Evaluation Theories Propp was a Russian scholar and analysed the plot components of one hundred folk fairytales

and came to the conclusion all folk tales consisted of 8 character types. These character types are not all involved in a storyline but every character in the story will be linked to at least one character type. In my novel of Alice in Wonderland Alice is the hero. The story follows her journey of getting home and her adventures in this strange land. Many people who read this story relate to her, as a character; a young typical girl, and people therefore want her to succeed. Alice isnt like the usual hero, fighting for a princess/prize, but she is fighting her way through the wonderland to get home. She has a lot of help from others, as she is only a young girl, unlike in the fairytale story of Cinderella where Prince Charming is the hero and rescues the Princess on his own for her hand in marriage. Alice in Wonderland is not a typical fairytale but does still include many functions and theories. The villain is met nearer the end of the storyline; this is the Queen of Hearts. Villains stop the hero from succeeding and the Queen puts Alice on trial after shouting Off with her head! The Queen of Hearts is threatened by Alice as she is a young, and a much more likeable person in the Wonderland. The White Rabbit is seen every now and again throughout the storyline. He leads Alice with directions into and around Wonderland. The White Rabbit would be seen as both a donor and a dispatcher as he is the person to send our hero, Alice, off on her mission. Many dispatchers are links with other character types. The donor and helper are sometimes mixed as they are similar but in this situation the Cheshire Cat met half way though the novel is seen as a helper to Alice. He supports her though the time when she is struggling to find her way. In a strange way he offers her friendship and gives her directions. He is always there to look over her and is still there for her in the last panel when she gets back to her everyday life. In an animal form he is like an angel that looks over her and keeps her safe. The old wise Caterpillar is also seen as a donor to Alice as he gives her his wise knowledge towards the mushroom so she can control her size. In the end this helps her escape the Queen of Hearts and manages to return home. The Mad Hatter is a confusing character, as he doesnt help Alice, in fact he confuses her more causing her to leave his friendship and leave the tea party altogether. I cannot find a character type for the Mad Hatter to fit into. He himself has a confusing and mad personality that does not help in any situation. The question why is a raven like a writing desk? is asked which just confuses the situation more. Nor does he offer a prize, a task or a false hero personality. This is unusual for a character not to have a character type and is only seen in a few, more complicated storylines and characters. This shows that Propps theory has some faults and need updating. It shows characters do have a much wider range. The other three character types that have not been covered in my story are the princess/prize, the princesss father and the false hero. A princess/prize is a character, male or female that needs rescuing from the villain or something

terrifying. This is not Alices role to rescue anyone. Although people may look at it as she is the princess, as she needs rescuing from her own head. This is unusual for the hero and princess being the same character but her being a young girl she is confused about her own world and this dream leads her into a terrifying and crazy world which she needs to get out of and rescues her own thoughts. The princesss father and the false hero are the two other types that are not included in the storyline. They are therefore found in other folk fairytale stories, for example in Shrek, a new updated fairytale has both these characters, the false hero is Prince Charming, everyone thinks he is charming when really he is ste aling the heros princess. The princesss father is, ironically in this story the Fionas own father who gives permission to rescue his daughter. Propp also came to a conclusion that folk tale stories all consist of at least more than one of the 31 functions. The functions that are involved in my novel storyline are: Absentation- Alice went missing from her typical day-to-day life after following the White Rabbit down the hole. Complicity- This occurs when she reaches Wonderland, but the unwitting help is not from the enemy but just a sideline talking doorknob that tells Alice the only way to get into Wonderland is to drink the bottle on the table next to the key. She drinks the bottle but cannot get the key, as she is too small to reach. Beginning Counter Action- The first counter action she comes across is with the Caterpillar and she accepts his knowledge and takes part of the mushroom and a bit for later to get her size back again. This will be a positive action later in the storyline. Receipt of a Magical Agent- This is when Alice meets the Cheshire Cat. Guidance- She is guided into the Villains pathway. Struggle- This is where Alice is sent to trial, the Queen is winning and Alice doesnt know what to do. Victory- Alice grows uncontrollably big and she knocks the Queens guards down and escapes her, defeating her power. Return- Alice wishes to be home, she hears the Cheshire Cats laugh and is back where she was before she left. Unrecognised Arrival- She had not moved from where she was sat under the tree and no one had realised shed gone, nor did she. Todorou, also from Russia, produced another theory, which was that all narratives followed the same paths. Theses paths include the Equilibrium; the story starts in a typical day-to-day life. Disequilibrium; The event which disrupts the life of the character, which for Alice is seeing the White Rabbit and following it down into Wonderland and a New Equilibrium; returning back to a normal or good place, which for Alice this is back under the tree where she started her day. Todorous theory does make sense and fits mostly all storylines. Claude Levi Staus, a French theorist came up with the Binary Opposition that suggests there can only be a story when two opposing sides come together for example, good vs. evil. In Alice in Wonderland the sides that come together are

make believe vs. real life. This theory can be used in all storylines. Depending how deep you look into the storyline there will always be an opposition that makes the story and allows it to flow. The make believe is represented by the events Alice experience and all things around her as it unbelievable. And real life is represented by Alice herself and before and after she is in Wonderland. Alice is a signature reference to the real life inside a dream and how the two clashing together do not mix making one or both unhappy.

Evaluation Structure The structures of novels have a great effect on how it portrayed. Firstly having an open or closed ending makes a big impact. Having an open structure leaves the audience with a cliffhanger and mostly means more issues and episodes to come out. This is popular with well-known series of books such as Harry Potter, The Hobbit and The Hunger Games. They are known to be successful and lead the audience in by using open endings. Although my novels storyline reaches a closed ending and structure as it reaches a conclusion that Alice arrived back and she lived happily ever after as she was back safe home in her own environment. Alice in Wonderland follows just one young girl through her travels in one wonderland world. This is a single strand structure as there is just one storyline. This is popular in childrens stories because following more than one storyline will be confusing for them and making the story as simple but fun as possible is what makes a successful novel. Alice in Wonderland is already a long and complicated storyline to follow and to fit it for a child to understand and enjoy is a challenge but by having a single strand structure this makes it a lot simpler and enjoyable for the child. The opposite of a single strand is a multi strand structure that follows lots of different storylines that are more likely to be found in older teen or adults novels. Another way to make the novel simple for an audience of 7-12 year olds is by structuring it as a linear pathway. This means the storyline goes from beginning to middle to end. All the events happen in order and no flash backs or time change happens. This lets the child understand easily what is happening and the storyline is already enjoyable which allows the audience to enjoy the story. Nonlinear paths are the opposite; this includes the structure to be messed up with time changes and flashbacks. Realist and anti-realist explains how realist the storyline is. A realistic structure would include day-to-day basic events that are possible to happen. But an anti-realist structure explains the events happening in the story are near or are impossible to happen. Anti-realist is mostly used for childrens novels as it gives children something to imagine and think about. The creative novel of Alice in Wonderland is a great way to show anti-realist, as all the events that happen in the wonderland cannot happen in a realistic life and gives children an imagination.