Presentation by Sarah Widmer Once Upon A Time What is Traditional Literature Stories and poems and songs that have been passed down by word of mouth through many generations before being written down Johnson p118 ID: 598466
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Slide1
Traditional Literature
Presentation by Sarah WidmerSlide2
Once Upon A Time…Slide3
What is Traditional Literature?
Stories and poems and songs that have been passed down by word of mouth through many generations before being written down. (Johnson, p118)
Stories that “convey the legends, customs, superstitions, and beliefs of people in past times.”
True traditional literature must have no known author.
In library, they are located in J398 (Myths are in J292).Sometimes called “the mother of all literature.”Slide4
Characteristics of Traditional Literature
Unknown authorship.
Conventional introductions and conclusions.
Vague settings.
Stereotyped characters.
Anthropomorphism.
Cause and Effect.
Happy ending for the hero.Magic is accepted as normal.Brief stories with simple and direct plots.Repetition of actions and verbal patterns.Slide5
Themes in Traditional Literature
Triumph of good over evil.
Trickery.
Hero on a quest.
Reversal of fortune.Small outwits the big.(Anderson, p 80).Slide6
Subgenres of Traditional Literature
Myth
Fable
Legend
Religious Stories
Tall Tale
FolktaleSlide7
Subgenres of Folktales
Pourquoi
Tales
Beast Tales
Cumulative TalesFairy Tales (Magic)Realistic TalesHumorous TalesTrickster TalesSlide8Slide9
Role of Traditional Literature in Literacy Development
Develops Literary Language
Exposure to
maxims
used in everyday languageMore extensive vocabularyUnderstanding Story Structure
Development of abstract thinking Slide10
Other Benefits
Teaches children a society’s values.
Provides children with a framework for understanding all other literature- basic plots, characters, themes are all found in traditional literature.
Entertainment and pleasure.
Offers a rhythm, rhyme and pattern. (Johnson, pg 121).Slide11
Evaluating Traditional Literature
Accuracy
Authenticity
Authority
Literary/Illustrative StylePlotThemeSlide12
Ideas for the Classroom
Look at several variants of the same tale and determine which you like best and
why. Use Comparison
of Motifs
chart.Select a subgenre of folktale-
read several, and then
analyze
for shared features. Write an original story using these features.Write a modernized variant of a folktale.Slide13
Activities
What comes to mind first when you hear the words, “once upon a time”?
Fill in as many books, characters, maxims or plotlines you can think of for each of the different subgroups.
Determine the subgenre of your book and evaluate
your book based on our recommended evaluation questions for Trad. Lit.
Group Discussion
question.
Bonus: as a table, create a modernized version of a fairytale.Slide14
Discuss
Is Folk Literature too violent? Explain why you believe children should or should not be exposed to the violence in Traditional Literature?
(Anderson, 112)Slide15
References
Lynch-Brown, Carol.
Esssentials
of
Childrens Literature. (2005). Pearson Publishing.Anderson, Nancy. Elementary Children’s Literture. (2006). Pearson Publishing.
Johnson, Denise.
The Joy of Children’s Literature.
(2012). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.