Forms of Fiction: It s All a Story. Fiction: True or False?

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1 Forms of Fiction: It s All a Story Feature Menu Fiction: True or False? Myths: Our First Stories? Fables: Teaching Stories Legends: Stories Based on History Folk Tales: Traveling Stories Fiction: Stories Today Practice Fiction: True or False? Why do we love to read fiction? We know the stories aren t factual... but we also know that a good story is true.

2 Fiction: True or False? How can fiction a pure product of imagination be true? A good story seems as if it could have happened. A good story makes us feel that things should happen that way. A good story tells us something important about real life. Myths: Our First Stories? Fiction comes in many forms. The earliest stories were probably myths. Myths answer basic questions: Why do we die? What is love? How can we tell right from wrong? How did we learn about fire? Why do the seasons change? What makes the sun rise? Where do we come from?

3 Myths: Our First Stories? The word myth comes from the Greek word mythos, which means story. The characters in myths are often gods and heroes. Myths were passed down orally for generations. Myths: Our First Stories? Greek and Roman myths aren t the only myths. Myths are part of all cultures on Earth. At one time, most myths were connected with a culture s religious beliefs.

4 Fables: Teaching Stories The fable is another kind of story told all over the world. Fables are teaching stories. They have a moral, and they are often short. The most famous Western fables were told by Aesop, a slave in ancient Greece, over 2,600 years ago. Fables: Teaching Stories Do you recognize these fables from Aesop? The Tortoise and the Hare The Boy Who Cried Wolf What are the morals of these stories?

5 Legends: Stories Based on History Legends are stories based on historical events. These stories are partly based on real people and real events. There really was a war in Troy around 1200 B.C. Legends become more exaggerated and less accurate the longer they are told. A serpent probably didn t rise up out of the sea and strangle one of the Trojans. Legends: Stories Based on History Ancient history isn t the only source of legends. American history has also produced many legends. Did George Washington really cut down that cherry tree? Did Davy Crockett really ride a streak of lightning?

6 Folk Tales: Traveling Stories Folk tales are stories that have been passed down by word of mouth for generations. Folk tales are stories that feature elements like sleeping princesses, elves, and giants genies, flying carpets, and magic lamps talking animals and three magic wishes Folk Tales: Traveling Stories Folk tales tend to travel from culture to culture. Who has an evil stepmother who won t let her go to the party? Who goes to the party anyway and loses her special slipper? You probably know her as Cinderella

7 Folk Tales: Traveling Stories The Cinderella story most of us know was written down by a Frenchman, Charles Perrault, in But researchers have found more than 900 versions of the story all over the world. The oldest version, from China, is more than 1,000 years old. Yeh-Shen, the Chinese Cinderella, has magic fishbones instead of a fairy godmother. Fiction: Stories Today Today, the word fiction usually refers to short stories and novels. Many types of fiction are popular with readers. science fiction historical fiction adventure romance mystery fantasy

8 Fiction: Stories Today A lot of modern fiction is formula fiction. Formula fiction tells the same story over and over: crime doesn t pay boy meets girl the good guy always wins Most good modern fiction moves beyond formulas. It surprises us. We never know what will happen next. Practice Let s Try It Look at this cluster diagram. You ll be completing a diagram like this one a little later. 1. What does this diagram show? 2. Why do lines connect most green bubbles to the red bubble?

9 Practice Let s Try It 3. Fantasy and science fiction are connected to each other. There is only one line to the center. Why? Practice Let s Try It 4. Science fiction and fantasy are related because the stories cannot happen in real life. How are they different from each other?

10 Practice On Your Own Copy this cluster diagram showing types of popular fiction. Write the title of an example for each type in its bubble. Then, add a sentence or two defining each type of fiction. Forms of Fiction: It s All a Story The End