1. 6th grade English/ Language Arts AG Cox Middle
Folk Literature
6th grade
English/ Language Arts
AG Cox Middle

2. Folk Tales
Folk Tales were told over generations and the details changed with each retelling.
Folk Tales were told not only to entertain, but also to communicate the shared ideas of a culture. Often deal with heroes, adventure, magic, or romance.
Example: A story in which a baker becomes a town’s hero.

3. Fables
Brief stores or poems, usually with animal characters, that teach a lesson or moral that is stated directly at the end.
Often feature animal characters.
Example: A story in which a turtle beats a rabbit in a race, laughing all the way.

4. Myths
Fictional tales that explain the actions of gods and heroes or explain the actions of gods and heroes or explain a natural phenomena.
Also composed orally and passed down from generation to generation.
Mythology- collection of myths.
Example: A story about the Roman god Apollo.

5. Legends
Stories often based on fact. However, over time, details in legends move further away from actual factual events.
Example: A story describing the enormous Paul Bunyan and the footprints he made to create 10, 000 lakes.

6. Folk Literature Vocabulary
Oral tradition: passing along of stories by word of mouth.
Universal theme: a message about life that can be understood by people of most cultures.
Personification: giving a nonhuman human-like characteristics.
Irony (ironic): surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions.
Hyperbole: an exaggeration or an overstatement.
Dialect: the form of language spoken by people of a particular region or group.
Allusion: a reference to a well known person, event, place, literary work, or work of art.