1. Sixth Grade Language Arts

2. What is Folklore? Folklore is the traditions, customs, and stories that are passed down within a culture ORALLY (includes food, poems and songs). “It is a record of a society’s soul.” 1. Keeps the past alive. 2. Teaches moral lessons about human behavior. 3. Reveals values of the society. 4.Shows characteristics of culture or geography.

3. Literary Terms  Personification- giving inanimate objects human-like characteristics  Hyperbole- exaggeration  Dialect- form of language spoken by a group of people of different regions  Universals themes- message about life understood by people of most cultures

4. We are going to study:  Fables  Folk Tales  Legends  Myths

5. What are fables?  A brief story that illustrates human behavior  Often have animals as characters  Has a lesson called a “moral”  Purpose? (Why do your parents tell these to you?)  Examples?

6. What are folk tales?  Many times either animals or poor people are the characters, can be fairy tales or trickster tales.  Purpose? They are told for entertainment (happy endings, sad, scary, etc) or to communicate the shared ideals of a culture  Examples?

7. What are Legends?  Legends are stories about a real person or event in history.  Many times these stories are exaggerated for effect and usually star a heroic person.  Tall tales are one form of legends.  Purpose? (look at your first bit of notes)  Examples?

8. What are Myths? Myths are stories that  attempt to answer basic questions about the world, like the origin of the world, mysteries of nature, or social customs.  Often include gods, goddesses, and heroes.  Considered true by the tellers or used to be at one point in history.  Purpose?  Examples?

9. Quiz Yourself! 1. Myth 2. Fable 3. Legend 4. Trickster Tale 5. Folk Tale a. uses animal characters, simple folk or magic so are entertaining b. based on a real person or event c. usually has god and goddesses, explains about the world d. one character uses its wits over the other more powerful character. e. contains a lesson to be learned