| A | B |
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| folklore | Folklore can be defined as all the traditions, customs, and stories that are passed along by word of mouth in a culture. |
| myths | A myth is a traditional story, usually of unknown authorship, that explains how something came to be or describes the actions of gods and heroes. |
| myths | Myths were created to answer basic questions about the world and human life. |
| myths | Each culture has myths that attempt to anwer life's big questions, such as why death exists. |
| fables | Fables are very short tales that illustrate a clear, often directly stated, moral - a principal of right and wrong behavior. |
| legends | Legends are stories handed down from the past about a specific person, usually someone of heroic accomplishments. |
| legends | Legends are considered factual by those who tell them, and many have some basis in historical fact. |
| tall tales | Tall tales are humorous legends with exaggerated characters and impossible events. |
| contemporary urban legends | These are special kinds of legends which are realistic stories that are said to have happened recently. |
| John Henry | Rugged hero who tamed the wilderness. The legend originated among the Early American settlers in the early 1870's. |
| Pecos Bill | Tall tales of Pecos Bill came from Texas in the 1830's. A hero of the American West, he was the legendary inventor of roping, branding, and many other cowboy skills. |
| Paul Bunyan | Lumberjacks first told this tale about Paul Bunyan. No task was too huge for this giant, who dug Puget Sound to transport his logs and who cleared forests to make farmland. |
| Johnny Appleseed | The name given to John Chapman (1774 - 1845), an American pioneer famous for planting apple trees in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. |
| tricksters | Tricksters are characters who take advantage of the weakness of others, often tempting them to play for "all or nothing" stakes. Almost every culture has its own trickster tales. |
| sequel | A subsequent development; the next installment (as of a speech or story) - the continuing course of a story. |
| mythology | The study dealing with the gods and legendary heroes of a particular people. |
| pour quoi | or "why," stories answer questions or offer explanations of why animals, plants, or humans were created. |
| critique | a judgement or analysis on the value and quality of a literary work |
| supernatural helpers | Like Cinderella's fairy godmother, supernatural helpers appear in folk tales to help the main characters. |
| 1st strategy for reading folklore | Enjoy the tale. As you read, imagine the stories being repeated through many generations. |
| 2nd strategy for reading folklore | Think about the purpose of the story. |
| 3rd strategy for reading folklore | Look for values and customs of the culture from which the story comes. |
| 4th strategy for reading folklore | Decide who holds the power in the story. |
| 5th strategy for reading folklore | Compare the story to another story that you know about, perhaps from some other culture. |
