Folk Tradition End of Unit Study Guide

Name______Block______

Folk Tradition

1. Stories to be read or viewed for the unit exam (English I)

  • Stories we have viewed as part of the unit’s PowerPoint presentation:

“Little Red Riding Hood,” fairy tale by the Grimm brothers

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” by Washington Irving (also a story handout)

“Arachne” (Greek myth)

“Rumpelstiltskin” (fairy tale by the brothers Grimm)

“Jack and the Beanstalk” (Viking/Old English legend)

“The Tortoise and the Hare” (fable)

  • Stories from the Green Textbook:

“Echo and Narcissus” (Greek myth, p. 7)

“The Story of Daedalus and Icarus” (Greek myth, p. 12)

“The White Snake” (fairy tale by Grimm brothers, p. 18)

“The Prodigal Son” (Bible parable, p. 25)

“Goha and the Pot” (folk/trickster tale, p. 29)

“The Fox and the Crow” (Aesop fable, p. 33)

“The Silver Pool” (Irish legend, p. 38)

“John Henry” (folk song, p. 46)

Spirituals (pp. 52-54, 56-57)

  • Stories from the blue textbook:

“Perseus” (Greek myth, p. 937)

“The Fenris Wolf” (Norse myth, p. 948)

“Coyote and Crow” (Native American folktale, p. 954)

NOTE: All stories from the green textbook are also available online on your Warren Hills teacher’s web site.

2. Review the Overview PowerPoint distributed in class.

NOTE: The PowerPoint is also available online on your Warren Hills teacher’s web site.

3. Vocabulary in Context

Know definitions and be able to identify each word’s part of speech. You will also use each word in a sentence.

beguile (v) / to lead by deception; distract
Plumed (v) / to clean and arrange one’s feathers
Dominion (n) / governed territory
traverse (v) / travel across
Prophecy (n) / prediction of what is to come
Curtail (v) / to make less; to cut short
Compassion (n) / sympathy, caring
Consort (v) / unite, associate
Plumage (n) / bird’s feathers
Diligently (adv) / carefully and steadily
Surpass (v) / excel; go beyond the limit
Fettered (v) / chained
Brood (n) / offspring

4. Literary Terms

ARCHETYPE: An idea, a character, a story, or an image that is common to human experience across cultures and throughout the world.

Character archetype: Includes familiar individuals such as the wise leader, the rebel, the damsel in distress, and the traitor. For example, the coyote, the trickster of Native American folklore is a character archetype.

Image archetype: An object or a place that has a universal symbolism. For example, a rose symbolizes love.

Plot pattern archetype: A story that occurs in many cultures.

Theme archetype: A central idea that occurs when people tell stories.

SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF:The act of setting aside skepticism to participate imaginatively in the story you are viewing or reading.

POINT-OF-VIEW: The perspective from which the story is told. Most tales in the folk tradition are told from a third-person omniscient or all-knowing point-of-view.

FORESHADOWING: An author’s use of clues to prepare readers for events that will happen later in the story.

ALLUSION:A reference to a well-known character, place, or situation from history, music, are or another work of literature.

5. Genre Characteristics

Review the Fairy Tale Facts sheet as well as the Folk Tradition Overview PowerPoint.

NOTE: The Fairy Tale Facts sheet and the PowerPoint was distributed in class and is also available online on your Warren Hills teacher’s web site.

Genre / Definition / Characteristic / Selection
TITLE / Example
MYTH / Stories that explain objects or events in nature
TALE TALE / Light-hearted, humorous, exaggerated stories
SPIRITUAL / Religious songs from the African-American folk tradition
LEGEND / Stories containing elements that are fantastic or unable to be verified; often based on real events or characters from the past
FOLK SONG / Composed of stanzas, a refrain and a simply melody
PARABLE / Brief stories told to teach a moral lesson (often religious)
EPIC / A long story, often told in verse form involving heroes and gods
FAIRY TALE / Stories that deal with mischievous characters often in medieval settings. (e.g. once upon a time; happily ever after)
PROVERB / A traditional saying or adage