Legends, Folktales and Local color

Fables and Tall tales

Legends this came from the Latin word “legenda” meaning “things to be read”, these are the
stories about human, events or actions that include the element of truths. Legend usually
involved heroic characters or fantastic basis often encompass spiritual beliefs of the culture in
which they originate.
Legends are the stories explaining how various objects, flowers, plants even places came from.
folktales these are the stories that pass down through oral retelling. A folktale is a popular story
that pass on spoken form from one generation to the next. Usually, the author is unknown and
there are often many versions.
Folktales include: fables, fairy tales, tall tales and legends.
Local color it is not the usual color that we know the light blue, black, red, no, it’s not that.
Local colors capture the special atmosphere of the area and its people, often contains regional
dialects, well-known places, customs, topography and other features on a particular area or
specific region.
Because of lack of communication, and transportation, it shows how people live on the other
parts of the country.
Under Legends, Folktales, and Local color we have subtopics: The Fables and Tall tales
Fables, these are short stories that illustrates a moral lesson.
The word “fable” come from the Latin word “fabula” or “story”.
Fables features anthropomorphized animals and natural elements as main characters. Many
fables originated form an oral tradition and exist in every culture, but the most famous writer of
these fables is Aesop,
So, who is Aesop? Aesop is a Greek slaved and most famous fabulist in Ancient Greece that
believed to have lived around 560 BC. Most western fables come from Aesop, he credited with
more than six hundred fables.
Examples of Aesop's Fables:
 The Serpent & the Eagle
 The Horse and the Groom
 The Ant and the Grasshopper
 The Lion and the Mouse
 The Fox and the Grapes
These shorts tales were once passed down as folklore to teach listeners the difference between
right and wrong, give an advice on proper behavior and manners, ang offer maxims to live by.
There are 4 central characteristics of a fables:
a. Symbolism
b. Anthropomorphization
c. Lessons
d. Humor
Tall tales is a type of story containing highly dramatized and exaggerated features, often
surrounding the main character or the protagonist.
Tall tales elements include:
 A superhero, usually a man, who is very strong
 A narrator who is part of the story, or who witnessed the events.
 A pleasant, folky tone
 A folktale setting, such as a small town or village
 A problem that affects everyone
 Unbelievable details told with figurative language.
 The superhuman hero solves the problem, with their strength.
 The claim or belief that the story “really happened”
Tall tales is an interesting type of short story. The exaggerated part of all tall tales is usually very
obvious compared to the ordinary setting, unlike fairy tales or even myths.
Other type of tales that aren’t exactly like tall tales include:
 Folktales- stories unique to a culture:
 Fables- very short stories that uses animals or forces of nature to teach morals.
 Fantasies-stories from literary genre told in world that is full of magic.
 Fairytales – magical stories that use fantasy characters to teach moral to the readers.
Characteristics that tall tales share are:
 The author uses lots of exaggeration, or hyperbole.
 The main character accomplishes great feasts using his strength and wits.
 The main character is helped by powerful objects or animals.
The story explains how familiar things or landmarks came from
Example of famous tall tales are:
 John Henry
 Captain Stormalong
 Johnny Applessed
 Paul Bunyan
 Pecos bill