If you can understand a culture’s values and beliefs by analyzing its fairy tales, then something else is true as well: You can compare two different cultures by comparing their fairy tales and the lessons these stories teach. For instance, you can compare what’s expected of children in one culture to what children in another culture are supposed to learn―by looking for similarities between their fairy tales.
At the beginning of this lesson, you read “The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds,” a fairy tale that has been passed down through generations of Ojibwe storytellers. Then you read a German fairy tale titled “The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage.” What do these two stories tell you about similarities between Ojibwe and German culture? Do the stories also show differences between the two cultures?
Think about each story’s approach to the topics below. See if you can identify what the two cultures seem to have in common.
Some cultures encourage individualism―the pursuit of individual goals and desires. Other cultures focus more on the good of the community, expecting people to put others’ needs ahead of their own. Of course, there are many cultural attitudes that fall in between these two opposite ideas.
Which statement about Ojibwe and German attitudes toward individualism is more accurate, based on the fairy tales you read?
In some cultures, individual differences are respected and encouraged. Other cultures expect people to conform closely to a single way of being and behaving. A culture’s most treasured stories usually make clear how the culture views conformity, the tendency to look, act, or think like everyone else.
Which sentence sums up Ojibwe and German attitudes toward conformity? Do these cultures see conformity as extremely important or a potential problem?
Perseverance is the willingness to finish something you started, even when completing the task becomes difficult. Most cultures teach children to value perseverance and to practice it often. That’s not surprising when you consider that character traits like determination, patience, and creativity with problem-solving help individuals achieve their goals and also contribute to the good of the community.
What lessons about perseverance do Ojibwe and German fairy tales provide? Are they more alike or more different?
