Download TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF TRADITIONAL LITERATURE

TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF TRADITIONAL LITERATURE
o Folktales
 Based in oral tradition with no known author.
 Anytime and anyplace (once upon a time in a place far away).
 Common ending (they lived happily ever after).
 Often magical.
 Typically evil is defeated and hero/heroine triumphs.
 Contain universal truths and values of time.
 Were sometimes used to instruct children in values.
 Contain common narrative motifs and common themes.
 Examples are: Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Red Riding
Hood, Snow White. Sleeping Beauty, Rumplestiltskin, Hansel
and Gretel, Bremen Town Musicians, Three Little Pigs, East of
the Sun and West of the Moon.
o Fables
 Have a moral.
 Were meant to entertain.
 Brief tale.
 Poetic tales with double or allegorical significance.
 Animal characters.
 Satirize human conduct.
 Examples are: Ant and the Grasshopper, Fox and Grapes, Wolf
in Sheep’s Clothing, Dog in the Manger, Tortoise and the Hare,
Lion and the Mouse, Town Mouse and the Country Mouse.
o Myths
 Found in almost all cultures.
 Used to explain natural phenomena of the world.
 Used to explain creation.
 Used to explain origins of people.
 Sacred or based upon religious belief.
 Main characters are animals, deities or humans.
 Greek myths (Zeus and Mt. Olympus); Roman myths
(Jupiter), Norse myths (Odin and Citadel of Asgard).
o Legends
 May be based upon person or event of historical significance.
 Typically secular rather than religious.
 Principal characters are human.
 Examples are: Beowulf, Robin Hood, King Arthur.
o Nursery rhymes
 Rhyme, rhythm, repetition, alliteration, humor, exaggeration.
 Humorous stories that rhyme.
 Told to young children.
 Nonsense verse.
 Examples are: Jack and Jill, Hey Diddle, Diddle, Peter Piper,
Three Blind Mice, Ring Around the Rosie, Old Mother Hubbard.
o Tall Tales
 American tales.
 Exaggerated claims reflecting hardships of settlers.
 Reflect frontier idealism.
 Fictional heroes and heroines based upon real people.
 Examples are: Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan, Davy Crockett,
Pecos Bill, John Henry, Mike Fink, Daniel Boone.
Norton, Donna E. and Saundra E. Norton. Through the Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children’s Literature. 6th ed. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall, 2003.