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The Three Pigs

The Three Pigs, by David Wiesner is a postmodern version of the children's book, The Three Little Pigs. This story commences in the same manner as the traditional story, however each of the three pigs escape the story line before the wolf can eat them. While out of the story, the pigs enter into various other stories and befriend some of the characters. They eventually return to their initial story and bring back each of their new friends to live in the brick house together. After analyzing this story, it is evident that each of the characters in this story have distinct roles and representations. The wolf is represented as the "bad guy" and in the end is not included in the festivities with the rest of the characters. This version of the story breaks from the traditional violent ending and creates a more positive and inclusive resolution. Morrell and Duncan-Andrade state, "he speaks to the negative connotations of youth culture promoted in popular media that propel youth toward mistruct, alienation, misogyny, violence, apathy, and the development of fugitive cultures" (Morrell and Duncan-Andrare, 2002). By giving the story a positive ending, the author sends a message to its audience that violence does not always have to be the answer, rather if we break free from negative representations, we can change the outcome of our real life endings. In terms of critical literacies, there are various underlying messages within this story. This story is about fostering relationships with those you would least expect. In this story, the three pigs befriend characters from other stories, a dragon and a cat. These unlikely friendships exemplify that often we find connections and foster relationships with those that we least expect. In order to gain these relationships, we need to be open to leaving our comfort zones and exploring beyond our personal noms. The story also teaches us to have fun and find adventure in all that we do. In the story and in real life, individuals will have to break free from social norms and their social roles in order to find adventure and enjoy what they do. Morrell states, "critical literacy is the ability to not only read and write but to assess texts in order to understand the relationships between power and domination that underlie and inform them" (Morrell, 2007). This story allows us not only to be entertained while reading, but to also understand critical literacies amongst the text and to assess these lessons to connect them to the real world. Moreover, the narrative of this story, from the perspective of the pigs, gives the pigs their own voice rather than simply a narrator telling their story. "Critical literacies can also illuminate the power relationships in society and teach those who are critically literate to participate in and use literacy to change dominant power structure to liberate those who are oppressed by them" (Morrell, 2007). This form of narration allows the pigs to challenge their roles by escaping the story and finding new adventures. Not only are the pigs liberated to find their own adventure, the story allows it's readers to also participate in using literacy to challenge dominant social roles and to help liberate those who are subordinated to this domination.


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