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Santa Monica Institute of Technology

Andrada Building,Cabili Avenue,Poblacion Iligan City
GE LIT 1 (Children’s and Adolescent Literature)

Tel.No.:221-2678
santamonicailigan@ymail.com

Bachelor of Elementary Education

COURSE CODE: GE LIT 1 ( Children’s and Adolescent Literature)
1st Semester of A.Y.2021
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Introduction
From the beginning of education in our country,children’s and
adolescent literature has always a place in the school
curriculum.Although the emphases in the literary experience of young
people at schol have changed from time to time,the basic commitment
to literature as a valuable ingredient to their education has remained.Except for the
textbooks for classroom training,children have not been exposed to a wealth of
challenging reading reading materials for their own pleasure.Textbooks are not
enough,books that young people can read for their enjoyment and profit are
needed.The world of books offer children rich opportunities for developing into
citizens and well-rounded personalities who will be assets to their family and
society.Through books,they may partly fulfill their basic emotional needs-as
indispensable condition for personality development.Literature is entertainment along
with radio,television,movies and picture magazines,sometime should be reserved for
reading.The reading of fine prose and poetry helps to take children away from the
urgencies and cares of living and refresh their spirit.Through literature the child
develops his tates in reading for pleasure.If he experiences satisfaction in other
stories.Satisfaction,happiness,contentment,fun,joy,positive release,pleasure:all of
these should accompany the literature period in the classroom.Children should be
properly motivated and guided to read good books.Oftentimes children don’t have
ti,e to read because they are laden heavily with homework and they hardly have
time to read for pleasure.Over-dependence on textbooks have forced children to
exist on a impoverished literary diet.

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of this module the students should be able to:
•Develop the skills to think critically about children’s and adolescent literature,and to
examine literary works in view of their culture,time period,author,or genre.

-Learn about myths,legends,epic and hero tales,fables,bible stories,realistic stories for

children,autobiographer,biography and modern fairy tales

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Discussion
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MYTHS
Mythology is a body of myths describing the gods of the people,demigods and legendary of
the people,demigods and legendary human beings in stories which involve supernatural
elements.It is the science that treats of myths.The term myth has usually a more specialized
meaning and refers to stories in which gods,goddesses,and other pagan divinities play a
part.It is a story that explains primitive man’s ideas of the origin of the universe,the mysteries
of natural phenomena.The purpose of the myth is to explain matters in the science of a
prescientific age.A myth remains a myth as long as the divinity if its sectors is recognized.It is
associated with religious rites and beliefs.

Evolution of Myths
The evolution of myth and religion differ from people.An Ancient Greek writer,Euhemerus
(300 B.C.) believed that the ancient gods were patterned after heroes who actually lived at
one time.
A secondary theory was made by philologists or people who study the growth of
language.This study claims that man repeating things their ancestors said,understood them in
different sense and because of that,misunderstanding created myths.
The third theory was made by anthropologists or people who study history of the human
race.They tried to explain the cause of natural phenomenon.
The fourth theory according to French sociologist.Emile Durheim,explained that myths
came from society as a whole.He believed that people got so excited that during their tribal
festivities that they thought that a great power came to them from an object in their
camp.This object became a sacred emblem to the tribe.

Sources of Mythology
Greek and Roman Mythology

The Romans had no system of mythology of their own.They adopted the mythology of the
Greeks,but change the name of gods.The Romans and Greeks had not only the same
gods,but the same the same demigods.

Greeks Romans

Zeus Ruler of the heavens and earth Jupiter or Jove

Hera Queen of the heavens June
Poseidon God of the sea Neptune
Aphrodite Goddess of love and beauty Venus
Athena Goddess of wisdom Minerva
Apollo God of the sun Apollo
Artemis Goddess of moon and of the chase Diana
Ares God of war Mars
Hermes Messenger of Zeus and of Gods Mercury
Heracles(demigods) Strong man Hercules

In both mythologies,the abode of the gods and goddesses was on MOunt Olympus.The
Roman names are more familiar than the Greek;the Greek names have more beautiful

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sounds.The myths have come down to us in Latin writings than in Greek.
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Norse Myths

The Norse myths came from the Scandinavian countries.They are more serious in tone and
lot than Greek myths.In the Norse stories,the ruler of the heavens and earth is Odin.Freya
corresponds to Aphrodite,Greek goddess of love,Thor to MArs.The home of the gods was the
great HAll of Valhalla in Odin’s Palace.Odin’s maiden messengers,the Valkyries,brought the
souls of heroes slain in battle to live forever in honor and glory in the HAll of VAlhalla.

German Myths
The name of ditties in German myths differ only slightly from those of the Norse.Odin
becomes Wotan,Sigurd and Brynhild become Siegfried and Brunhilde as in the Wagnerian
operas.

Types of Myth Stories

The simplest form of myth stories are the “why” stories or Pourquoi tales.Eaxmples of this
type of stories are: “Why the Sunflower Turns to the Sun”. ‘Why the Woodpecker Has a Red
Head”.
The second type of myth story is the allegory or symbolic story.An acceptable story for
children is the story of “King Midas”who wanted everything that he touched would turn into
gold.
A type of myth story deals with the ways of the gods with other gods and with men.This is a
complex type of story and is not suitable for young children.
Another type of myth story is about nature and other phenomena that is often baffling.

Values of Myths
1. There is a dramatic quality about myths that captures imagination of the poets and
children.
2. Many English poems are filled with classical allusions from myth.
3. Subjects of culture and graphic arts are taken from the Greek and Roman myths.
4. They furnish background for the great national epics of all countries.
5. They serve to explain the origin and meaning of many words in everyday use.
6. They serve as an aid in the understanding of art and literature.
7. They widen our knowledge about the physical world,the history and civilization of the times
in which the stories originated and about human nature.
8. Myths give answers to questions often asked by children concerning the how,when,why of
the ways of animals,birds,insects,trees,flowers,and other forces of nature.
HOwever,myths are for the older children--those in Grade VI and for high school
students.The two examples of mythical stories are King Midas and Atalanta.

LEGENDS
Definition
A legend is a narrative that is partly true and partly imaginary about a particular
person,event,place or natural feature.It is a form of story containing miracles and wonders
handed down from generation to generation though they are not authenticated by accepted
proof.A legend is closely allied to history although it is not verifiable.Legends will continue to
develop because man with his busy printing presses can’t write down history of every
person,place or thing in the minds of future generations.

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Origins of legends:
Legends came from the latin word “Legenda” which means for things to read.The term was
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used to designate the life story of a saint and was also applied to portions of scripts and
selections from lives of saints to be read at divine service.From the origin,the term legend
came to be applied to any story with or without historical background but thought to be true.

Filipino Legends According to Subject:

1. Legendary heroes 4. Legend about Plants
2. Legendary about places 5. Legend about Flowers
3. Legend about nature 6. Legend about animals

Values of Legends in Children’s Literature

1. Legend as a source of children’s literature deals religious facts.Religious facts help children
in strengthening their faith in God.
2. Legends deal with historical backgrounds.They awaken the national consciousness of
children.
3. They develop vivid and fantastic imagination.
4. Some legends give children a moral lesson.They serve as a guide on what is right nad
what is wrong.
5. Legends help acquaint children with cultural phase of the country.
6. They give pleasure and enjoyment to children.

EPICS AND HERO TALES

In addition to the stories of gods,goddesses and lesser divinities or demigods,there are also
tales of human heroes.Some of these heroes accumulated so many stories about their names
that the collection of these tales make an epic.
The word epic comes from the Greek epos meaning a saying or a song.Now the word epic
is a form of narrative wherein tragedy,comedy,lyric,dirge,and idyll are skillfully blended to
form an immortal work.
Epics are sometimes written in verse like the “Iliad” or “Segurd Saga” and sometimes in
prose,as Malory’s “Morte d’ Arthur”.The epic is strongly national in its presentation of human
character.Odysseus may not have lived at all,but he is the embodiment of the Greek ideals
of manly courage,wisdom,beauty and endurance.
Segurd is the personification of Norse heroism.King Arthur is the model of
chivalry.Robinhood is the personification of the English love of frredom and justice and the
ideal of hardy and jovial English manhood.
The moral code of a nation and era and all its heroic ideals are revealed in the study of the
epic and hero of a nation.Not all epics are suitable for children.Some epics give children an
unforgettable literary and emotional experience.They are suitable for older children and for
the intermediate grades.
There is a little preaching in the epics but they give a child something to grow on-- ideals
of conduct in human form.Many of the epics take too much time.They tell of hardships and
exploits of the hero day after day.his adventures show his resourcefulness,his vision,his tireless
attempts that show his greatness,his courage and the triumph over his difficulties.All these
add to the memorable experience and value to children.

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Characteristics of Hero tales
1. Hero tales are historical,biographical,mythical and legendary stories of heroes.
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2. They possess qualities of good adventure which children like: directness of

action,singleness of motive,simplicity of language and vigor in style.
3. The heroes present ideals of life and conduct worthy of emulation.
4. The exploits and deeds of heroes are worth worshipping.
5. The heroes succeed because of their ingenuity,valor,perseverance and other virtues.
6. The style in which the story is told is serios,dignified,and there is objectivity.

Values of Hero Tales

1. Develop in the child good moral character.
2. Enlarge the child’s vocabulary.
3. Develop the imagination.
4. Give good background to interpret later reading with the allusion to the classic.

FABLES
Fables,like myths and epics are also part of a great stream of folklore.A fable is a short tale in
which the chief character are animals and sometimes inanimate objects that act and talk
like human beings.The wisdom of the foolish acts of human beings are shown by the actions
and words of the beasts.The fable must always point a moral.Often the theme and moral
appears at the end of the story.

Sources of Fables

1. Aesop
Most of the fables have been attributed to Aesop,who was said to have been a Greek
slave.he was ugly,but cunning and clever.His skill in making fables gained him his freedom
from slavery and he even won a high position in government.In Greece,during the era of the
tyrants,people had no freedom of speech.The fable was largely used for political reasons,to
attack the corrupt officials.The most prominent user of the fable was Aesop.But this account of
Aesop,of the idea that a person named Aesop ever existed,is purely legendary.

2. Panchatantra
The Panchatantra meaning “Five Books” was composed about 200 B.C.It is the oldest
known collection of Indian fables.It is the source of many of the Aesop and the la Fontaigne
fables.Under the title of Kalilab and Dimad or the Fables of Bidpai,the stories were translatd
into Persian,Arabicv,and Latin.In the latin version,they became popular throughout medieval
period.

3. Jatakas
Another ancient collection of Indian fables is the Jatakas.When they originated is not
definitely known.Jataka is a Buddhist name for stories concerning the rebirth of Gautamam
Buddha who according to tradition was reincarnated many times in the forms of many
different animals until he became,at last,Buddha,the Enlightened One.These beast stories
were about a man living briefly as an animal,associating with other animals.The man derives
moral lessons from these experiences.

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4. La Fontaigne
Another name associated with fables is Jean de la Fontaigne,a Frenchman who turned
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many of the fables of Aesop into verses.

Characteristics of Fables

1. Characters of the story are usually animals.

2. Animals are made to think,act,and talk like human beings.
3. The moral lesson of the story usually at the end.
4. The story is usually short.
5. Animals personify human beings.
6. The fable is full of actions and conversations.
7. Full of humor and funny situations.
8. Some have tragic and dramatic series of events.

Values of Fables

1. They give delight and enjoyment to both children and adults.

2. The teach ethical truth in an attractive manner or form.
3. They provide background for the understanding of mnahy new or current experssions and
allusions.
4. Some of the fables serve as a guide to good conduct on the child’s level of experience.
5. Children enjoy the fable because of the prominent part played by animals
6. They moral and spiritual sense of values.
7. They cultivate thinking and imagination.
8. They are good for story-telling and dramatization purposes.

BIBLE STORIES
The Bible is the sacred book of Christians.It is the basis of the Christian religion.It consists of
the writings of the Old Testament and the New Testament.The Old Testament has 37 books,the
New Testament,27.The Bible tells a story with a special aim.The aim is to state the promise of
God to Jesus,to trace the influence of the promises upon our lives;to tell the fulfillment of the
promise in Christ;and to show how the promise was extended to all men everywhere.

Characteristics of Bible Stories

1. Stories are of religious nature.

2. Language is simple.
3. Contains many praises.
4. Contains proverbs,poetry and songs.
5. Writer is nameless or anonymous.

Values to Children

1. it helps children to know God.

2. It gives children better understanding and appreciation of the Bible.
3. It gives moral and spiritual values to children.

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4. It helps children as well as adults to enter into a life that is dominated by Christianity.
5. Bible stories are good for storytelling and dramatization activities.
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Most of the stories in the Bible are excellent for :telling” to children.They can be told in
language or words understandable by children.

REALISITC STORIES FOR CHILDREN

A realistic story is a story that is convincingly true to life;that is,the place,the people,the
action and motives seem both possible and plausible.It is a story in which everything that
happens could happen.

Characteristics of Realistic Stories:

1. Must contain plots with action.

2. Has unity of plot.
3. HAs logical development.
4. The story must be true to human nature.
5. Must have a substantial theme.
6. Style must absorb and interest young readers.

Values of Realistic Stories:

1. Children can identify themselves happily and profitably with the hero and or heroine of the
tale.
2. Give children an insight into real life situations.
3. Satisfy the need to belong.
4. Satisfy the need of love or be loved.
5. Satisfy the need to know.
6. Satisfy the need to achieve.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Autobiography is the story of a person’s life written by himself.It is written from a person’s
memory of his past.In its pure form,an autobiography is an extensive true narrative of an
individual’s life,from infancy date.It is written by the person himself in the first person,from his
own point of view,and in his own personal style.he writes about the events in his life with an air
of reappraisal or reevaluation.He has the freedom to express his personality and
manners.Among the various kinds of writers,only the autobiographers feel the need to explain
why they are writing about their life.

Some reasons are:

1. To leave a record about their deeds for their families.

2. To comply with the wishes of friends or admires for an account of his personal life.
3. To inspire young people

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4. To help in reform.To teach others to live better lives,to change from bad to good.
5. To acknowledge the debts which one’s intellectual and moral development owes to
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others.

Whatever the intention,the autobiographer tells only the truth,but he never tells
everything.He won’t tell all the truth,though,according to Eleonor Roosevelt,”It’s hard for the
autobiographer to really tell the truth without hurting anyone but the more honest you can be
about yourself and others,the more the valuable what you have written will be in the future.

An autobiography contains the following:

1. Early life history:birthdate and place,names and ages of father,mother,brothers,sisters,their

occupation,language spoken and early childhood memories.
2. Health,height,weight,vision hearing,sickness,accidents,handicaps,etc.
3. Education
4. Leisure and Interests
5. Other experiences:work experiences

Values of Autobiography:
1. for information 3.For inspiration to others
2. For recreational reading 4. For self-justification

BIOGRAPHY
Biography is a story of a life of a real person written by someone else.As a brand of
literature,it artistically records the actions and recreates the personality of an individual’s life
that has actually lived.The biographer,the writer of an account of a person’s life,is concerned
with truth.It is a form of history which is applied not to races or masses but to an individual.
The earliest use of the word “Biography” is attributed to Damacius,a Greek writer of the 6th
century.Plutach wrote about the lives of Greek writer of the 6th century,Plutarch wrote about
the lives of 46 Greeks and Romans to show that people were either all good or all bad,wise or
foolish.In 1683,Dryden used the word biography to describe the literary work of Plutarch,”the
History of particular Men’s Lives”.After World War I,biography became very popular and
interesting.Biography is of perennial interest because it deals with famous or notorious,or
interesting personalities,but of more importance,because its subject matter is human nature.
Nineteenth century Biography,as a whole,was of the type which made the person written
about seem unbelievably good.It was this method of writing and treatingmen’s lives.they
brought out the human story,human climax as if they were writing a novel.
It was only recently that biographies written particularly for children have been written.The
personal narrative found in biography has its place in the literary experiences of children as
truly as does any other story form.
In a complete biography,it is necessary to include all the principal happenings from infancy
to the present or to the time of the subject’s death.

Characteristics of a Good Biography:

A good biography must be very well-researched.Its interest is restricted to only one
person,his activities,personal qualities and achievements.It records life that has been actually
lived.It must be based on documented facts.

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Differences Between Juvenile and Adult Biography:
1. Biographies for children are not usually documented.
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2. These biographies may not be complete accounts if the person’s life includes
objectionable incidents or strategies.
3. Biographers fort he young usually feel that it is the life of a person and to interpret the
thoughts of their character.

Two Types of Biographies for Children:

1. Fictionalized biography in which the facts are documented.
2. Biographical fiction in which a historical character is the basis for story that is semi-
historical in nature.

Values of Biography:
1. For recreation 3. For inspiration
2. For information 4.For vocational guidance

Use of Biographical Materials in the School or in the Classroom

How a teacher will make use of biography will depend upon her breadth of interest and
resourcefulness.To widen the horizons of her pupils through well-directed self-activity is the
essence of the art of teaching.Biography can be used as background materials in all
subjects.Biography can contribute to the enrichment of classroom materials and the
techniques of teaching.It can be used for oral reports,written reports,dramatization reference
and in correlation with other subjects.

MODERN FAIRY TALES OR TALES OF FANTASY

The term “ fairy tales”includes a wide variety of folktales.It includes almost any tale in which
something extraordinary like fairies,giants,dwarfs,genies,and speaking animals appear.The
term is used to describe stories about magic.The word “fairy” came originally from the Latin
“Fatum” meaning fate,through the Old and Middle French “Feerie” meaning the land of the
free or fates,into the Middle English “faerie”.Edmund Spenser used the word “Faerie” in his
story “Faerie Queen”.Later the word became fairy.

Characteristics of Fairy tales

1. The story commonly begins “Once upon a time”.

2. There is no definite place where the story takes place.It may begin “Once upon a time
there was a prince who lived in a small kingdom.”
3. The setting of the story is an illogical world,inhabited with people whose lives are crossed
by creatures of magic such as fairies,witches,genies,elves,dwarfs,who meddle in the affairs of
human beings by means of enchantment.These human beings can be transformed into
beasts.They can be put to sleep for a long,log time or they can be transported from one
place to another in the wink of an eye.
4. It is an unreal world in which the most difficult problem can be solved by enchantment of
magic as the waving of a wand,granting three wishes,wearing a magic ring,repeating a
charm or spell.The ending is a;ways a happy one no matter how great the problem.
5. Every character acts according to his nature,and the stories move in strong,direct action

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with an expected ending.The good are rewarded and the evil are punished.
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The distinction between old folk tales and modern fairy tales or fanciful tales is immaterial to
the child.The modern fairy tales is quite different from the old folktale.The old folk tale is an old
traditional story without any known author that had been handed down orally from
generation to generation.The modern fairy tale like all modern literature has upon it the stamp
of the individual author.

Values of Fairy Tales or Tales of Fantasy

1. A fairy tale is something that changes the common place into what is rich,strange and
wonderful.
2. Fairy tales teach children to look for wonder in the common place.
3. Fairy tales stir the imagination.
4. Fairy tales establish their sense of wonder.
5. Fairy tales satisfy their hunger for adventure.
6. Fairy tales develop courage in children.
7. Fairy tales play a role in the emotional development of children ,
8. Fairy tales provide pleasure and enjoyment for children.

Uses of FAiry Tales

1. For reading aloud to children.

2. For story telling.
3. For dramatization.
4. For illustration.

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gygygygygygygygygygygygygygytuyjhuyjhuyjhuyjhuyjhuyjhuyjhuyjhuyjhuyjhuyjh
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Mother Goose Rhymes or Nursery Rhymes

Children all over the world have recited,sang,and repeated Mother Goose rhymes,but they
have never bothered to know their origin and their meaning.Most of the rhymes have been
handed down from generation to generation.

Who was Mother Goose?Where did she live?Mother Goose never existed as a person and
did not live anywhere.She is only a myth,a personification of well-loved story-tellers who have
existed since the world began.It was in 1697 when a French writer,Charles Perrault,published
a collection of fairy tales and named it Comtes de Ma mere I Oye or Tales of My Mother
Goose.Later,John Newberry published a collection of nursery rhymes called Mother Goose.
As the Mother Goose rhymes were handed down orally,they had undergone many
changes.The verses reveal interesting bits of history,old customs,manners and
beliefs.Researchers reveal evidences that some of the rhymes refer to real people and
interesting facts.from the studies of John Bellendenker in 1834 and Katherine Elwes Thomas in
1930,it was Anne Boleyn who was the pretty maid hanging up her clothes and losing her head
to the blackbird headsman.Richard III was probably Humpty Dumpty who toppled off his
throne to his death.
The earliest collection of Mother Goose verses was published by John Newberry in 1765.his
collection of nursery rhymes was entitled Mother Goose Melody or Sonnets fro the Cradle.In
1784,Joseph Ritson published his Gammer Gurton’s garland or the Nursery Parnassus.

Qualities of Mother Goose Rhymes:

1. Musical quality:Children are captivated by their sounds,rhyme and rhythm.
2. Action: Children like action. Example: Jack and Jill went up the Hill
3. Humor: Children laugh at the sound or the unusual combination of words.Ex.Humpty Dumpty
4. Story interest: Children love the story element.
5. Variety of Subject Matter:Children enjoy the different subject matter of rhymes.
a. Animals - example: Baa,black sheep
b. Alphabets - ex. Alphabet song g. Time verses l. Singing rhymes
c. Dialogue h. Riddles
d. Counting rhymes I. Tongue twisters
e. Games- ex. London BRidge is falling Down j. weather
f. People k. Accumulative Stories

Values of Mother Goose Rhymes

Why do children like the rhymes so much?Children enjoy the rhymes because of their
musical quality,the repetition and unexpected combination of sounds,the action and the
presence of familiar characters.Mother Goose rhymes serve as an introduction to real
poetry.They are good for ear-training and for their pleasure and amusement.
Comprehension of meaning and ability to read are not involved in the child’s enjoyment of
the rhymes.teachers recite the rhyme several times and children just follow and imitate their
teachers.

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Verses for Children

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A verse is a line of poetry having,usually,a determined metrical or rhythmical patter.A

humorous verse deals with the amusing things befall them.A nonsense verse deals with
absurd or meaningless words as pabbles,jumbles,potatoes that dance,chickens that go out
to tea.Mother goose rhymes or nursery rhymes for the very young children is an introduction
to the gay tradition of nonsense verse for children.sense verse may not represent the highest
level of poetry,but they do contribute to the child’s personal and literary development.
There are certain values of nonsense verse for children:
1. They provide humor for children.Children laugh heartily at the words even though the words
may be meaningless to them.
2. They introduce the children to rhyme and various patterns of verse.
3. They serve as release from tension and anxieties.
4. They provide children a means of escape from reality.
5. They are excellent for ear-training.
6. They serve as introduction to better poetry.

Poets of Nonsense Verse

Edward Lear,1812-1888,was the greatest poet of nonsense.Although he was sick of
epilepsy,Lear not stop from writing limericks,funny poems of five lines.In 1846,he published the
Book of Nonsense and in 1871,Nonsense Songs and Stories.
Lewis Carrol,1882-1898,writer of humorous verse for children wrote Alice’s Adventure in
Wonderland.
Laura E. Richards,1850-1943,was known as the children’s American Poet Laureate of
Nonsense.her favorite verse were found in Tirra Lirra:Rhymes Old and New published in 1932.
A.A.Milne,Milne’s charm is his ability to present small children as they are.he portrays
children in their private inner world of make-believe,their gay self-centeredness,their liking for
small animals,their toys and games.Milne shows the child’s love of small animals like
mice,rabbits,puppets,snails and goats whose antics enliven the verses.The verses are full of
the small child’s activities too.Milne makes use of words,rhyme and rhythm to convey
character,mood,and action.

Poetry for Children

What is Poetry?
Poetry is an artistic expression of thought and emotion in rhythmical language.Poetry is a
kind of verbal music.Poetry is like a musical score that must be interpreted by the human
voice in order to get the fullest enjoyment.The poet uses words for sound effects as the
musician uses musical notes.
Qualities of Poetry:
1. Poetry has musical and rhythmic qualities that children enjoy.
2. Poetry appeals to the imagination.The poet makes us see what he has seen and feel what
he has felt.he makes use of words and phrases that are descriptive,sensory and associative.
3. The emotional content of poetry must be sincere,worth expressing and must be universal
in appeal.A great poem must speak of experiences common to all people.
4. Subjects of poetry for children must be varied.They must be subjects familiar to children

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and can add new and richer meanings to their experiences.
Children,as well as adults,find no enjoyment in poems that are unfamiliar or unrelated to
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their experiences.They find the figurative language in poetry difficult to understand.Some

poems are too long and are varied in form.Children find no enjoyment in poetry if it is not
well-presented to them.The appreciation if poetry is something caught not taught.

Classification of Poetry
Poetry can be classified according to form or according to their subject content:
I. Types of Poems According to Form:
A. Narrative poems tell a story and relate events.
Kinds of narrative poems:
1. Ballads are narrative poems that are intended to be sung.
2. Epics deals with deeds and heroic adventures.
3. Metrical romances are lengthy narrative poems that deal of love and brave deeds of a
hero “Canterburry Tales”.
B. Lyric poems express the feeling,the mood,and the personality of the poet.

Kinds of lyric poems:

1. Songs are poems that can be sung.
2. Pastoral poems are about shepherds and rural scenes.
3. Sonnets are poems of 14 lines.There is a definite rhyming pattern.
4. Elegy is a meditative poem that expresses griefs or deals with sorrow and death.
5. Ode is a poem that expresses exalted feelings,a praise for someone or something.

Choral Speaking or Reading

Definition of Choral reading or Speaking
Choral reading or speaking is the interpretation of poetry by several voices speaking as
one.It is the group interpretation of poetry for the purpose of sharing enjoyment and
increasing enjoyment of it.Choral reading involves the use of a book or script.

History of Choral Speaking

Choral speaking is not a recent development.Hebrews had the antiphonal chorus,the
chanting of prayers or hymns alternately by two groups or by a leader and a choir which
gave the responses.In the Greek dramas,a chorus recited the main action of the play to hold
the plot together.In England,France,and Germany,the troubadours chanted and recited tales
of heroic deeds in verse,and their audiences must have joined in reciting the refrains.Without
being aware of it,many of us in the Philippines and even our ancestors have participated in
choral speaking in church and at home especially in reciting the prayers and the rosary.

Folklore and Folktales

The term “folklore”was invented by an English scholar by the name of William John Thomas
in 1846.He used the word to denote the traditions,customs and superstitions of the uncultured
people in a civilized country.Folklore is a science that embraces observances and
customs,notions,beliefs,traditions,superstitious and prejudices of the common people.

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Importance of Folklore
GE LIT 1 (Children’s and Adolescent Literature)

1. Folklore is important in explaining social history of mankind.

2. Folklore is helpful in the study of comparative mythology and science of religion.
3. Folklore helps in the understanding of the relationship between races and on the
development of religion,beliefs and ceremonies.
4. Folklore is of great assistance to the ethnologists,sociologist,historians and students of
comparative mythology and science of religion.

Kinds of Folklore
1. Traditional literature in narrative form
A. folk tales c. ballads and song
B. Hero tales d. legends of places

2. Traditional customs
A. Local customs c. festival customs
B. Astrology d. games

3. Superstitious and beliefs

A. Witchcraft c.superstitious practices
B. Astrology d. superstitious beliefs and fancies

4. Folk speech
A. Popular sayings c. proverbs
B. Popular nomenclature d. jingles,rhymes,riddles

The earliest forms of literature were called folk literature.They are traditional narratives that
originated directly from the people.Folk literature has no fixed author and fixed original form.
There are certain qualities common to all folk literature.They are
1. Concerned more with action rather than reflection;
2. Concerned with physical heroism,;
3. Concerned with mysterious and powerful influences-gods,giants,heroes,fairies,animals
and other super natural beings.

FOLKTALES
The term folktale refers to a traditional narrative of unknown authorship that has been
handed down from generation to generation regardless of its content.These old stories are
often called fairy tales are often called fairy tales because many of them deal with fairies or
magic or any super natural element.Some of the contents or characters were
animals,mysterious and powerful influences like gods,giants,heroes who overcome incredible
obstacles and win awards and other supernatural beings.There are hundreds of such stories
known in every country and most of these stories were known long before books were made.

Origins of Folktales
There are two theories concerning the origin and transmission of folk tales:
1. That all folk tales originated in India in the Sacred Books of Buddhism and were transmitted
by migrations of peoples,by crusaders and Hebrew gypsies.
2. That many of the tales arose independently among people widely separated
geographically and historically.

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History of Folktales
GE LIT 1 (Children’s and Adolescent Literature)

The history of folktales begins at the point at which a storyteller,folklorist or anthropologist

set it down in writing.It has been the convention to credit the origin of a folk story to the
country in which it was published.Most often a story which has been thought of as having
originated in the country in which it was first published had been known in other countries for
a long time.
In 1697,a collection of tales Comtes de Ma Mere L ‘Oye or Tales of My Mother Goose
appeared bearing in the name of a Frenchman,Charles Perrault.However,Perrault claimed
that the stories were written by his little son who learned from his peasant nurse.The
frontispiece of the book showed three children listening to a story told by an old woman
named Mother Goose while she was spinning.The4 name Mother Goose was later associated
more with nursery rhymes than with tales.A translation of Perrault’s tales was published in
England in 1719.The eight tales became very popular to English speaking childre n.The stories
were: Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty,Cinderella,Bluebird,Hop O my Thumb,Puss in
Boots,Toads and Diamonds and Riquet and the Tuft.
The first real collection of old tales was made by two German brothers,Jacob and Wilhelm
Grimm.They gathered the tales they heard from the old folks throughout their travels in
Germany and published them later,between 1812 to 1815.Their purpose was to preserve the
folk literature that they heard orally.The first translation of the Grimm’s Hausmarchen was by
by Edgar Taylor.It was called Grimm’s Fairy Tales.It became so popular that other scholars
began collecting tales too.
Peter Absjornsen and Jorgen Moe gathered tales throughout their travel in Norway by
talking to old people just as the Grimm brothers have done.Abjornsen and Moe published
their fist collection of Norwegian tales in 1842-1843.Their collection was translated into English
by George Webber Dasent and issued under the title Popular Tales from the Norse in 1859.A
systematic collection of folktales appeared in England in 1849.
James Orchard Halliwell called his work Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Tales.
One of the best known nursery tales was the “The Three Bears;by Robert Southey,1774-
1843,the poet laureate of England and the author of many books,both poetry and prose.
In the middle of the nineteenth century,a large body of folk materials became available in
English.Dr. E.W. LAnes translated the Arabian Nights,a collection of Arabian tales.The most
common of these tales were “Aladin” and “Sinbad”.

Primary Characteristics of Folktales

1. Has no known individual author. 5.Has simple plot that is easy to remember.
2. Has no fixed or original form. 6.Characters appeal to both children and adults
3. Has a brief introduction. 7.Has element of magic that appeals
4. Adapted to any age to children.

Types of Folktales
1. Accumulative or repetitional tale is the simplest type of tale.It has a simple plot and
rhythmical pattern.Itrs episodes follow each other neatly and logically in a pattern of
cadenced repetition.
2. Ralking Beast stories- are stories in which the animals talk.The animals not only talk with
other animals but with human beings.Often the animals are exaggerated characterizations of
human beings.The animals tales generally teach a lesson of courage,ingenuity and self
reliance.Rewards are stressed in the outcome of the tales,but they are never moralistic.
3. Drolls or HUmurous Stories - are stories about sillies and numb-skulls.They are meant for fun

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and nonsense.
4. Myths - is a story that explains primitive man’s i9dea of the origin of the universe,the
GE LIT 1 (Children’s and Adolescent Literature)

mysteries of natural phenomena,the life of gods,goddess and other pagan divinities,their

contacts with each other and their relation to man.It is especially associated with religious
rites and beliefs.There are three types of these stories- the Greek,Roman and NOrse myths.
5. Epics and Hero Tales- epic is a story that is sometimes written in verse,sometimes in
prose,and others in ballads.The story maybe an exploit of a hero,and his heroic acts embody
the moral code of a country or of a nation.
6. Legends- is an old story containing wonders and miracles that was handed down without
any foundation in history but popularly believed to be true.Every country has its own legend
which as patterned in their own custom and tradition. It could be a story of a place,thing or
person.
7. Fables - is a fictitious story about an animal or an inanimate object which behaves like a
human being and has one dominant trait.it is meant to teach a lesson or moral.The most
popular fables are those of Aesop,the Jatakas or Indian fables,the fables of Jean de la
Fontagne.
8. Fairy Tales - the term fairy tales include a wide variety of folktales.A large proportion of
these stories are based on the element of magic or supernatural.Something extraordinary
happens in the story.The setting of a fairy tale is a visionary or unreal world.The setting is
usually idealized or romantic setting.The characters are fairies,water
pixies,dwarfs,giants,speaking animals,and beautiful creature.
9. Religious tales - folktales using religious elements or beliefs are rarely found in children’s
collection.The religious folk tales are either comical or didactic.They were patterned after the
morality plays of Middle Ages.The devil and St. Peter usually appeared in comic roles.They
are not well adopted to children.
10. Romance Tales- romance in the folktales is remote and impersonal.The characters are
stereotypes.Enchantments and impossible tasks separate folktale lovers and magic brings
them together as in “ Beauty and the Beast”.This type of story is for older children and not for
the younger ones.
11. Realistic Stories- are those stories that are improbable but possible.

Desirable Uses of Folk Tales

1. For entertainment 4. For puppets
2. For illustration 5. For storytelling
3. For dramatization
Exercise
1. Present a video of yourself one (1) example each of Mother Goose Rhymes: a.Counting
rhymes (1) b. tongue twisters (1) c. weather (1) d. animals (1) e. alphabets (1) .The video
presentation of all mentioned above Mother Goose Rhymes which is from a to e will have 2 -
3minutes in all.Ibig sabihin sa 2-3mins. na video nandoon na lahat sa isang video.You have to
state your name first.

2. Present a 3-5mins. video of yourself telling an short story about legend of a place(1).You
have to state your name first.

Resources
Children’s Literature Revised Edition by Salud M. Parayno
Georgion,Constantine,Children and Their Literature.Englewood Cliffs,New

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Jersey:Prentice-HAll,1969
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GE LIT 1 (Children’s and Adolescent Literature)

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GE LIT 1 (Children’s and Adolescent Literature)

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