These genres are grouped together because of they all involve stories that have been passed down from generation to generation changing slightly over time. Included in this genre would be fairy tales, folk tales, tall tales, fables, myths and legends from both the reader’s culture and cultures different from their own. However, they do have slight differences that make them unique from each other.
Fairy Tales: In a fairytale, the story always involves magic, a character who is evil, and a happy ending. This is the good versus evil type of story, with other-worldly, mysterious factors. Very often (but not always) fairytales are set in a far-away place a long, long time ago. A princess is oftentimes a key character, but not always. The one character that must be in the story is some sort of evil one, sometimes an evil witch.
Folk Tales: A folktale is any kind of story that is shared in telling aloud and that has been retold by many generations. A folktale can be a tall tale, a fairytale, a fable, myth, legend – even a good ghost story. The word folktale speaks mostly about the way we tell the story rather than the actual genre. It’s a tale told by folks. Folktales can be and often are written down as well.
Tall Tales: A make-believe story that is told as if it were true. Some examples of Tall Tales include Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, Johnny Appleseed and John Henry.
Fables: This is usually a short story with few characters, and very often the characters are anthropomorphic – animals who behave and speak like humans. There is always an important social lesson to be learned in a fable.
Myths: This is an origin story, one that explains how and why something today is the way it is. Myths can explain things in nature, or how the world (or something on it) began, or why people act the way they do. Myths often depict illogical, highly emotional behaviors in the story characters, who are often very flawed and have a lesson to learn. As the character learns it, so do we. If the character fails to learn the lesson, we learn by their tragic mistake.
Legends: A legend must have some aspect of real historic information in it – a protagonist who really lived at one point. The historical account becomes then a legend because real events are exaggerated, new magical events are added, and the person is lifted to true heroic status. King Arthur was real but the stories about him are not. Robin Hood was real – but the stories about him are not.
