Genre and Literature Analysis - Essay Example

Genre And Literature Analysis Genre and literature analysis Genre: Folklore Folklore is defined as the common literature withtales of human nature that reflect on moral values and beliefs of the people. These are stories from the oral tradition with their beginning said to be at the Hearthside and campfires where families or entire clans gathered as an evening activity. They seek to explain the origin of the people and their culture. Folklore is always fantastic in nature and was freely altered and retold to the different audience. Folklore is deemed to be a wonderful metaphor for human existence because they are imaginary and have a dreamlike quality that speaks to people deeply. Folklore is stories that originated orally and had no authors. It is tales from the oral tradition and are part of every culture’s fabric. In folklore characters are archetypes acting as symbols of certain basic human traits that do not change yet very little of the characters is known. Traditional tales are stories of human experience told in primarily colorful language and props to reveal the basic life components like love, fear, obedience, greedy, jealousy amongst others. Folklores are set upon a very simple plots that are very direct hence ease of understanding. In a way, the folklores act as success stories where the characters within them gain and obtain success against overwhelming odds seen in the accomplishment of impossible tasks. These tales have storylines that carry typical themes. The set-up of the folklore has been always in the distant past and the distance is informed of it at the onset of the tale by phrases such as “Once upon a time…..” within the traditional stories there is repetition of patterns and certain characteristic elements to emphasize and drum home the theme or lesson from the tales. It is thought to the nature of folklores being simple and straight to the point they are the mother of all literature since they literally restrict in character types, basic plots or specific themes rather all these have been explored in the oral tradition stories. The folklore seeks to attain a moral lesson or truth with the intention of creating awareness or enlightenment, warning or entertaining. The following are the various types of folklore; 1. Folktales These are stories of characters who acted in a notable manner within the society. They are further classified as; Cumulative tales- which are stories that result from the narrator making additions to an existing story in order to capture certain themes within the story. Pourquoi tales- these are stories that seek to establish why a phenomenon is as it is by asking the question why. Beast tales- these are stories where animals are the principle characters. Trickster tales- these are stories where the main character outsmarts others either cleverly or cunningly. Noodlehead or Numbskull tales- These are humorous stories that explain the escapades of characters who are not really bright. Realistic tales- These are stories that have a solid base of actual historical events or feature an actual historical figure in the society. Fairy tales- These are stories that use wonder and amazement to achieve their plots and themes. Mostly, the characters have magical powers. 2. Tall tales- These are stories that are told by the use of the exaggeration style. 3. Fables- These are stories with their main aim being to teach a lesson. 4. Myths- These are stories told by early people with the pursuance of the need to understand and explain the phenomena that occur in the society. 5. Epics, Ballads and Legends- Epics are lengthy hero tales, Ballads are stories of heroes explained in a poetic form and the legends are stories where characters are heroes with a rooted history in the society. 6. Religious stories- These are stories that have a superpower theme and emphasize religious themes. The genre of folklore reserves the cultural heritage of people; therefore, serves to give children a source of origin and belonging. It also elicits the emotions of excitement. Relief, wonder, and entertainment. Creativity and imagination in the young minds are greatly enhanced. By the use of folklore notable character and behavior changes have been seen especially aggressiveness. Moreover, it offers hope and inspires positive character traits such as wisdom, goodness and bravery among others. The responsibility for checking the appropriateness of the stories chosen in regards to the stage of development of the students lies with the teachers. There are concerns and issues that arise when engaging with the folklore stories which pertains distinguishing between fantasy and facts, aggressive behavior change in children, consideration of time and the creation of stereotyping of certain characters in the society. Moreover, teachers can use Folklore books and materials in the following ways; the can incorporate the Folklore books into the compulsory literature set books to be examined upon. Secondly the teachers can emphasize in the simulation of the different Folklore books by either dramatization or role play. It is always advisable to allow students to respond to the traditional literature through comparing and contrasting different tales from different regions, compare with modern fantasy stories, make reviews and criticize and analyze the elements in the stories as well as allow them to creatively rewrite the tales with a modern set up. The following are some of the awards that Folklore genre artist strive to win. They include; Katharine Briggs awards, Jane Addams Children’s books Awards, The William and Mary Image Awards. The book that is relevant in an understanding folklore which I chose is Monkey: A Trickster tale from India. Written and illustrated by Gerald McDermott by McDermott. The book presents a tale that meets the characteristics of a folklore since the book uses colorful language to make the story interesting hence important for teaching young children. The book has colorful cleverness and mischief that is characteristic of most folklores. Annotated Bibliography McDermott, G. (2011) Monkey: A Trickster tale from India. Harcourt Children. Monkey begins this tale by jumping from one treetop higher into another. Unlike other animal, he is fast but unknowingly there looms a stealthy danger as the crocodile spies him swinging through the trees and imagines of making a tasty snack from monkey. With time, crocodile offers to take the monkey on his back across the lake unto an island where ripe and juicy mangoes grow. Innocently, monkey accepts the offer his mind filled with the thoughts of all mangoes he was going to eat and it doesn’t cross his mind that the crocodile had something evil in mind. Crocodile knows that monkey cannot swim. Monkey realizes too late that he has been deceived, so he tells crocodile a clever lie. Crocodile believes in the lie, returning monkey to the shore where he narrowly escapes. However, crocodile doesn’t give up trying to eat him and continuously tries to deceive him again. The tale is spiced with bouts of cleverness and humor, sufficient mischief to bring out the moral to the reader. The illustrations in Monkey: A Trickster Tale from India are richly done in vibrant colors. Award: Parents Choice Award (Recommended), 2011. Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young people, 2012. Pinkney, J. (2009). The Lion & the Mouse. City of Guelph Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. The book can be termed as an Aesop in which the tale of the trivial mouse becomes very disturbing to the lion. The mouse had escaped the claws of a very hungry owl and found itself in the hands of the lion. The lion releases the mouse after listening to its cunning story. Sometime later the lion gets trapped by poachers and the little mouse comes in handy to help set the lion free. The artist uses full page painting in the book which makes young listeners get fascinated with the book. The luminous art presented in the book using fine colors and a presentation of symbiotic mercy makes the book be classified as very interesting. Awards: Boston Globe-Horn Book Award-Picture Book Honor Book, 2010. School Library Journal Best Books of 2009. Texas Library Association 2X2 Reading List 2010. Parents Choice Award (Gold), 2009. ALA Notable Childrens Books, 2010. Caldecott Medal, 2010. New York Times Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2009. Genre and literature analysis Genre: Fantasy Modern day fantasy stories refer to original stories with known authors that are set up within an imaginary world filled with mysterious powers. Characters within the stories bear full profiles and are well developed. The plot used in these stories is clear and contain generally accepted moral truths. Fantasy stories leave the reader with questions on moral. The modern settings used in these stories have twisted plot lines and have added levels of humor. Fantasy stories provide timeless lessons as well as offer entertainment. The characters in these stories are fanciful with morals and religious beliefs. Non-living objects come to life and possess qualities of the living such as speech, special powers in characters is also evident. In most fantasy stories, a young human character with unique intelligence qualities is used to raise the theme through a quest or mission. Goodness triumphs over all but after a struggle. The fantasy stories engage the emotions and hopes of the reader. The common elements in modern fantasy involve use of magic, imaginary worlds, conflict between evil and good, Heroism, unique characters, fantastic objects and use of anthropomorphism where animals and non-living creatures take human creatures. Within the fantasy genre exists a sub-genre known as science fiction that is based on scientific facts and speculates of the future. The moral responsibility of the scientist and application of new innovations is applied. In a class set up, the Fantasy genre assists the children to use the modern fantasy stories to understand the universal truths and some build on the good character traits of characters. The modern fantasy advocates among children learning the books to build on courage, loyalty, goodness, friendship and sacrifice. They also reveal how to tackle grief, death, fear and discouragement. Light is cast on reality in the modern life. Imagination among the young is greatly developed as well as capturing of emotions, hopes, and dreams. As for teachers emphasize on the selection of the modern fantasy should be in consideration for the stage of development of their audience. The teachers can use Fantasy books to build upon the strengths that they pursue in creation of the themes. The fantasy book A Sick Day for Amos McGee, has its story line established upon a human character that befriends animals who are in a position to show humanly character by talking. This is pure fantasy. In conclusion where the animals pay a visit it reflects on the fantasy of a group of wild animals walking to the doorstep of man’s house. Annotated Bibliography Stead, P., C. (2010). A Sick Day for Amos McGee. Story by Philip Stead. (Erin Stead Illus.). London: Roaring Brook Press, 1st Ed. The story depicts Amos McGee a friendly zookeeper, who always made time to visit his good animal friends: the elephant, the tortoise, the penguin, the rhinoceros, and the owl. Unfortunately, one day he wakes with a sniffle and sneezing which incapacitates him from visiting the zoo that day. In a sweet surprise, he does receive some unexpected guests in his home. The writer Philip C. Steads chooses words to tell a gentle humorous tale of friendship and dedication. His wife Erin E. Steads elegantly illustrates with drawings that embellished with mild hints of color. Awards: ALA Notable Childrens Books, 2011. New York Times Best Illustrated Childrens Books of 2010. Caldecott Medal, 2011. Wiesner, D. (2001). The Three Pigs story. Clarion Books. A Caldecott Medal-winning picture book involves three pigs involved in collecting building materials. They go about building different houses made of straw, sticks and of bricks. A cunning wolf’s huffs and puffs blowing the first pig house a right into the realm of the unknown imagination and the story continues with the wit of the wolf deeply challenged. The story offers an adventure with characteristic David Wiesner influence characterized by a cinematic flow, amazing perspective shifts, and affecting a humor. As a story, The Three Pigs takes visual narratives to new levels. Introduction of dialogue balloons, and the use of text excerpts as well as the varying variety of illustration styles capturing the reader’s emotions through a dazzling fantasy universe to an interesting and happy ending. Awards: School Library Journal Best Books of 2001. Caldecott Medal, 2002. Irma S. and James H. Black Award, 2001. ALA Notable Childrens Books, 2002. Read More