Use Literary Elements
CHARACTERIZATION
The characters in fairy tales are often stereotypes. Often the good characters are always good, and the bad characters are always bad. Explain to students that a literary stereotype is not always a bad thing in the way that stereotyping people is bad. A literary stereotype has the purpose of quickly setting up the traits of a character—a useful technique when the story is short, as fairy tales often are.
- Have students go through the story and identify the good characters (the merchant, Beauty, Beast) and the bad characters (Beauty's sisters).
- Have students find details that support the kind of character each is and write them on a separate sheet of paper with a list of the good and bad characters.
- Have students use their notes about each character to write a short sentence or two about what makes people "good" and "bad."
- Discuss with students some things they can do or often do that are good or that make them good people.
Access Content Point out the word spell on p. 35. Students are probably familiar with the verb form of the word, as in to spell a word, but they may not be familiar with its use here. Explain that spell is also a noun and that it means a word or words that have magic power. Ask students what the spell was in "Beauty and the Beast" and how it was broken. Discuss other spells students may be aware of from other fairy tales.
Beauty saved the prince by agreeing to marry him. The answer is in the last paragraph.
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