Folktales

Folktales
• They are short stories
• They are oral stories (passed down by word of mouth)
• They are passed down from generation to generation
• The authors are unknown
• There are different versions of the stories around the world
 fables
• Very short stories
• Oral stories
• The characters can be animals acting like humans
• They teach a lesson or a moral
Examples
• The shepherd boy who cried ‘Wolf’
• The tortoise and the hare
• The City Mouse and the Country Mouse
 Examples

Tall Tales • Pecos Bill

• Johnny Appleseed
• Paul Bunyan

• Oral stories
• Stories based on the life of a real person
• Stories linked to a real historical time period
• The characters are everyday people with superhuman abilities
• They have exaggerated details told as if they were true
• They tell us about a person’s accomplishments
• Problems are solved in a humorous way
 Examples

Fairy Tales • Cinderella

• Beauty and the Beast
• Snow white

• They are oral stories

• The characters are from the royalty (queens, kings, etc.)
• Some characters may be speaking animals
• The stories can take place in a magical land, castle or forest
• It has magic and spells
• The problem is good vs evil
• The stories often begin with the phrase ‘Once upon a time…’
• The stories have a happy ending ‘And they lived happily ever after’
 Examples

Myths • King Midas

• Persephone and the Seasons
• Theseus and the Minotaur

• Oral stories from ancient times

• The characters are Gods and Goddesses
• They sometimes explain events in nature
• They tell what people used to believe about the world
• They can have unusual creatures
• They may involve magic
• They may teach a lesson
 Examples

Legends • Robin Hood

• King Arthur and the Knights
of the Round Table

• Oral stories
• Stories linked to historical events or real people
• The characters are everyday people and sometimes animals
acting like humans
• Told as if they were true (BUT they are not completely true)
• They combine factual and fictional elements