Unit 5 Folk Literature

Unit 5 Folk Literature

1. Oral Tradition in print pg. 269

   • Myths
     • Fictional tales that explore the actions of gods and heros or explain why things are a certian way in the natural world
       • Ancient Greece and Rome mythology, also known as classical mythology
   • Folk Songs
     • Present the ideas , values, feelings and beliefs of a culture in musical form
   • Folk Tales
     • Stories that often deal with heros, adventure, magic or romance
   • Legends
     • Traditional, farmiliar stories about the past
   • Fables
     • Brief stories or poems that teach lessons, or morals

2. Elements of F.L pg. 628

   • Themes
     • Universal: expresses insights about life that can be understood by people of most cultures
     • Culturally Specific: reflect local coustoms and belifs
   • Purpose
     • Teach an important life lesson
     • Explain something in nature
     • Entertain or amuse
   • Forms
     • Folk Tales
     • Fairy tales
     • Fables
     • Wise Sayings
     • Folk Songs
     • Legends
     • Myths

3. Analyzing Structure and Theme pg. 630

   • Stated and Implied Theme
     • Themes in F.L are expressed in many different ways In a fable the theme is often stated at the end of the story as a moral, or lesson
   • Common Themes in F.L
     • Often, those who seem foolish are actually wise
     • Too much pride can lead to a fall
     • Wisdom comes through suffering
     • The virtues of kindness, generosity, and modesty are stronger than their opposites-cruelty, greed, and pride
     • An unappealing outward appearance may disguise a noble soul
   • Simple Diction
     • Diction is an author's choice of words, phrases, and sentence structure. The simple diction in much of F.L is characterized by plain, common words, everyday language, and simple sentence construction
   • Patterns
     • Many folk stories begin with simple pharases such as Once upon a time, Long ago in a far-of land
     • Threes
   • Archetypes
     • An archetype is an element that recurs regularly in literature and has similar meanings to people of different cultures and eras
   • Repetition
     • The repetition of events, lines of dialogue, descriptions, and sound patterns is a familiar element in F,L
       • A refrain, often found in folk songs and poems, is the repetition of a phrase, line, or verse at regular intervals in the text
   • Symbols and Theme
     • A symbol is a person, place or object that represents something beyond it's literal meaning

4. Characteristics of F.L pg. 629

   • Fantasy
     • Writing that is highly imaginative and contains elements not found in real life
   • Personification
     • Type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics
   • Dialect
     • Form of language spoken by people of a particular region or group
   • Hyperbole
     • Exaggeration or overstated
   • Irony
     • Involves surprises, unexpected events, and interesting or amusing contradictions