About Folk Tales

People are naturally creative.

• People assimilate stories much more easily than numbers or other forms of information.
• According to Margaret Atwood, award-winning author of countless novels, stories, and poems, we tell stories as a method of survival.
• The stories that we learn from our families and our communities that are passed down through time are known as folklore.

Folk tales

• Are generally part of the oral tradition of a group
• Are more frequently told than read Are passed down from one generation to another
• Take on the characteristics of the time and place in which they are told
• Sometimes take on the personality of the storyteller
• Speak to universal and timeless themes
• Try to make sense of our existence, help humans cope with the world in which they live, or explain the origin of something
• Are often about the common person
• May contain supernatural elements
• Function to validate certain aspects of culture

Think about the folklore that you might know:

• Tell me about a story that you know about it can be a fairy tale, a family story, or something that you know about from where you live
• How old do you think that story is?
• Where did you hear this story?