Antonio Sepulveda

Dr. Lynda Haas

Writing 37
November 29,2015
Brazilian Folk Tales
The fairy tale genre is one that has existed for hundreds of years and stories
from the genre come from all over the world. The assignment was to create a video
project representing a particular culture and the affects it has on stories, it either being
the characters or setting in the tale being told. The intended audience being fellow
classmates taking the class and another class that we assumed had very little or no
rhetorical analysis on the fairy tale genre, gave us the ability to present our research
through an education video instead of the common medium of text. Our purpose for the
communication was to show our knowledge over the fairy tale genre, to teach others
about the fairy tale genre, and to educate others using a medium other than text.
rhetoric is about seeing opportunities to build bridges between where you are and your
audience is by using the ideas, experiences, text, etc.(McNeil 3). The cultural context
was influenced by the culturally diverse UCI college setting found in Southern California.
The historical context for the project was the 21st century and all the values that come
along with it.
One specific moment in our video that I feel was greatly influenced by the
intended audience was when we introduced the story of Saci. We selected specific
images and appealing ones so that the students from the other UCI writing class would
not lose interest and would be able to follow along. We also made sure that the pictures

would have something to do with what was being talked about by the narrator so that
the listener would get a better understanding and would not get lost. So that no
information we felt was important would be missed we decided to include bullets on the
pictures so that the audience would not just have to hear the narrator say it but also
read it themselves. I feel that having the bullets there created more interaction with the
audience since they were not just sitting there having things told them but also read
them and would not lose interest or focus. While writing down information and the script
for the video we made sure to believe that the audience knew nothing abut our topic so
that we would not leave anything out even if we thought the should already know it. It
was our responsibility to show our knowledge on Brazilian folk tales and educate all our
audience.
Our video project I feel was not only for UCI students to be able to academically
understand but all scholars in general. There was no specific information that was only
available to UCI students or information that only UCI student scholars can understand.
But we did use some context that maybe some interested in the genre will only know.
We used words like archetypal characters and settings used in Brazilian folklore. As well
as talking about western culture influences on the fairy tale genre itself. Those
knowledgeable in the genre would know that fairy tales storytelling had a rebirth in
European countries thanks to people like the Grimm Brothers. One thing that grew from
closing a video as our medium was the use of background music. We decided to use a
song that expressed and showed Brazilian flavor and culture. It is soothing and allows
the audience to relax and gives the narrator a specific flow to follow while speaking. I
feel that the history of Brazilian culture and how african slaves were transferred there by

the Portuguese was very important because the slaves had a tremendous influence on
the folk tales. For example, they influenced the story of Saci to be a dark-skinned
character who loved to do pranks on the people living in the villages near by. Choosing
a video to be our medium shows how the 21st century has influenced our project.
Someone from the 17th century would not have this sort of technology available to them
and would have to present all their information by memory and through storytelling.
From this project I finally learned how to work with a group. After deciding to use
Brazil as our topic we began to talk and wanted to see what each of us was able to do.
Since me nor Cassidy were familiar with how to make a video Isaac was in charge of
making the video and voice over. So my role was to look up Brazilian folk tales and
decide upon one to do a rhetorical analysis on. While looking them up I learned that
many of the tales have to do with animals but I did not find them very interesting since
they were short and to the point. They also had to do with giants and animal being kings
that had human abilities and aspects. Finally I came upon the story of Saci. I wrote the
script for this part which included a summary of the text, the influences Brazilian culture
had on it, and comparing it to western culture stories. From this I learned how all fairy
tales atlas one thing in common, which is usually a special ability that allows them to
overcome an conflict they are facing or just have magical powers. From this research I
learned why Saci only had one leg and was marked skinned and learned that his
special abilities like being able to grant a wish and turn into a bird are powers that can
also be found in tales like Cinderella and Snow White. A motif that is common to
western stories is his ability to appear and disappear as well as being able to grant any
wish that you want when you take possession of his hat. It is similar to the godmother in

the well known tale of Cinderella. She is able to make a beautiful carriage and dress
appear and disappear so that Cinderella is able to attend the ball with the prince.
Another ability he possesses is the power of transforming into a bird. Like the Queen in
snow white who turns into an old lady in order to trick snow white, he transforms into a
bird so that he can pursue the travelers he is trying to scare.(Archer).The hardest thing
to do was find pictures to go along with my script. Although there was a lot of pictures
on the web it was hard to find one or a good picture that was not too pixilated that
covered the information being talked about in the script. After presenting to the class for
the first time we had a lot of changes to do. The changes I had to do was cut down on
the summary of Saci and Include more rhetorical analysis on the folk tale. Another thing
I had to do was remove the many pictures from just one slide and make every picture
be its own slide. Finally bullets of the most important information was placed atop of
each picture to assure that they did not miss any important facts. Isaac I feel really
came though making the video look great and matching all the information and images
that me and Cassidy supplied him with. It was a good team effort on our project.

Work Cited
McNeil, Hayden. the Anteaters Guide to Writing and Rhetoric. Plymouth, Mich: N.p,
asda2015. Print.
Archer, Isaac. Brazilian Fairy Tales." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 23 Nov.
ascs2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

"BRAZIL." Brazil. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.