One of my absolute favorite moments is:

The Witch: Since when are you so squeamish? How many wolves have you killed?
RRH: A wolf isn’t the same!
The Witch: Ask a wolf’s mother.

It is important to remember that winners write history, storytellers write characters we are supposed to sympathize with, and possibly feel a connection with. But that our “Enemies” are probably a lot more like us than we want to admit.

In traditional fairy tales, we see the story only from the hero’s point of view. In Into The Woods we are also asked to consider the story from the point of view of the characters who are affected by the “hero’s” actions. For example, the authors suggest we might view Jack’s act of slaying the Giant as murder.

With this in mind, the lecture, and your reading or watching of the musical please answer the questions.

1. What was the wish of 3 characters in Into The Woods?

• • Trace the “history” of each wish. How was it accomplished?
  • What was the outcome?
  • Did these wishes actually obscure some other needs felt by these characters?

2. What is the meaning of the final line in Into The Woods when Cinderella says, “I wish…”?

3. Imagine one of the characters in Into The Woods had decided to sacrifice his or her wish and had not pursued it. How would the tale have changed?

This is your first discussion. Here is what I expect and will consider when grading. Please look at the rubric as well.

• Complete thoughts and opinions
• Support those thoughts and opinions with the text
• BOLD any citations and the page number
  • If you read it – Ask a wolf’s Mother ( page 107)
  • If you watched it – Ask a wolf’s Mother ( Act 2, The Witch 1:47) Act, Character, Time
  • You should have not less than 2 quotes and not more than 4
• Grammatically correct
• Spelling

The following is a guideline. Please do not stress out if you go a bit under or a bit over. Just try not to go to extremes ( under 300 over 1100).

• Between 500-800 words ( 1-2 pages)