Download - Folklore
FOLKLORE
A story that is told, sung, or performed…Oral Narratives can
be written down
ORAL NARRATIVE
• Help to explain the natural world
• Help to articulate fears/dreams
• Provide order to a society• Provide understanding of a
culture’s values, beliefs, mores, etc.
• Entertainment
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING…
Smallest meaningful unit of a story
MOTIF
A deviation from standard text
VARIANT
One story created in one location and eventually spread to other cultures orally
Cultures develop similar stories because these stories address
needs/desires/etc. that are common to
all people
Monogenesis Polygenesis
CULTURAL VARIANTS
Etiological tales…how things come
about/to be
PORQUOI TALES
A simple folktale that illustrates an ethical point.
Often features animals but not animal tales
Moral is stated
FABLE
A simple story in which animals play a major role
Subgenre: Trickster Tale=animals that play tricks and behave mischievously
ANIMAL TALE
A sacred narrative set
in the primordial
past
Tower of Babel
MYTH
A deliberate, exaggerated lie told with a straight face for
humorous effect.
TALL TALE
Stories that people tell about events/people that are purportedly real/true.
Told to inform, warn, advise, enlighten
Distinctive beginning
Real World, supernatural, realistic/well rounded characters
LEGENDS
FAIRYTALES
Stories that are fictional, created to entertain and sometimes instruct.
1st collection of tales were collected and published by the Grimm Brothers
in 1812
Distinctive and recognizable beginning and end
Fantasy, supernatural, flat/stereotypical characters
Modern adaptations of traditional folk literature
LITERARY TALES
• Authors write in the traditional style of folktales or fairytales.
• Hans Christian Anderson
• Authors create new tales by altering traditional
tales
• Diane Stanley, John Scieszka, Donna Jo Napoli, Shannon Hale
Traditional Style Fractures
SUB-GENRES OF LITERARY TALES