1. Compare & Contrast Paper
Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves and the movie Aladdin
By: Erin McGill
The two stories we compared were Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves and the movie
Aladdin. I wanted to see the similarities and differences between the Arabian folktales.
We used a Venn diagram to help us compare and contrast the two different stories.
We all know every good folktale has a good guy and a bad guy. In Aladdin, the bad
guy tries to get Aladdin's princess or wife. But in Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves they try
to get the treasure from the magical rock. Both of these folktales have a bad guy who
rides an animal. In Ali Baba the animal is a donkey and in Aladdin the bad guy rides a
donkey like animal. They both use the animal to get what they want. Ali Baba wants the
gold and Aladdin wants the girl.
In each of these stories there is a lot of magic. In fact, both stories have a
magical rock in them. In Ali Baba there is the rock that beholds the treasure. In
Aladdin, the magic part of the rock is that it can talk and hear. Plus, it has the treasure
in it known as the genie in the lamp.
In Ali Baba there is a sword fight for the gold. Likewise in Aladdin, there was a
sword fight for the princess. In both of these stories the fight is for the "gold", which
is found in the magic rock. Both stories have the sword fight towards the end of the
day.
In each of the the stories the main character was poor. Aladdin was poor and got
his wealth when he married the princess. Ali Baba never got his money until he stole the
treasure.
The differences in the stories are that in Aladdin the animals talk, but in Ali Baba
and the 40 Thieves the animals do not. This shows that not all folktales are the same.
The talking animals in Aladdin are helping the bad guy get away. In Ali Baba the bad
guy's animals were just fast and quiet.
In the movie Aladdin, Aladdin was not happy or rich until he got married. Ali Baba
was married and happy even though he was not rich. This shows another difference
between the two stories.

2. In Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves it was a little confusing because there were so many
characters. On the other hand, Aladdin was very detailed. I liked Aladdin a lot more. It
was easier to follow the characters in Aladdin because it was a movie. In Ali Baba it was
harder because I could not tell the difference between the characters dialogs.
Ali Baba is more of a hero story. When Aladdin is more of a love story. Morgania,
who i s the maid is the hero in Ali Baba. When in Aladdin is more of a love story,
because Aladdin and the princess fall in love but the king will not let them get married
because he is poor, then Aladdin gets the genie and she falls in love with her again and
the father of the princess allows the couple to get married.
I loved both Arbian folktales. They both were descriptive. I liked this project a lot
because I learned about different kinds of old folktales. I enjoyed watching
Aladdin because it had more detail and since it was a movie I could really see how the
people were feeling.