1. Welcome to… Elements of a Tall Tale

2. By the end of this module you will be able to: identify the elements of plot, character, and setting in a tall tale. identify the exaggeration used in a tall tale.

3. Tall tales are humorous stories passed down to generations about exaggerated events that occur. Read the following tale tall. Be sure to think about the elements of plot, setting, and character as you read. Don’t forget to look for the exaggeration used in the tall tale.

4. Pecos Bill Rides a Tornado: A Kansas Tall Tale retold by S.E. Schlosser "Used with permission of S.E. Schlosser and AmericanFolklore.net. Copyright 200__. All rights reserved.”

5. Now everyone in the west knows that Pecos Bill could ride anything. No bronco could throw him, no sir! Think about it: Who is this story about? Pecos Bill

6. Fact is, I only heard of Bill getting' throwed once in his whole career as a cowboy. Yep, it was that time he was up Kansas way and decided to ride him a tornado. Think about it: Where does the story take place? Kansas – The Midwest

7. Now Bill wasn't gonna ride jest any tornado, no ma'am. He waited for the biggest tornado you ever saw. It was turning the sky black and green, and roaring so loud it woke up the farmers away over in China.

8. Well, Bill jest grabbed that there tornado, pushed it to the ground and jumped on its back. The tornado whipped and whirled and sidewinded all the way down to Texas. Think about it: Can Pecos actually ride a tornado? No, this is an exaggeration

9. Tied the rivers into knots, flattened all the forests so bad they had to rename one place the Staked Plains. But Bill jest rode along all calm-like, give it an occasional jab with his spurs.

10. Finally, that tornado decided it wasn't getting this cowboy off its back no-how. So it headed west to California and jest rained itself out. Made so much water it washed out the Grand Canyon. Think about it: Is this how the Grand Canyon was formed? No, this is an exaggeration

11. That tornado was down to practically nothing when Bill finally fell off. He hit the ground so hard it sank below sea level. Folks call the spot Death Valley.

12. Anyway, that's how rodeo got started. Though most cowboys stick to broncos these days.

13. Now that you have read Pecos Bill Rides a Tornado, let’s take a closer look at the elements that make up this tall tale.

14. Setting

15. The setting is where and when a story takes place. Click the place where Pecos Bill rode the tornado. The MidwestA VillageThe Beach

16. Click the correct time the story took place below. Past Present Future

17. Character

18. The characters are who the story is about. In a tall tale the main character is typically a larger than life figure. Who was the main character in Pecos Bill Rides a Tornado? Click the correct character below. o The Tornado o Pecos Bill o The Bronco o The Narrator

19. Plot

20. The plot is the series of events that take place in the story. Place the events below in the order they happened in the story. BeginningMiddleEnd Pecos Bill falls off of the tornado. Pecos Bill meets the tornado. Pecos Bill rides the tornado.

21. The plot typically has a problem or a conflict that occurs in the story. What problem did Pecos Bill face in the tall tale? Click the correct response below. o Pecos Bill could ride a Bronco o Cowboys wanted to have rodeos o A massive, destructive tornado came to Kansas o Pecos Bill fell off of the tornado

22. The plot also contains a solution to the problem or conflict. This occurs at the end of the story. What was the solution to Pecos Bills problem? o Cowboys were able to have rodeos o Death Valley was created o The Grand Canyon was created o Pecos Bill rides the tornado until there is nothing left of the tornado

23. Exaggeration

24. The exaggeration in a tall tale portrays something and makes it more that it actually is. Identify the exaggerations from Pecos Bill by placing the exaggerated and realistic statements in the correct boxes. ExaggeratedRealistic The tornado roared so loud it woke up the farmers away over in China. Made so much water it washed out the Grand Canyon. He hit the ground so hard it sank below sea level. The tornado whipped and whirled and sidewinded all the way down to Texas. So it headed west to California and jest rained itself out. Most cowboys stick to broncos these days.

25. Now let’s see how much you know about all of the elements of a tall tale.

26. What is the larger-than-life hero in a tall tale called? o Supporting character o The Main Character o The Narrator o None of the above

27. A story has a place and time it takes place. What element is this? o Characters o Plot o Setting o Conflict

28. Think about the story Pecos Bill. Which of the following is an example of an event in the plot. o Pecos Bill was a cowboy o Pecos Bill fell off of the tornado o Paul Bunyan rode the tornado o The tornado created mountains

29. What is the end of the story called? o The solution o The conflict o The Problem o The Plot

30. Which statement below is an example of an exaggeration? o My dog is bigger then my other pets. o Apples are better than grapes. o That was the most rain we have ever seen. o Mrs. Fowler is so tall, she is taller than the Statue of Liberty.

31. Now that you have had plenty of practice identifying the elements of a tall tale, let’s see if you can identify the exaggerations in the following tall tales.

32. Birth of Paul Bunyan 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. 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. "Used with permission of S.E. Schlosser and AmericanFolklore.net. Copyright 200__. All rights reserved."

33. Can you pick out the exaggerations from Paul Bunyan? Identify the exaggerations from Paul Bunyan by placing the exaggerated and realistic statements in the correct boxes. ExaggeratedRealistic Paul Bunyan could holler so loud he scared all the fish out of the rivers and streams. Paul Bunyan had a mother and a father. The family had to to move to Minnesota to make room for Paul. His parents had to milk two dozen cows morning and night to keep his milk bottle full. It took five giant storks to deliver Paul to his parents. Paul Bunyan was born in Bangor, Maine.

34. Davy Crockett and the Frozen Dawn retold by S.E. Schlosser One winter, it was so cold that the dawn froze solid. The sun got caught between two ice blocks, and the earth iced up so much that it couldn't turn. The first rays of sunlight froze halfway over the mountain tops. They looked like yellow icicles dripping towards the ground. Now Davy Crockett was headed home after a successful night hunting when the dawn froze up so solid. Being a smart man, he knew he had to do something quick or the earth was a goner. He had a freshly killed bear on his back, so he whipped it off, climbed right up on those rays of sunlight and began beating the hot bear carcass against the ice blocks which were squashing the sun. Soon a gush of hot oil burst out of the bear and it melted the ice. Davy gave the sun a good hard kick to get it started, and the sun's heat unfroze the earth and started it spinning again. So Davy shouldered the bear, slid himself down the sun rays before they melted and took a bit of sunrise home in his pocket. "Used with permission of S.E. Schlosser and AmericanFolklore.net. Copyright 200__. All rights reserved."

35. Can you pick out the exaggerations from Davy Crockett? Identify the exaggerations from Davy Crockett by selecting the exaggerated statements. o One winter, it was so cold that the dawn froze solid. o The earth iced up so much that it couldn't turn. o Davy Crockett was headed home after a successful night hunting. o Davy gave the sun a good hard kick to get it started, and the sun's heat unfroze the earth and started it spinning again. o Davy Crockett was a great hunter.

36. Idaho Potatoes retold by S. E. Schlosser We here in Idaho are right proud of our potatoes. Our fields are so chock full of potatoes that you can hear them grumbling when you stick your ear on the ground. "Roll over, yer crowding me," they say. Potatoes grow bigger in Idaho than anywhere else. Once, a greenhorn asked me for a hundred pounds of potato. I set him straight real fast. I don't believe in cutting into one of my potatoes. "You buy the whole potato, or you take your business elsewhere," I told him. Why do our potatoes grow so big? Well, its because we feed them like family. Corn meal and milk every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You should taste my wife's mashed potatoes! They are the creamiest mash potatoes in the whole United States. Its all the milk our potatoes drink while their growing. Makes them so creamy that all my wife needs to do is just boil them and mash them up. Sometimes, the size of our potatoes creates a problem for the farmers. One fellow I know got trapped for eight hours beneath a potato. His wife came looking for him when he was late to dinner. She had to get the neighbors to help roll it off. But that's just they way it goes when you're farming potatoes in Idaho. "Used with permission of S.E. Schlosser and AmericanFolklore.net. Copyright 200__. All rights reserved."

37. Can you pick out the exaggerations from Idaho Potatoes? Identify the exaggerations from Idaho Potatoes by placing the exaggerated and realistic statements in the correct boxes. ExaggeratedRealistic Our fields are so chock full of potatoes that you can hear them grumbling when you stick your ear on the ground. Idaho is known for growing potatoes. Once, a greenhorn asked me for a hundred pounds of potato. I set him straight real fast. I don't believe in cutting into one of my potatoes. We here in Idaho are right proud of our potatoes.

38. Congratulations on completing the tall tale module. Remember that tall tales are only humorous and exaggerated explanations for events that occurred in the past.