Vladimir Propp analyzed folk tales and identified that they all include 31 plot elements or functions. He also found that there are only 8 character types that appear across many stories. These include the hero, villain, princess/prize, donor, helper, princess' father, false hero, and dispatcher. Todorov's theory of narrative structure applies to Alice in Wonderland, with the story moving from Alice's normal life (equilibrium) to her adventures in Wonderland (disequilibrium) and back to her normal life (return to equilibrium). The document discusses how various narrative theories can be applied to the story of Alice in Wonderland.

1. Task 9
Narrative theories
After analysingonehundred folk tales and identifyingthe narrative
elements involved, Vladimir Propp cameto the conclusion that they
all include31 plot elements or functions.
He also saw that there wereonly eight character typeseven with the
large amountof differentcharacters. These character typeswere;
1. Hero
The hero is the oneto lead the narrative; they are usually
looking for something or are need to solve a problem. With
most stories, the hero is the one the reader/viewer willwant to
succeed.
The hero in my story would mostlikely be Alice as she is the
main character throughout and is also the main character in
the original story of Alice in Wonderland.
2. Villain
The villain is the character who will create a problem or issue
for the hero. They are shown as morally bad and this will turn
the audienceagainst them as they are striving for the hero.
In my story, there isn’t really a villain as such however, Mad
Hatter, Cheshire Cat and White Rabbit cause chaos for Alice
and disrupther environment.
In the original Alice in Wonderland, TheQueen of Hearts is the
villain as she attempts to kill Alice.
3. Princess/Prize
The princessin normalstories is someonethe hero will strive
for and that the villain will have taken. The price in the story
will give the hero incentiveto do something.
The incentivein the original Alice in Wonderland wasto get
back home to the real world; this would be seen as the prize. In
my version of the story, Alice wants the other characters to go
back to Wonderland after messing her houseup.
4. Donor
The donor normally givessomething to the hero that will help
them; this could be a clue, weapon, power or advice.

2. My story doesn’t have a donor as the hero, Alice, doesn’tneed
any advice from the other characters. In the film version, the
donor would bethe Caterpillar as he gives Alice advice.
5. Helper
The helper is the character that supportsthe hero with their
quest throughout the story.
Again, the characters that are in my version of the story are
classed as the helper as they do not help Alice with what she
wantsto do. The helpersin the film version would bemost of
the other characters such as the White Rabbit and the
Caterpillar who advises Alice.
6. Princess’Father
The princess’father will give the task to the hero. They may be
in competition with the hero for affection from the princess.
There is not a character in my version of the film that wantsthe
princess’affection.
An of a film that adoptsthis theory exampleis KingTriton in
The Little Mermaid as he battles for Ariel’s attention as she is
distracted by PrinceEric.
7. False Hero
In children’sstories, the false hero is the person/character that
is often mistaken for the real hero at first but then proves
themselves to be a bad character.
8. Dispatcher
The dispatcher is the character that will send the hero on their
mission; this is normally afamily member e.g. mother or father.
In the film version of Alice in Wonderland, thedispatcher could
be classed as the White Rabbit as he is the onethat leads Alice
down the rabbit hole.
Narrative Structure Components:
Todorov wasa Russian theorist who created a theory that he
believed applied to any film, he came up with a narrative pattern,
which is;
Equilibrium –

3. This is the beginningof the story. A state of equilibrium is where
everythingin the story is normalor balanced. Everyday lifeis how it
is; this may be good or bad.
Disequilibrium –
The disequilibrium is normally an eventor character that will disturb
or unbalancethe everyday life. This is the interesting partof the
story wherethe most happensand the reactions to the event are
shown.
Return to equilibrium –
This is where the film or story willbe coming to an end. The return or
restoration is when everythingin the story is back to normality and
normal, everyday lifecontinues.
Todorov’stheory applies to Alice in Wonderland (film version)asthe
equilibrium of the story is when Alice is in the real world and doing
things she does everyday when shesees a white rabbit, this is the
pointof the story where the disequilibrium is caused. Alice willgo
down the rabbit hole and her life will be different, the story is of Alice
wantingto get back home. The return to equilibrium is when Alice
eventually gets home after completing tasks in Wonderland.
In my children’sbook version of Alice in Wonderland, the
equilibrium is that Alice now spendsa lot of her time in wonderland
and therefore this is a normalsetting for her. The disequilibrium is
when they decideto go to the real world to Alice’s house; the return
to equilibrium is when Alice sendsthe other characters home and
then wakes up in her bed.
Binary Opposition:
A French theorist named ClaudeLeviStrauss wasthe first person to
come up with the idea of Binary Opposition.
Binary Opposition is the theory that a story can only make sense or
be classed as a story when there are two opposingsides. The sides
are:
Good vs. Evil
Men vs. Women
Youngvs. Old
Humans vs. Creatures
Types ofstructure:
Open: The open narrativestructuremeansthat the story wontreach

4. a conclusion. An example of this is a soap opera/TV dramaas they
run on to each new episode.
Closed: Most filmsfollow this structure, it meansthe story will come
to an end within the time framethey have.
Single Strand: A single strand narrative meansit will justhave one
storyline. This structureis often used with children’s book, as it
would be rather confusingfor youngchildren.
Multi-Strand: This type of narrative meansthere willbe many
differentstorylinesgoing on at once and will featurelots of storylines
about a variety of characters.
Linear: a linear narrativeis where the story will follow until the end;
all events will be in order.
Non-linear: the plot of a non-linear story will jump aboutin time
order; this may be through flash backs/forward.
Realist: this is a story that reflects a real life situation, the events
could happen to anybody.
Anti-realist: anti-realist stories includeeventsthat are highly unlikely
to happen in real life e.g. sci-fi and fantasy films.
My story of Alice in Wonderland followsaclosed narrativestructure
as Alice returnshome. It is also anti-realist as it would nothappen
and is single strand as it is a book intended for children.