ELEMENTS OF FOLKLORE

Vocabulary

FOLKLOREFOLKLORE

• Includes the stories, customs, & beliefs of a whole group of people.

ORAL ORAL TRADITIONTRADITION

•Songs or stories Songs or stories passed down by passed down by word of mouth.word of mouth.

FOLKTALEFOLKTALE•A made up story by the common people.

LEGEND•Usually about a real person,

but with exaggerated achievements.

•Conflict plays a very important role.

•Sometimes the conflict is with supernatural

beings. Eerie!

FABLEFABLE•Always Always

has a has a MORAL.MORAL.

                •Short story Short story that teaches that teaches a lessona lesson

MORALMORALA learned lessonA learned lesson

AesopAesop• Slave with a gift for telling Slave with a gift for telling

stories which have been stories which have been passed down for centuriespassed down for centuries• Many people have retold his Many people have retold his

fables, yet the morals remain fables, yet the morals remain the same.the same.• Later honored as one of the Later honored as one of the

Seven Wise Men of GreeceSeven Wise Men of Greece

MYTH• An ancient story An ancient story

about gods or about gods or heroes created heroes created to express to express beliefs or explain beliefs or explain natural events.natural events.

Tall TalesMy grand-dad lived on a farm in the country. One cold winter day, Grand-dad went out walking. Suddenly, he saw some wild geese with big troubles. It was so cold that ice had formed on the geese’s wings, and they couldn’t fly. Grand-dad got a wonderful idea. He began to chase the birds. Squawking and hurrying, the frightened geese started to run down a nearby hill. The ice on their wings was so heavy that they all fell down. They turned over and over as they fell down the hill. By the time they reached the bottom, they all looked like giant snowballs with wild-goose centers. Grand-dad stacked up these snowballs next to his house. Then, whenever he wanted a roast goose that winter, all he had to do was go out and split open a snowball.

What is the setting of this story?Time_________________Place_________________Who is the narrator?__________________What is a narrator?__________________What impossible happening does the story describe? Why is it impossible?

Americans have always enjoyed telling stories, jokes, and riddles. Sometimes a group of people would make up a story about the work they did or the area in which they lived. This story was told and retold. In the retelling, the truth was stretched more and more. These funny, exaggerated stories are known as TALL TALES.

TALL TALES

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