Fables & Tales --- Writing

1. Let's remember some concepts about literature and types of written works. Match the word to its definition. There is one extra word you don't need. Then, could you give examples of each one?

Tale / Myth / Fable / Legend 

a. "A short story, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral" (by Oxford Dictionary)

b.  "A traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but not authenticated." (by Oxford Dictionary)

c. "A usually imaginative narrative of an event" (by Merriam Webster) 

d. "Traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events"  (by Oxford Dictionary)

Key 1: tale (c) / fable (a) / legend (b) / myth (d)

2. Project:

In groups, invent you own tale or fable. In order to start, think about the characteristics of these types of written works as well as the key elements of your story (characters, setting, plot, moral, ...)

       
           1 ESO:

Myths and Legends

As you know, there are three main genres in literature (poetry - drama - prose) and in each genre, different types of texts can be found such as myths and legends.

      - What type of genre do myths and legends belong to?
                    a. poetry    b. drama    c. prose

      - What is a myth? and a legend?
        (click on the words in italics to find out the definition)

      - Do you know any myths or legends?
                   

 ++++++

                           Daedalus and Icarus Myth, The Trojan Horse/War Legend, etc. 

Extra Resource: Ancient Greek Myths -- Radio

Aesop's Fables

Have you ever heard about Aesop and his fables?

• Aesop was a writer (a story teller) from Ancient Greece. It is thought to have lived in the early Sixth Century (around 620 BC)
• He is well known by his fables (Aesop's Fables)

Remember, FABLES are short moral tales which often involve animals. Here you have some of the fables and information about the author:

                            A. Listen to some fables HERE

                            B. Click on the following picture and read some of the fables:

                           C. Author (video)

Basic Literary Concepts

RESOURCES -- CONCEPTS:
      - Literary Terms
      - Literary "Devices"

The Poor Voter on Election Day -- Poem

The Poor Voter on Election Day     by John Greenleaf Whittier

The proudest now is but my peer,
The highest not more high; To-day,
of all the weary year,
A king of men am I.
To-day, alike are great and small,
The nameless and the known;
My palace is the people’s hall,
The ballot-box my throne!

Who serves to-day upon the list
Beside the served shall stand;
Alike the brown and wrinkled fist,
The gloved and dainty hand!
The rich is level with the poor,
The weak is strong to-day;
And sleekest broadcloth counts no more
Than homespun frock of gray.

To-day let pomp and vain pretence
My stubborn right abide;
I set a plain man’s common sense
Against the pedant’s pride.
To-day shall simple manhood try
The strength of gold and land;
The wide world has not wealth to buy
The power in my right hand!

While there’s a grief to seek redress,
Or balance to adjust,
Where weighs our living manhood less
Than Mammon’s vilest dust, —
While there’s a right to need my vote,
A wrong to sweep away, Up!
clouted knee and ragged coat!
A man’s a man to-day!

This poem is in the public domain.

The Pumpkin -- Poem

John Greenleaf Whittier, 1807 - 1892