Exploring Folktale Characteristics and Tropes
LESSON: Exploring Folktale Characteristics and Tropes
Content Area(s): Language Arts
Questions to Consider:
- What makes a folktale a folktale?
- What are some of the common characteristics found in popular folktales?
- What are familiar themes often found in folktales?
- In what ways has history influenced the evolution of the folktale?
Activity:
Brainstorm the common characteristics found in fairy tales in which students are most familiar. Students might organize these characteristics using list, group, label or an alternative method.
Examine several versions of the same tale to determine how these tales meet or defy these common characteristics.
Suggested texts:
Elementary: Little Red Riding Hood by Paul Galdone; Little Red Riding Hood by John S. Goodall; Little Red Riding Sheep by Linda Lodding, Illustrated by Cale Atkinson
Middle: Little Red Riding Hood by Beni Montresor; Red Riding Hood by James Marshall; Little Red by Bethan Woolvin; Rotkäppchen by Adolfo Serra
Secondary: The Story of Little Red Riding Hood illustrated by Christopher Bing; The Girl in Red by Aaron Frisch; Little Red Hood by Tony Ross