For this week's journal, you need to deal with the article "Tell Me Lies: Lying, Storytelling, and the Romance Novel as Feminist Fiction" by Tricia Zakreski.

First, answer these two questions in complete sentences:

Why do you think I made you read this article?

Why is storytelling important in Crusie's novels, according to Zakreski?

Now, for something a little more fun. Read the following information and quotes, then do the exercise at the end. I may post the really good ones on a wiki page or on my journal.

Both Zakreski and Crusie discuss fairy tales. Zareski says that Cruise acknowledges how often fair tales "routinely depict the failure, punishment, and death of women who transgress established social norms" (Zakreski).

Then, in her article "Let Us Now Praise Scribbling Women" (at http://jennycrusie.com/for-writers/essays/let-us-now-praise-scribbling-women/), Crusie talks more about the idea of fairy tales and what drew her to them, and says that although tales like "Jack and the Beanstalk" provide great role models for young boys, young girls often are relegated to "wanting and being won" (Crusie).

If traditional fairy tales exalt boys, yet portray women as weak and needy, what needs to be changed in those stories? There are lots of "re-envisioning" of fairy tales already done - examples include:

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, by Angela Carter

The Cinderella Deal, by Jennifer Crusie

Feminist Fairy Tales, by Barbara G. Walker

The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy, by Anne Rice (sort of)

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, by Gregory Maguire (again, sort of)

Thinking critically, come up with a fairy tale that has a female as the protagonist and portrays her in a not-so-strong way. How can you change the tale to make her "fight for what she believe[s] in and search[es] for the truth," or be "re-born" or "transformed" with a "new sense of self?"

In other words, don't just flip the roles, or make the male the female and vice-versa. Instead, think about how Cinderella can stay Cinderella, but be a strong, capable, truth-seeking version of herself?