Traditional Literature Fairy Tales

What is Traditional Literature? Traditional stories have been passed down from one group of people to another through out history. Examples: folk tales, fairy tales, fables, and tall tales.

What makes a story a fairy tale? Fairy tales have been told orally through out history. Fairy Tales have characteristics that are present in most stories that help the reader classify the novel.

Special Beginning and Ending Most fairy tales will begin with the words: “Once upon a time…” meaning that they happen in the past And will end with the words: “They lived happily ever after. The End”

Characters: Good vs. Evil Most fairy tales have good versus evil, with good winning. The good character is always good. The evil character is always evil, and is usually a witch or stepmother.

Royalty and/or Castle There are usually characters of royalty in fairy tales. Royal people wear crowns because they rule over the land. For example: king, queen, prince, and princess. These characters usually live in palaces/ castles.

Magic In most fairy tales, something magical happens. This could be a spell cast by a witch, or a magical mirror, rose, apple, etc.

Problem and Solution In most fairy tales, there a problem through out the book. For example, in Snow White the fight between Snow White and her stepmother, the queen. The problem is solved by the end with good always defeating evil.

Things often happen in 3s In fairy tales, it seems that very often things happen in groups of 3 (or 7s). For example: 3 fairies in Sleeping Beauty, 3 blind mice in Shrek, etc. (For example: 7 dwarves)

Activity Listen to Mrs. Brannon read aloud Rumpelstiltskin. Use you characteristics worksheet to determine if this story is a fairy tale.

Activity Use your fairy tale detective chart while listening to story number 2 (5 min 40 sec) Decide if the story you hear is a fairy tale and be able to tell why. Gretal The 2 Children