degrimm1-7, Exercise 1: Two readings of one tale

Model answer (one possible choice: "Hansel and Gretel"; check against your translation):

Historical and social reading: the tale begins with a famine and parents who cannot feed their children, so it reflects the real threat of hunger in the period. The sweet house is a fantasy of plenty. It explains the opening and the hunger motifs well, but it explains the witch and her fate less well.

Psychological reading: the abandonment and the witch can be read as a child's fears about parental rejection and about being devoured, with the children's victory as a story of growing independence. It explains the emotional force of the tale, but it is hard to test, and it does not account for differences between editions (the mother becoming a stepmother) unless the reader adds an argument (check).

What each leaves out: the first says little about why the tale is gripping to children today; the second says little about the conditions in which the tale was told. A careful reader may find both partly useful.