Traditional Literature

Categories of Modern Fantasy

Animal - Elephant and Piggie Series by Mo Willems -We are in A Book • Toys and Objects - objects or toys are brought to life • Peculiar characters and situations - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland • Magical Powers• Supernatural Tales • Time-warp fantasies • High fantasy - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Modern fairy and folklores - written in the form of the ageless traditional tales (Hans Christian Andersen - most known) • Fractured folktales and fairy tales - The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

Traditional Literature

Body of ancient stories and poems that grew out of the oral tradition of storytelling before being written down.

Peculiarities of Traditional Literature

Characters development is lean and spare

Style

Derived from the oral tradition, the literature in this genre carries cadence and expression from its original culture.

Two writers today strongly associated with folk literature are the?

Grimm brothers

Six Basic Fantasy Motifs

Magic - most basic element • Other worlds (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) • Good versus evil (theme) • Heroism • Special Character types - giants, wicked witches, etc • Fantastic Objects - mirrors, cloaks, wands, etc.

literary elements

Plot, Setting, Characters, Style and Theme

What is traditional literature?

Traditional literature refers to all the stories born of the oral tradition, the stories most often labeled "folklore," or mythology." Oral tradition with no known author.

Religious Stories

Types of Folktales too

Plot

Typically simple in structure, a plot usually unfolds sequentially. Sometimes folktales from other cultures may be cyclical, where the main character ends up in the place from which he or she started

Characters

Usually the characters are stereotypes, all evil or all good, very foolish or very wise

Evaluating Modern Fantasy

What are the fantasy elements?• How has the author made the story believable?• Is the story logical and consistent • Is the plot original and ingenious?• Universal truth?

Modern fantasy stories

are not merely a matter of make-believe

Fables

brief stories meant to teach a lesson

Tricksters

character that outsmarts everyone in the story

Realistic tales

characters, plots - could have occurred

Tall Tales

exaggerations

Pourquoi Tales

explain phenomena

Folktales

forms of narrative written or oral which have been handed down over the years. Stories that grew out of the lives and imaginations of the people or folk. Sometimes confused with fairy tales - fairy tales are a type of folktale

Ballads

hero stories in poetic form

The modern literary fairy tale utilizes the form of the old but has an?

identifiable author.

Sometimes the purpose was to?

instruct or teach, but sometimes stories were purely for pleasure.

Epics

lengthy hero tales (mythology)

In traditional fiction, the___________ have the following unique qualities:

literary elements

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

operates in all six of the motifs and is thus classified as a high fantasy. Can you identify the motifs?

Noodlehead

or numbskull, tales

Plots are?

simple and direct Typical themes

All modern fantasy stories contain some sort of magical element -

some stories have a higher fantasy quotient than others. Six basic fantasy motifs - if a story contains all six, it is either a classic fairy tale or an example of a modern high fantasy. (Motifs defined as the smallest part of a tale that can exist independently.)

Legends

stories based on real or supposedly real individuals and their marvelous deeds

Originally folklore was the literature of the people;

stories were told to young and old alike.

The stories must have?

strong, believable characters, a strong, credible plot, • a worthwhile theme, an appropriate style, • and should examine issues of the human condition.

Charlotte's Web

talking animals qualify as magic

Beast

talking animals, Goldilocks

Poetic justice prevails

the good and the just are eventually rewarded; the evil are punished.

Fairy tales

the most magical, contain elements of magic or enchantment in characters, plots or settings

The primary concern is?

the way the author makes the fantasy believable. Example: (Charlotte's Web)

Having no known or identifiable authors

these stories are attributed to entire groups of people or cultures.

Children today still enjoy these tales because

they are good stories. Born of the oral tradition, these stories usually are short and have fast-moving plots. They frequently are humorous, and almost always end happily ever after....

Characters generally are archetypes

they are meant to be symbolic of certain basic human traits - single-faceted

Because stories known as TRADITIONAL FICTION have been passed down from generation to generation,

they do not have an identifiable author.

Long ago

this transmission was usually oral

Types of Traditional Literature

• Different terms are sometimes used for certain types of traditional stories .• Modern stories written by known authors in the style of the traditional ones, but are not of ancient and unknown origin are not "traditional" but considered fantasy • Common terms - traditional, folktales, retold tale, variant

Cautions

scary element, violence - why?

Types of Folktales

Cumulative Pourquoi Tales Beast Tricksters, Noodlehead, or numbskull, tales Realistic Tales Fairy tales

Setting

Often the setting is vague, and the opening line is formulaic, such as, "Once upon a time" or "Long ago, in a land far away."

Theme

One vital element of traditional literature is to transmit cultural values. Thus kindness, courage, intelligence and hard work are rewarded; evil is overcome, even by people who think they are powerless.

Why Traditional Literature?

Provides entertainment • Contains the rich heritage of a story • Tells stories of the human experience • Kindles the imagination • Serves as the building blocks for contemporary literature • Provides a window on diverse cultures• Carries on the strong oral tradition of storytelling

Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Read Aloud - Nana in the City; A Chair for my Mother tells a story that never happened but could - p. 171 (Junie B. Jones is very popular for children) • This genre is about "my life." • Types - animals, humor, mysteries, series, sports, survival such as Hatchet

Science Fiction

Science fiction differs from fantasy not in subject matter but in aim, and its unique aim is to suggest real hypotheses about mankind's future or about the nature of the universe. It is also concerned with the way in which scientific possibilities might affect societies of human or alien beings or both.

Modern Fantasy

is distinguished from other genres by story elements that violate natural, physical laws of our known world - events akin to magic. Body of literature in which the events, setting, or the characters are outside the realm of possibility.

Myths

related to explaining events, phenomena of nature

Cumulative

repetition, accumulation, and rhythm