The document discusses Vladimir Propp's analysis of folktales which found that there are 8 character types that commonly appear: the Hero, Villain, Princess/prize, Donor, Helper, Father, False Hero, and Dispatcher. It also discusses Tzvetan Todorov's theory that narratives follow a simple three-part structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium caused by an unexpected event, and a new equilibrium. Finally, it briefly mentions Claude Lévi-Strauss's idea that stories require an opposition between good and evil, and different types of narrative structures like open/closed, single/multi-strand, linear/non-linear, and realist/anti-realist.

1. Evaluation Theory
Vladimir Propp looked and researchedover 100 folktales, he
found that there were 31 plot elements and only 8 character
types:
The first of these character types is the Hero, the hero
generally leads the narrative. They are the good of the story.
The Heroes are usually on a quest to something or someone or
to overcome Evil. The readers want the hero to succeedin his
quest. an example of a hero is Hiro in Big Hero 6, Hiro wants to
find and defeat the villain of the story.
The opposite of the Hero Is the Villain, the villain struggles
against the hero. The villain is seen as morally bad and turns
the reader against them, the villain has a purpose of stopping
the hero from succeeding in his quest. An example of this is
Yokai in Big hero 6.
The Princess/The prize is sought out by the hero of the story.
It is usually the villain who has them. These show up very little
in the story, mainly towards the end when the hero
saves/collects them. The object/ princess could be sought out
by the anti-hero.
The Donor is the person who gives the hero something they
need to complete the task, this could include weapons, magic,
knowledge.
The helper supports the Hero through the quest, these
characters help define the hero’s characteristics. An example of
this is Baymax in Big hero 6.
The PrincessesFather usually gives the task to the hero (to
save the princess). the father is hard to distinguish in modern
story telling. An example of this is The king in Shrek.

2. The false hero acts in the way of a hero but is misleading the
reader, the false hero can be mistaken for the hero. An example
of this is Prince charming shrek, we think he is going to save
the princess but turns evil halfway through the movie.
The Dispatcher like the Father gives the hero the mission or
quest, they show up early in the story and are rarely seen
again.
Todorov believed that all narratives followed the same simple
path:
1. Equilibrium: where the story starts, the life of the character
is balanced for example In the fellowship of the ring Frodo is
living in the shire.
2. Disequilibrium: An unexpected event happens to the
character, the story now revolves around this event. for
example when Frodo receives the ring of power.
3. New Equilibrium: the end of the story, balance has been
restoredand the character is back to his equilibrium.
sometimes the new equilibrium is different from the first, it
depends on the events of the story and how they impacted
the character.
this can also be split into 5 steps: Equilibrium/distruption of
order/a recognition of disorder/attempt to repair damage/a
return to restoration.
BinaryOpposites
Strauss is the idea that there can only be a story when two
opposing sides come together, conflict between good and evil.
Types of structure
An open structure is when you don't reach a conclusion e.g
soap operas like Eastenders. A closed structure is when the
story finishes completely.
single strand is one story line and multi-strand is when there are
multiple storylines. linear works in order and non-linear uses
flashbacks. Realist reflects real life events that could happen

3. and anti-realist shows events that are highly unlikely (alien and
sci-fi)