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