Reading Response

Student’s Name
Instructor’s Name
Literature
Date
Storytelling Elements
The author proposes that “Deprived of access to schools and universities, French aristocratic women began organizing gatherings in their homes to which they invited other women and gradually men in order to discuss art, literature, and topics important to them such as love, marriage and freedom.” (Zipes 26) Elements of storytelling in ancient history in France evolved into means of safeguarding the history of the nation. The modes of sharing fairy tales evolved from amateurish to professional storytelling. The dissemination of stories by priests to enforce their biblical teaching while ensuring persons understand their importance in real-life situations, was the most common form of sharing stories. Similarly, merchants shared their stories in inns and restaurants, though no form of documentation was enforced to share their stories from one generation to the next. French salons became synonymous with professional writers seeking to share their stories and disseminate the stories through literary text.
It is interesting to note that salons became part of the literary discourse in France. Men and women alike became participants in the process. The introduction of genres and motifs changed the manner and approach of storytelling. Genres aligned to the diverse forms of stories in the nation were established to document and shape national discourse. Fairytales, songs, and anecdotes were used as ways…