Introduction to folktales

I tells about the importance of art and drama and elements of folk tales

1. INTRODUCTION
TO FOLKTALES
K.YAMINI
19UED042

2. WHAT IS A FOLKTALE?
A story that is told orally and
is passed down from
generation to generation
before it is ever written
down. Some storytellers were
entertainers, teachers or
parents. Folktales are part of
FOLKLORE, which also
includes myths, legends, tall
tales and fairytales.

3. THINGS TO CONSIDER :
•Why might people enjoy a good
story?
•Why would people share their
stories?
•What elements make a short
story a folktale?
•Cultural allusions
•Dialect
•Character types
•Life lessons
•Magical or Far-fetched
element
•Setting in a far
away/fictional place

4. Folktales were passed down from
generation to generation by word of mouth,
which is called oral tradition.

Folktales were made up to explain the
wonders of the world or to teach morals
and lessons.

5. ELEMENTS OF FOLKTALES
Trickster Tales
Fables
Pourqoui stories
Fairytales

6. TRICKSTER TALES
One character, usually the protagonist, is a clever trickster
that causes problems for the other characters
They usually goes unpunished

Example “Trickster” Characters:
Anansi the Spider (Africa), Hare (North America), Wolf(
Europe)

7. FABLES
These are stories that teach a lesson or have a moral
The main characters of Fables are usually animals
with human characteristics
The moral is never stated, but needs to be inferred
by the reader

Examples of Fables: Tortoise and the Hare, The
Ant and the Grasshopper

8. Fables and trickster tales are short narratives
that use animal characters with human features to
convey folk wisdom and to help us understand
human nature and human behavior. These
stories were originally passed down through oral
tradition and were eventually written down. The
legendary figure Aesop was reported to have
orally passed on his animal fables, which have
been linked to earlier beast tales from India
and were later written down by the Greeks and
Romans. Ananse trickster tales derive from the
Asante people of Ghana and were brought by
African slaves to the Caribbean and parts of
the U.S. These tales developed into Brer Rabbit
stories and were written down in the 19th
century in the American South.

9. FAIRYTALES
Include good and evil characters
Usually has a hero or heroine
Has Magic
Often begins with “Once upon a time”
Conflicts are resolved through kindness, courage or intelligence

Examples: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin

10. POURQUOI STORIES


Explain WHY something is as it is
Explains HOW something came to be and it usually explains something
in Nature
Examples of Pourquoi stories:
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears
How the Elephant Got Its Trunk or How the Tiger Got Its
Stripes
*** Most myths and tall tales are considered Pourquois

11. Rule of Three: Items happen in sets of 3 or
7s (things happen in 3s, lots of repetition or
repeated phrases)
- 3 characters
- 3 events
- 3 tests the character must overcome
COMMOM ELEMENTS OF FAIRY TALES

12. Ex: “Jack and the Beanstalk” showed Jack climbing the
beanstalk three times. The wicked stepmother visited
Snow White in the forest three times before she
finally got her to eat the apple.
Magic is commonly used, to explain the unexplainable.
You will see similar characteristics from stories across
the world

13. THEMES

Characters go through tests to prove something (the good character must
solve a problem)
Good v. Evil (has characters that good, others are bad)
Good is rewarded and evil is punished in the end (tales have a happy
ending)

14. CHARACTERIZATION
Characters change only after they have gone though the lesson
learned during the course of the story
The hero is usually young and fair, kind, brave, unselfish, and
may possess some sort of special power.
Magic helpers, such as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella,
allow for things to occur within a story that would otherwise be
impossible

15. SETTING

Place is usually described easily and briefly, leaving the
imagination to fill in the gaps. For example, folktales
take place in a cottage in the woods or in a magical
kingdom

Time is fantasy time, such as Once upon a time, or A long
time ago

16. Write your own fable.
Include a moral or
lesson at the end.

17. As a culminating activity,
students create their own fable with
a moral/lesson which will be
graded based on the 6 Traits of
Writing.