Vladimir Propp analyzed Russian folk tales and identified that they consist of 31 plot elements and 8 character types, even though there are many characters. The document then discusses each of the 8 character types - the hero, villain, princess/prize, donor, helper, princess father, false hero, and dispatcher - and provides examples from stories like Hansel and Gretel, The Hunger Games, and Aladdin. It also discusses Todorov's theory that all stories follow the same structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium, and new equilibrium. Finally, it analyzes the children's book the author created using these structural concepts.

1. Task 9
Vladimir Propp analyzed Russian folk tales to find out that they were made
up of 31 plot elements and also found that there were only 8 different
character types even thought there were a large number of characters
across different folk tales.
The Hero
The hero is the character who leads the story and is normally sent on a
quest or mission that they have to solve. Most of the time the hero wants
to succeed in the story. In my book the hero is Hansel, he shows that he is
more heroic than Gretel because he’s the one that take the lead when they
find the unusual house in the forest and isn’t frightened to go in unlike
Gretel.
The Villain
The villain is a character that shows they are bad and do the opposite of
what a hero would do, for example they would steal something whereas
the hero wouldn’t steal anything and if something was stole they would
return it. There is no villain in my children’s book I created but the original
Hansel and Gretel story has a villain who is a witch because she captures
Hansel and Gretel and tries putting them into the oven to cook them.
The princess/prize
The princess/prize in a story can take two forms. The hero can seek them
or they can be the reward after the hero has solved a mission/quest and
would get her affection. They might not be in the story very much and will
only appear for certain parts of it but they could also be pursued other
characters other than the hero. The book I created doesn’t have a princess
but Hansel and Gretel’s mother is who gets saved in my book and the prize
is that the family is reunited after being apart for many years.
The Donor
The donor is who gives something to the hero, which could help them
succeed in their mission/quest. This role can be combined with the role of
a helper and sometimes they wont give the hero a gift until the hero
completes a simple task for them. For my story there isn’t a donor and in
the original Hansel and Gretel story there is no donor as well. A donor
would be like Haymitch in the hunger games because he gives Katniss and
Peeta advice and sends Katniss objects to help her when she is in the
hunger games.
The helper
The helper is who supports the hero in the story and they are normally
found in a supporting role. Often the helper isn’t as heroic as the hero so

2. can define the hero’s characteristics. For my story the helper is Gretel
because she goes with Hansel into the forest but she isn’t as heroic when
she lets Hansel go into the house first and wait for him to go in.
PrincessFather
The princess father can give the task to the hero but could also be in
competition with the hero for the princess’s affection. Sometimes this can
be difficult to define this type of character in different stories. In my
children’s book there is no princess father and in the original storyline
there isn’t a princess father either but and example of it would be Princess
Jasmines father from Aladdin because he wants the princess’s affection
along with Aladdin.
False Hero
The false hero acts heroic and can be seen as the hero at the start of a
story. They will try and get all the credit and try to marry the princess
instead of the real hero. There is no false hero in my children book but an
example of one would be The Governor in the TV show The Walking Dead
because when everyone first meets him her comes off as being kind and
wanting to help everyone until everyone finds out what he’s really like and
capable of.
The Dispatcher
The dispatcher is the character that sends the hero on a mission and they
could be related to the hero or it could be the princess’s father who sends
the hero on a mission. This role could be combined with other roles like
the false hero. In my book there is no character that falls under this role
but an example would be like Effie in the film The Hunger Games because
she is the one who tells the hero what tasks need to be done before the
hero goes into the hunger games.
Todorov was a Russian structuralist whose theory was that all stories
followed the same path.
Equilibrium
The equilibrium is where the story starts and the characters’ lives were
normal and nothing abnormal was going on. So in my book the first page is
the equilibrium because it’s where the family starts of being together and
struggling for food like normally.
Disequilibrium
The disequilibrium is when the story starts to change and something
happens to change there every day lives and this can vary in different
narratives but it doesn’t matter what the event is it will always revolves
around the characters in the story reacting to it. In my book this start on

3. the second page when Hansel and Gretel decide to go into the forest which
they don’t do on a daily basis and they come across a house with a women
they have never met inside at this point in the story is when it all begins to
change.
New Equilibrium
The new equilibrium is when the start end and everything has gone back
to normal and the characters will continue on as they are after it has
ended. This happens on the last page of my book because it is when
everyone is reunited again and decided to go back to a normal life by all
living together and starting a farm.
Claude Levi Strauss had the theory of binary opposition, which means in
all narratives there can only be two opposing sides that come together to
create a story. These sides could be depending on the characters in your
narrative:
- Good vs. Evil
- Men vs Women
- Police vs. Criminals
- Young vs. Old
- Humans vs. Aliens
- Humans vs. Animals
I feel like in my book there isn’t really any conflict so I don’t think this
could apply to my book but in the original Hansel and Gretel story it would
be young vs. old or good vs. evil because Hansel and Gretel have conflict
with the witch who at first they think is an old women.
Structures:
Open
An open narrative doesn’t reach a conclusion and are always going on like
cartoon stripes in magazines or newspapers because they are in there
every day and have never ended. My book is not an open book because it
has a clear ending to it.
Closed
A closed story is where is has and ending and most narratives and book
are a closed narrative. The book I created is a closed narrative because it
clearly shows when the ending is and doesn’t end on a cliff hanger.
Single Strand
A single stand narrative is a story that only has one storyline and these are
normally seen in children’s books because children would struggle with
more than one storyline in a book. My book is a single strand book because
the storyline doesn’t spin off into a new story everything flows nicely.

4. Multi-strand
A multi-strand story mean there a different storylines and these are found
a lot in films and books for older children, teenagers and adults. The book I
made is not multi-stranded because it only follows one story line but a
good example of a multi-strand narrative is The Vampire Diaries because
there is the main storyline that everyone is following and alongside that
storyline something else with happen and there is multiple scenarios going
on at once.
Linear
A linear narrative starts at the beginning and just goes straight through the
story by having all the events happen in order and doesn’t change times.
My book is a linear narrative because the events that happen are all in
order and it never changes to a different time.
Non-linear
A non-linear narrative doesn’t go straight through the story to the end
because there can be flash back or flash-forwards to mix up the events.
The book I created doesn’t do this because it can be confusing for children
but the TV show lost is a non-linear narrative because there are a lot of
flash backs and the storyline is always jumping around
Realist
A realist story shows what real life is like and has events in the story that
could happen to anyone. I feel like my book would be a realist narrative
because there is nothing out of the normal that happens in the storyline
and can happen to anyone
Anti-realist
An anti-realist narrative doesn’t show what real life is like and has events
in that are very unlikely/impossible to happen in real life. This does not
apply to the book I created but can apply to the Harry Potter book series
because none of it is realistic because no one has magic and what happens
in the storyline can never happen in real life.