Folklore

Literary Elements: Vocab Folklore [legends, folk tales, myths, trickster tales, fables, tall tale] Hero, tragic hero Oral literature

Folklore: The traditions, customs, and stories that are passed down within a culture are known as its folklore. Folklore includes various types of literature, such as legends, folk tales, myths, trickster tales, tall tales, and fables.

Folktale: A folktale is a story that has been passed from generation by word of mouth. Folk tales may be set in the distant past and involve supernatural events. The characters in them may be animals, people, or superhuman beings. “The Wise Old Woman” is an example of a folk tale.

Hero: A hero is a main character or protagonist in a story Hero: A hero is a main character or protagonist in a story. In older literary works, heroes tend to be better than ordinary humans. They are typically courageous, strong, honorable, and intelligent. They are protectors of society who hold back the forces of evil and fight to make the world a better place. In modern literature, a hero may simply be the most important character in a story. Such a hero is often an ordinary person with ordinary problems.

Fable: A fable is a brief tale told to illustrate a moral or teach a lesson. Often the moral of a fable appears in a distinct and memorable statement near the tale’s beginning or end. Legend: A legend is a story handed down from the past about a specific person, usually someone of heroic accomplishments. Legends usually have some basis in historical fact.

Aesop's Fables The Mischievous Dog A DOG used to run up quietly to the heels of everyone he met, and to bite them without notice. His master suspended a bell about his neck so that the Dog might give notice of his presence wherever he went. Thinking it a mark of distinction, the Dog grew proud of his bell and went tinkling it all over the marketplace. One day an old hound said to him: Why do you make such an exhibition of yourself? That bell that you carry is not, believe me, any order of merit, but on the contrary a mark of disgrace, a public notice to all men to avoid you as an ill mannered dog." Notoriety is often mistaken for fame. http://www.fairytalescollection.com/Aesop_Fables/The_Mischievous_Dog.htm

Myth: A myth is a traditional story, usually concerning some superhuman being or unlikely event, that was once widely believed to be true. Frequently, myths were attempts to explain natural phenomena, such as solar and lunar eclipses or the cycle of the seasons. For some peoples, myths served as literature and entertainment, just as they do for modern-day audiences. “Pandora’s Box” is an example of a myth from ancient Greece.

Tall tale: A tall tale is a humorously exaggerated story about impossible events, often involving the supernatural abilities of the main character. Stories about folk heroes such as Pecos Bill and Paul Bunyan are typical tall tales.

Paul Bunyan

Paul Bunyan is a mythological lumberjack who is usually believed to be a giant as well as a lumberjack of unusual skill. The character was first documented in the work of U.S. journalist James MacGillivray in 1910. In 1916, as part of an advertising campaign for a logging company, advertisement writer William Laughead reworked the old logging tales into that of a giant lumberjack and gave birth to the modern Paul Bunyan legend. ref: wikipedia

Birth of Paul Bunyan Maine Tall Tales retold by S. E. Schlosser Now I hear tell that Paul Bunyan was born in Bangor, Maine. It took five giant storks to deliver Paul to his parents. His first bed was a lumber wagon pulled by a team of horses. His father had to drive the wagon up to the top of Maine and back whenever he wanted to rock the baby to sleep.  

As a newborn, Paul Bunyan could holler so loud he scared all the fish out of the rivers and streams. All the local frogs started wearing earmuffs so they wouldn't go deaf when Paul screamed for his breakfast. His parents had to milk two dozen cows morning and night to keep his milk bottle full and his mother had to feed him ten barrels of porridge every two hours to keep his stomach from rumbling and knocking the house down.

Within a week of his birth, Paul Bunyan could fit into his father's clothes. After three weeks, Paul rolled around so much during his nap that he destroyed four square miles of prime timberland. His parents were at their wits' end! They decided to build him a raft and floated it off the coast of Maine. When Paul turned over, it caused a 75 foot tidal wave in the Bay of Fundy.

They had to send the British Navy over to Maine to wake him up They had to send the British Navy over to Maine to wake him up. The sailors fired every canon they had in the fleet for seven hours straight before Paul Bunyan woke from his nap! When he stepped off the raft, Paul accidentally sank four war ships and he had to scramble around scooping sailors out of the water before they drowned. After this incident, Paul's parents decided the East was just too plumb small for him, and so the family moved to Minnesota. http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/07/the_birth_of_paul_bunyan.html

Assignment In pairs you will create your own folktale, fable, legend, myth or tall tale about anyone and anything you like. Be creative Your assignment must have a title. You must state the type of folklore. You must include your names and student numbers . Length: Minimum 300 words, Maximum 1500 words. This is due Monday, Sept.6th before 6pm on my desk. You must hand in a hard copy and post your assignment on http://amyyjchang.wordpress.com under your class section.

Depending on the folklore you decide to write you must include these elements: Folktale: a supernatural being (human or animal etc) and a supernatural event Fable: a main character, aside from the story a short explanation of the lesson or moral taught Legend: a hero and his/her heroic accomplishment Myth: must be a story explaining a natural phenomenon Tall tale: impossible event and the supernatural powers of the main character