What Makes a Fairy Tale a Fairy Tale?

What Makes a Fairy Tale a Fairy Tale?

Learning About the Genre of Fairy Tales

The Elements of a Fairy Tale
What is it that makes a story a fairy tale?
As with folktales, fairy tales have an oral tradition,
and they usually take place "long ago."
There are several elements present in most of these stories,
however, that identify them as part of the genre of fairy tales:
* Specialbeginning and/or ending words - Once upon a time...and they lived happily ever after.
* Good character
* Evil character
* Royalty and/or a castle usually present
* Magic happens
* Problem and a Solution
* Things often happen in "threes" or "sevens"
The Elements of a Fairy Tale Chart
* Special beginning and/or ending words - Once upon a time...and they livedhappily ever after.
* Good character
* Evil character
* Royalty and/or a castle usually present
* Magic happens
* Problem and a Solution
* Things often happen in "threes" or "sevens"
Use this chart when being "element detectives"
with books from the genre of fairy tales.
Place an X under each element you find in each story.
Name of Fairy Tale | Special Words | GoodCharacter | Evil Character | Royalty and/or Castle | Magic | Problem and Solution | 3's or 7's |
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What is Folklore? | |
Folklore is somuch a part of our everyday life that we don't always stop to think about it. Family traditions, holidays, special sayings, and foods, all these are part of folklore.
Today, folklore is often defined as knowledge or forms of expression (folk arts) that are passed on from one person to the next by word of mouth or the oral tradition. These different kinds of expressions include songs, rhymes,folktales, myths, jokes, and proverbs. Folklore is passed on among many different kinds of groups; such as family members, friends, classmates, or people you work and play with.
In this activity, you will be able to share some of your own folklore; whether it is games, recipes, proverbs, songs or stories.
Kinds of Folklore

Folklorists recognize different areas, or categories of folk expressions.Here are some of the categories, to help you think about folklore you might see in your school, family or community:

Oral:
These are songs, lullabies and dance games, poetry, jokes, folktales, riddles, proverbs, myths, and special sayings.
Material:
These are objects such as special kinds of jewelry, home decorations, puppets, quilts, clothing, or musical instruments. Material culture mayalso include foods and special family recipes.
Behavioral/Cogitative:
These are special customs and rituals such as throwing rice at a wedding for "Good luck." It includes family and local (community) customs and celebrations. It also includes the way you might use folklore in your own thoughts. For example, once when I was nine years old, I saw a best friend being teased by a school "bully." Atfirst, I was afraid to interfere, but then I remembered the saying "a friend in need is a friend indeed." The proverb helped me to organize my feelings and take an action. Do you ever hear or remember proverbs in this way? Then you are using "behavioral folklore!"

India

Mahisha, the fierce buffalo demon, was on a terrible mission: to conquer the world and rout the gods. He gored and slashedhis way through battle after battle. The gods retired; the monster ruled — until a stupendous sound shook the earth.
Durga spoke!
The great goddess had sprung forth full-grown, created by the energy of the gods, who knew Mahisha could only be killed by a woman. Durga roared her challenge to Mahisha; the buffalo demon was enraged!
The red-robed goddess charged into battle on her magnificent...