Folklore: Fairy Tales,
Myths, Legends, and the Importance of Oral History
February 20, 2004
In a visit with Ms. Sharon Williams’
third grade class, the topic of folklore was discussed in detail. Ms. Hargett
developed a handout, which sub-divided the areas of folklore into the following
categories: Fables/Parables, Myths/Legends, Fairytale/Folktales, and Riddles/Nursery
Rhymes was provided to the class.
In order to stress the importance
of oral history and the creation of folklore, Ms. Odom explained the concept
of formulaic language patterns, or language formulas, to the class. Phrases
such as “Once upon a time…” are extremely noteworthy as
they signify to the listener that a story is about to begin. This allows the
imagination to fully engage and mentally the listener notes that some important
moral or lesson may soon follow.
Following the invention of the
printing press, these stories and their variations were then put into print.
Today, these stories continue change through contemporary retellings, such
as Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe, The Talking
Eggs by Robert D. San Souci and Jerry Pinkney, and “Catskinella”
from Virginia Hamilton’s Her Stories. All these stories present
a variant of the Cinderella myth and were shared with the class.
Updated
July 27, 2007
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