1. Characterize the main character
You may consider:
- Age
- Appearance
- Family
- Language, thoughts, opinions
2. Does Jack go through a development in the story? If so describe the different stages.
3. What is time span in the story?
4. Make notes about the language, can you find examples of stock fairy tale expressions - repetitions, magic numbers.
5. Do you think that any of the models of analysis are suitable for analysing this fairy tale? Argue for your answer.
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1. Characterize the main character:
ReplyDeleteJack is the name of the main character in the story “Lazy Jack”. We don’t know how old Jack are, ore personal character of Jack. He is living whit his mother on a common. They are very poor. But Jack is so lazy, he does nothing but bask in the sun, ore sit by the corner of the heather in winter. And that way they call him lazy Jack. One day his mother told Jack, if he not begins to work, she will throw him out. Jack hired himself to be a neighboring farmer, for a penny. But evrytime he comes home, he never having any of the ting whit him; And his only answer on that is; I’ll do so another time “. But lick in almost every fairy tales, Lazy Jack have a Happy ending. Jack marries, to a rich girl and they lived happy, in a large house whit his mother.
2. Does Jack go through a development in the story? If so describe the different stages.
ReplyDeleteYes.. I think that Jack is going thru a development. He is growing up, and begins to see that his mothers will not always be there for him. But he is still a child, and don’t takes his work series info. “His answer is always that, he do it better next time “. He tray to do what his mother says to him, but he just do it wrong every time, because he don’t Thinking self. He have is mother to thinking and working for him. But in the end, he acutely never gets wiser, but the girl in the window fall in love in he`s humor and Stupidity.
Should be called stupid Jack, as he's really dense. Once he starts work he's actually not lazy as he works all day, every day for a week and gets paid with certain goods. The people he works for realize that he's stupid & decide to pay him with goods and not money, except for the first day. He doesn't develop or learn from his mistakes throughout the whole story.
ReplyDeleteThe moral of the story is as follows, I think; you just have to be at the right place at the right time/in the right situation then your life can change for the better, no matter how stupid/lazy you are! It is about luck.
I agree, Jack is not lazy, I mean anyone who would carry a donkey on his shoulders, just because his mom told him to, is not lazy, stupid yes, but not lazy. In Danish we have a saying: luck is on the side of the crazy ones. This could be the moral of “Lazy Jack”, because he doesn’t go through any development at all, he is just Jack.
ReplyDeleteHello! So are there conflicting values in the text? Is being lazy a quality in itself according to this fairy tale?
ReplyDeleteChanett
Characterize the main character:
ReplyDeleteThe main character is Jack. He is probably in his teens, eventhough the text do not tell us his exakt age. He is however, living with his mother, which leads me to the conclusion that he is in his late teens. The text does not give us any indikations on Jacks thoughts, neither is it possible to confirm his native language.
Does Jack go through a development in the story? If so describe the different stages:
Jack starts out as being lazy. But the threat from his mother makes him go out and take odd jobs. I still find him lazy though. He is just doing enough work, to keep his mother from sending hin out on his own.
What is the time span in the story?
The time span is seven days
Make notes about the language, can you find examples of stock fairy tale expressions - repetetions, magic numbers.
“once upon a time”, the repetetion of the magic number 7, “they lived in great happiness”, the poor boy marrying the rich girl/princess.
Do you think that any of the models of analysis are suitable for analysing this fairy tale? Argue for your answer.:
Yes the home out model.
Home: The story actually starts at Jacks home, and there is a crisis, then he is out every day which equals puberty, and then the crisis is resolved by Jack meeting the rich girl and marrying her.
Summary of Lazy Jack.
ReplyDeleteThe story is about a boy called Lazy Jack. He is very indolent all day, not even his mother can get him to do anything. They are very poor and she tells him to get a job if he wants to eat at home. He goes to work every day for over a week but he is not too smart. he looses all his earnings and the mother gives him advice how to hold on to his earnings but he does it wrong any way. At the last job he gets, he earns a donkey and he drags it on his shoulder because that was what his mother wants him to do, he thought. He passes a house of a rich man who has a daughter that is deaf and dump. The doctors tells the father that if she gets a good laugh she will be abel to hear and speak again. She looks out the window, sees Lazy Jack and laughs. Jack gets to marry her.
Answer to Chanett:
ReplyDeleteNo, according to this fairy tale laziness is not a quality in itself. If Jack had stayed at home, doing nothing, he would never have met the rich girl. The mom is sending him away from home, so it is all her achievement that Jack ends up as the “lucky devil”. This could be interpreted as if there are conflicting values in the text. You either raise your child to be lazy, and you will always stay poor, or you raise your child to be hard-working and it will pay off.
Martin
So, you've found classic fairy tale elements such as repetition, tests, living happily ever after etc. Usually we need nothing but "once upon a time...a boy sets out to see the world....boy meets girl.....happily ever after" We can pretty much fill in the blanks.
ReplyDeleteWas that the case when you read Lazy Jack? Explain :)
Chanett
I totally agree with eurodave. Once he starts working he's not so lazy but he's pretty stupid.
ReplyDeleteBecause this is a fairytale it has to have a happy ending, but who knows how many stupid things Jack whould have kept on doing hadn't the daughter not seen him. So it was just plain luck that it turned out alright for Jack.
Tommy
I agree with Tommy and Dave. Jack is not lazy. He wants to learn. I dont think that he ever has been to school, because he does not know what is expected of or what is demanded. The mother has probably never demanded anything of him before and when she finally does, he dont know how to act. He has sort of been isolated most of his life.
ReplyDeleteLazy Jack is a literary folk tale. The home-out-home model is used. Jack lives at home with his mother. He has to leave home, because he has to earn money since he and his mother are poor, he also has to become a man. He is marrying the rich girl and gets a new home for himself and his mother.
There are a few classic fairy tale expressions:
"Once upon a time", "they lived in great happiness". Jack worked for seven days (7 being the magic number)
Julie
Jack does not do what his mother expects him to do. He does not do what the reader expects him to do. He does not live up to the general ideals of society's definition of manhood. Still, it is this "quality" which ultimately makes the girl laugh and fall in love. Does this tell us anything about the fairy tales attitude towards norms, standards, values....?
ReplyDeleteI would also like to hear some more thoughts on the mother.
I believe that it tells us that in fairy tales it is not always about what is right for yourself, but what could be right for others. By this I mean that of course it is not correct to carry a donkey on your shoulders, but for the rich girl it was correct or at least the right thing because it cured her.
ReplyDeleteThe mother has never taught her son how to live. The basic manners to get about in the normal day. He is dependent on her telling him what to do. Maybe he is afraid to dissapoint the mother, and that is why he doesn't change the way he carries his "payment" home every day.
Summary of ”Lazy Jack”
ReplyDelete”Lazy Jack” is a story about a boy, who lives with his mother on a common. They are a poor family and his mother tells him to get a job. Jack is a lazy boy, but he has to get a job so he can stay at home. Jack hires himself to different jobs. He earns penny, milk, cream cheese and so on.
On the way home he loses it all. The mother and the old women teach him how to carry the things home.
On the job at the cattle keeper, he gets a donkey for his trouble and he walks home with it on his shoulders. On the journey he passes a house where a rich man lives with his beautiful, deaf and dumb daughter. The doctors say: “the day that someone makes her laugh that’s the day where she will begin to speak”. The beautiful girl sees Jack bearing the donkey and she laugh out loud. Jack marries the beautiful girl and they live in a large house.
1. Characterize the main character
ReplyDeleteYou may consider:
- Age: Unknown
- Appearance: “lazy” → Jack. Mother → responsbillity person, takes care of other, working hard and helpful.
- Family: stay with her mum, poor family.
- Language, thoughts, opinions: Doesn’t wont to work – instead relaxing and doing nothing.
2. Does Jack go through a development in the story? If so describe the different stages.
We have different developments though the story. We can say the following:
Poor → Rich
Lazy → Active
Teen → grown up
3. What is time span in the story?
First of all the story begins very traditionally with “once upon a time”. There are different Contrasts for example Poor ← → Rich, Boy (poor ) ← → Girl (rich = princess).
5. Do you think that any of the models of analysis are suitable for analysing this fairy tale? Argue for your answer.
Yes, we have the Home-model actually what Claus says. The story begins in Jacks house and then he is out (everyday –life). Furthermore the ending is home → He is marring the girl.
Why are Jack and his mother poor? Because Jacks mother has not learned Jack anything about work. She has do the work herself for many years and now it is to much for her. She ask Jack to work. He has never worked before so he does not know what he shall do. He should had learned it when he has grown up
ReplyDeleteLazy Jack is a young boy, we dont know his age but he lives by his mother.
ReplyDeleteHe is indolent all day and that is bad behaviour towards his mother. It is written in an old englisch fairytale language. We have hier a home-model tale. After my opinion the mother is to blame fore his lazyness and he is not reallz lazy but very stupid. There is no development in the story because Jack is not learning from his mistakes but he does get lucky. The time span is a week.
I also think that Jack not is Lazy. He is stupid because his mother not have learn him about the world and how to do different things.
ReplyDeleteMichelle
I agree Michelle. I also think the mother is falling her. She has not learn her son, how the world exactly is and how to do the different things - which gives them problem. We have here a poor family. Thats why the mother works very hard spinning, to get money to survive. But jack doesnt want to work - or cant work. But then suddently Jack tries... and in the ending his mother and him becomes rich and lives in great happiness. :-)
ReplyDelete