that it offers a select amount of information about cultures. This select information represents a culture that is being related and translated into a form that the reader( such a middle/ high school student) will remember. The reader may make some generalizations about the culture and assume all people(such as Persians in this case) are all the same and wear clothes and have the same beliefs that this item talks about. However, even though stereotyping is a limitation arises, the group has the option of providing links or other resources to find out more about a certain culture that, for example this item, talks about. The group will have to do their research on the different customs and beliefs of the culture they are telling the story about.
One of the opportunities that this item offers is presenting a culture and a story by an author who has written many books having to do with adaptations of Cinderella. The author Shirley Climo has many translations such as like this item, meaning the author has practice with writing multicultural texts. Though this is project is a prototype to show how multicultural literature can be presented through various forms of technology, practicing with multicultural literature that is legitimate will show the group and their audience certain elements of what multicultural looks like. For example, elements like language(such as common phrases or words used in language(s) that are associated with the culture) and manners in which the story is told(such as using colloquial language or language that is very descriptive and used many verbs, adverbs, and adjectives, and so on). The author’s experience with writing such adaptations gives the group another source fo the blog. If the reader feels like they connected and like the stories, they can check out multiple adaptations of Cinderella from this author. The group, of course, would have to check these adaptations of their accuracy in portraying a certain culture and how well the adaptation is written.
A contribution that this item can bring is the element of illustration. The group being able to present multicultural stories in the blog will allow them to insert images that can be useful. For the readers who prefer or learn better through images, their interest can be captivated with a variety of images that can relate to the story and culture. The group would have to pick images that are appropriate for a middle school/high school audience, would not cause any copyright issues. Not only do they have to be images, but perhaps clips as well. The group will have to evaluate these images and clips by making sure they are related to the story they are presenting and are accurate in representing the culture being talked about. One way in which an image can be applied is by making it seem as if the character who is supposed to be from the story took the image or was present during it. This makes the image more interesting because it legitimizes the image by building a background story for it.
Another limitation that this item presents is the cost of the item. It can range from seven dollars to fifteen dollars. There are versions of it online for free, however, most of these versions are without the illustrations that the book provides. Illustrations can be just as important as the text being written because it offers another tool for the reader so that he/she can visualize and learn the story. Knowing this, the group will have to find ways of providing a version of this item for free without an legal troubles and providing complementary images or clips that will help give the reader the same experience as if he/she were reading from the book that cost money.
- Resources for Further Study. This section of the report should be a brief set of follow-up citations or links (including the citation/link to the item under discussion). (Please note the course Wikipedia Use Policy.)
The item (The Persian Cinderella book on amazon) “http://www.amazon.com/Persian-Cinderella-Shirley-Climo/dp/0064438538/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416851803&sr=1-1&keywords=the+persian+cinderella+by+shirley+climo”
Youtube video about the story( person dresses up in clothing thought to be related to the culture and narrates. The video consist of cut outs of characters and buildings that are used as puppets: “http://youtu.be/kLueBJ-TmpE”
Link to an intro of the Persian Cinderella that gives some background on the authors and the story itself: “ http://rhonda-thomas.tripod.com/id9.html “
Link to a plot summary and critical analysis of the story “https://anetsmith.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/the-persian-cinderella-traditional-literature/”
Link to a list of Cinderella adaptations, their country, and the authors: “http://www.education.ne.gov/forlg/elementary/cinderella.pdf”
Link to a page that talks about introducing Cinderella as a Cross cultural story:
“http://teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/viewer/initiative_09.01.04_u”
Link to the text that is free to view
“http://rachelhopecrossman.blogspot.com/2011/03/78-persian-cinderella-happy-nowruz-2011.html”
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