Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

The majority of folk tales involve danger. Stories like "Little Red Riding Hood” are based on dangerous situations the characters have to get out of.

Which revision would best help the author present the main point more effectively?

• The majority of folk tales involve danger that the main character faces, which often involves family members. Stories like “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Snow White” are based on life-threatening family situations that the main characters have to escape.

• The majority of folk tales contain danger. Stories like “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Snow White” involve dangerous situations that the characters have to escape.

• The majority of folk tales involve danger faced by the main character. Stories like “Little Red Riding Hood” involve dangerous situations that the characters have to get out of.

• The majority of folk tales contain danger. Stories like “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Snow White” are based on life-threatening situations that the characters have to get out of.

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All of the tales in the first edition bear the marks of their diverse storytellers who believed in the magic, superstitions, and miraculous transformations of the tales. It may be difficult for us to understand why this is the case, but for the storytellers and writers of these tales, the stories contained truths about the living conditions of their times. The tales in the first edition were collected not from peasants, as is commonly believed, but mainly from literate people whom the Grimms came to know quite well. Evidence shows that these people often obtained their tales from illiterate or anonymous informants. Even if they did not know their informants, the Grimms came to trust almost everyone who contributed to their collection. It is this mutual trust that marks the tales as something special and endows them with a certain humanity, what Germans call Menschlichkeit, and it is this mutual trust among folklorists in the nineteenth century that marks it as the golden age of folk and fairy tales. The tales in the first edition set a certain standard that collectors began to follow and still follow even today.

What is the central idea of this excerpt?

• The stories are not collected from peasants, but from literate people.

• The Grimms collected stories about real living conditions from people they trusted.

• The Grimms did not know the informants who gave contributors their stories.

• The 19th century was the golden age of folk and fairy tales.

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What compelled the Grimms to concentrate on old German epics, tales, and literature was a belief that the most natural and pure forms of culture—those which held the community together—were linguistic and based in history. According to them, modern literature, even though it might be remarkably rich, was artificial and thus could not express the genuine essence of Volk culture that emanated naturally from experience and bound the people together. Therefore, all their efforts went toward uncovering stories from the past.

Which statement best describes the way the author unfolds ideas in this paragraph?

• The author starts with the main idea and gives evidence to support it.

• The author gives supporting details first and concludes with the main idea.

• The author gives a supporting detail and reveals the main idea, followed by a detail.

• The author starts with the main idea and then restates it in several different ways.

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hough it is impossible to clarify fully why certain tales were deleted or placed in footnotes in later editions, we do know that "Death and the Goose Boy” was omitted because of its baroque literary features; "The Strange Feast,” because of its close resemblance to "Godfather Death”; "The Stepmother,” because of its fragmentary nature and cruelty; and "The Faithful Animals,” because it came from the Siddhi-Kür, a collection of Mongolian tales. From the first edition in 1812/1815 to the final one in 1857, the Grimms received numerous versions of tales already in their collection and new tales from strangers, friends, and colleagues, and they often decided to replace one tale with another version, to delete some of the tales, or to include variants in their footnotes.

For what purpose does the author mention the names of various Grimm works in this excerpt?

Select three answers.

• The author mentions the Grimm's tales to identify some that were omitted or placed in footnotes.

• The author mentions which of the Grimm's tales are not suitable for children.

• The author identifies the new tales the Grimms received from their colleagues, friends, and strangers.

• The author mentions the tales to unfold a series of details to support the main idea of the excerpt.

• The author uses the tales' content explanations to serve as the reason for omission.

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Between 1812 and 1857, seven editions of their tales appeared, each one different from the last, until the final, best-known version barely resembled the first. Given that the first edition has recently been honored in bicentenary celebrations throughout the world, it is perhaps a good time to reexamine what we think we know about the original tales of the Brothers Grimm.

What is the author's purpose in writing this paragraph?

• to persuade the reader that the Grimm brothers were influential

• to entertain the reader with excerpts from the Grimms' tales

• to inform the reader that the text will take a second look at the Grimms’ original tales

• to show the reader that the Grimms have received many honors

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