Traditional Literature
Folktales, Fables, Fairytales, Myths
Why learn about Traditional Literature?
Serves as the building blocks for
contemporary literature/framework for
literature
Provides a window on diverse cultures
Provides moral models for children as the
struggle between good and evil is applied
to events in their own lives
Folktale
A story told by word of
mouth to teach a lesson
Passed down from
generation to generation
Folk tale
Folktales feature common people, such
as peasants, and commonplace events.
Characters representing human frailty (being
fragile).
Characters represent human qualities
Good
Evil
Wisdom
Foolishness
Laziness
Etc.
Folktales
The conflict of the story is clear.
The resolution usually has happy endings
Good is rewarded and evil is punished
Elements of magic or magical characters
may be incorporated, but logic rules so
the supernatural must make sense in
the story.
Fables
Short stories that teach a moral
(lesson)
Plot is very brief, with one event.
Animal characters with human
characteristics
Characters are flat, and stand for one
human trait.
Themes: cooperation,
understanding, acceptance, etc.
Morals sometimes are inferred.
May be expressed in a proverb.
Aesop's Fables
This famous Book of Fables, which are always
referred to as Aesop's Fables, date back to the
Century
BC.
5th
Lion and the Mouse
The Fox and the Crow
Goose with the Golden Eggs
Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
The Town Mouse and the Country
Mouse
Ant and the Grasshopper
Fairytale
Elements of a Fairytale
Contains magic/enchantments
Likely character types:
Talking animals
Witches
Fairies
Nobles (Kings, Queens, Princes,
Princesses)
Godparents
Fairy Tale- setting
Setting does not have a definite location or
time
Familiar fairytales look like Germany
The best know tale in the World
Cinderella
The oldest known version was found in China in the 9th
century.
It is basically a story of sibling rivalry.
There are over 700 different versions.
Hans Christian Anderson
• Danish author and poet
• Wrote more than 160 Fairy Tales
• Many of Andersen's fairy tales depict characters
who gain happiness in life after suffering and
conflicts
• Ugly Duckling theme of self-discovery, which
matched his own life
• Optimistic belief in the triumph of the good
• Known as the father of the modern fairytale
Click on
Anderson’s
picture to see his
stories
Brothers Grimm
Click
picture for
Grimm
stories
Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm and
Wilhelm Carl Grimm
Wrote children’s tales and folklore to
preserve German culture/heritage
Wrote 211 stories together
More stories
Fractured Fairy tale
When authors modernize or change one or more of
the elements of the story, the story is called a
fractured fairy tale.
Plot (conflict, rising action, climax, falling action,
resolution)
Setting (time and/or place)
Character (name, character traits)
Point of View
Theme
Fractured Fairy tales
Fracture Fairy Tales on the screen
Myths
A mythology is a related body of stories
which
make up the official beliefs or
explanations of a religious system.
Myths attempt to explain the beginning of
the world, natural phenomena, the
relationships between the gods and
humans, and the origins of civilization.
Myths, like legends, are stories told as
though they were true.
Myths
Ancient Civilizations stories and beliefs