Folklore

Definition- The body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, etc. within a particular population comprising the traditions (including oral traditions) of that culture, subculture or group.  Furthermore, it is the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. 

 

Definition most widely accepted today is “artistic communication in small groups” which now includes non-verbal art forms and customary practices. 

 

Academic study of folklore-folkloristics

 

The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19^th century ideology of romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological goals.  Beginning in the 20^th century ethnographers begin to attempt to record folklore without political goals as the underlying reason for publication. 

 

Folklore can contain religious or mythic elements, but it also can include the sometimes mundane traditions of everyday life.  Folklore has been grouped with mythology because they are both catch all terms for all figurative narratives which don’t correspond with the dominant belief structure.  Folklore can be religious in nature (i.e.: Welsh Mabinogion or the Icelandic Skaldic Poetry). 

 

Folktale is a general term for different varieties of traditional narratives.  The telling of stories is universal from culture to culture (basic or complex) and the folktale forms are also similar. 

 

Folklore can also be described as a figurative narrative which has no sacred or religious content (can stem from a religious tradition).  It instead may pertain to unconscious psychological patters, instincts or archetypes of the mind.  An example of this would be the familiar folktale “Hansel and Gretel.”  

 

Also included in folklore are urban legends, riddles, children’s rhymes, ghost stories, rumors (including conspiracy theories), gossip, ethnic stereotypes and holiday customs such as life-cycle rituals. 

 

Ancient Greek and Roman literature is rich with folklore. 

Structure/Characterization  

Definition- The process of conveying information about characters in fiction.  These characters are presented through their actions, dialect and thoughts as well as by description.  Characterization can include a variety of aspects of a character including appearance, age, gender, educational level, vocation or occupation, financial status, marital status, social status, cultural background, hobbies, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ambitions, motivations, personality, etc.

Definition of Structure- How a story, narrative, anecdote or other writings of information and knowledge are made.  In other words, a structure is the composition of knowledge as elements and their combinations.

 

A well-developed character is one that has been thoroughly characterized, with many of the character’s traits shown in the narrative.  The better the audience knows the character the better the character development.  Thorough characterization makes characters complex and allows for a sense of realism (psychologically believable characters).  In contrast an underdeveloped character is considered flat or stereotypical. 

 

Character development is very important in character-driven literature where the story focuses on individual personalities (i.e.: War and Peace, Harry Potter or David Copperfield). 

 

Historically, stories focusing on characters became common as part of the 19^th century Romantic movement.

Simile/Metaphor

Definition of Simile- A comparison of two unlike things, typically marked by use of “like”, “as”, “than”, or “resembles”.  Examples might include “the snow was as thick as a blanket” and the usage of emotions similes such as “madder than a bull.”

 

Definition of Metaphor- A metaphor is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects.  In the simplest case, it takes the form “The (first subject) is a (second subject).” 

 

Metaphors consist of two parts, the tenor and the vehicle.  The tenor is the subject to which attributes are ascribed.  The vehicle is the subject from which the attributes are borrowed.  Other writers might use ground and figure to replace tenor and vehicle. 

 

“All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances; (William Shakespeare, As You Like It)

 

-Types of Metaphors-

            Extended Metaphor- sets up a principal subject with several subsidiary subjects or

            comparisons.

 

            Epic- an extended metaphor containing details about the vehicle that is not

            Necessary for the metaphoric purpose. 

 

            Mixed Metaphor- a metaphor that leaps from one identification to a second

            Identification that is inconsistent with the first one.  For example, “He stepped up

            to the plate and grabbed the bull by the horns.”

            Dead Metaphor- Is one in which the sense of a transferred image is not present. 

            For instance, “To grasp a concept.”

 

            Allegory- An extended metaphor in which a story is told to illustrate an important

            Attribute of the subject. 

 

            Catachresis- a mixed metaphor

 

            Parable- An extended metaphor told as an anecdote to illustrate or teach a moral

            lesson. 

 

            Many Others- just a few of the more widely accepted and well known examples.

 

Similes are widely used in literature, both modern and ancient.

 

Aristotle said that good similes give an “effect of brilliance”, but he preferred the use of metaphor, as it was shorter and therefore more attractive in creative usage.  William Shakespeare uses similes which frequently involve historical references (i.e.: the play Julius Caesar). 

 

Similes are widely used in modern literature.  However, unlike the slightly scholarly usage of references as in ancient texts, they tend to be more spontaneous and expressive.  Similes are also frequently used in day to day language.  For example, “She’s as dumb as a doorknob.” 

 

Simile Vs. Metaphor

Both are examples of rhetorical figures and both terms describe a comparison.  Similes are marked by the use of words “like” and “as”.  However, “The snow blanketed the earth” is also a simile and not a metaphor because the verb “blanketed” is a shortened form the phrase “covered by a blanket”.  Metaphors differ from similes in that the two objects are not compared, but treated as identical.  For example, the phrase, “The snow was a blanket over the earth” is a metaphor.  Some might agree that a simile is actually a specific type of metaphor.  But, only some similes can be contracted into metaphors and some metaphors can be expanded into similes.

 

Wikipedia-The Free Encyclopedia

 

Jeopardy Questions 

-Folklore (What is Folklore?)

            The body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, etc. within a particular population comprising the traditions (including oral traditions) of that culture, subculture or group. 

-Simile/Metaphor (What is a Simile?  What is a Metaphor?)

            A comparison of two unlike things, typically marked by use of “like”, “as”, “than”, or “resembles”.

            Language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects.  In the simplest case, it takes the form

-Structure/Characterization (What is structure?  What is Characterization?)

            The process of conveying information about characters in fiction.

            How a story, narrative, anecdote or other writings of information and knowledge are made.