Traditional Literature

Lesson 1 Traditional Literature Traditional literature is made up of stories that have been handed down from one generation to the next. The stories may contain animal characters who talk and act like humans, foolish people or animals who are taught important lessons, or explanations for natural events like earthquakes or lightning. Every civilization has its own form of traditional literature, and the stories can be broken down into specific categories. Folktales are timeless and placeless stories that can be reworked slightly to fit a specific culture’s needs. They involve universal human desires, follies, and struggles, such as the vanity of kings or tall tales about fantastic characters. Myths tell legendary stories of heroes and gods, while fables teach a lesson, usually using animal characters who speak and behave like humans. What kind of story do you think this storyteller is telling? Skills Focus The Boy Who Dreamed Too Much Draw and Support Inferences Point of View The Blue Jackal Summarize Figurative Language Duplicating any part of this book is prohibited by law. © 2014 Triumph Learning, LLC © 2014 Triumph by law. Duplicating any part of this book is prohibited Traditional Literature 5 CC13_ELA_G7_SE_L01_005-030.indd 5 5/7/13 1:31 PM Practice the Skill First Read Draw and Support Inferences When you draw an inference, you figure out something the writer implies but does not state directly. You draw the inference by reading what the writer says, looking for clues in the text, and using your own knowledge of how things work and how people often behave. In other words, you come to understand something the author means to convey, even though he or she does not state it directly. The clues you find while reading are the textual evidence that supports your inference. For instance, if a character frowns, you might infer that she is unhappy about something, although the text doesn’t specifically say that she is. The frown is your clue—the textual evidence that supports your inference. Also, you know from your own experience that someone who is frowning is usually unhappy or upset. If you are reading a story or drama and a character enters the room laughing, you don’t need the author to tell you that the character is happy. You can infer it for yourself. These examples are fairly easy. Sometimes inferences can be much more subtle, and you may infer incorrectly at first. That’s OK. Just keep reading and know that new information and plot events may make you infer something new. Try It Read the paragraph below. The princess shivered as she hid in the small cave. She knew the huntsman and his dogs were close at hand. She could hear their baying grow louder and louder. As she waited to be discovered, she wept silently and despaired of ever seeing her family again. Discuss What can you infer about the scene? Why is the princess shivering? How is she feeling? Underline the textual evidence that supports your inference. Then, circle details that suggest why she is feeling the way she is. What is the reason? As you read, complete the Draw and Support Inferences Chart on page 279. Duplicating any part of this book is prohibited by law. © 2014 Triumph Learning, LLC © 2014 Triumph by law. Duplicating any part of this book is prohibited 6 Lesson 1 • Traditional Literature CC13_ELA_G7_SE_L01_005-030.indd 6 5/7/13 1:31 PM Practice the Skill Second Read Point of View Narrative point of view is the way a story is told. Authors usually tell a story in the first or third person. In a story told from the first-person point of view, the narrator is a story character who tells what happens using the pronouns I, me, us, or we. When an author uses third-person point of view, the story is told by an outside narrator who uses the pronouns he, she, or they to describe events. Point of view also refers to the attitudes, perspectives, and outlooks different characters have in a story. Each character has a unique point of view that the author has to carefully develop, and characters’ perspectives very often change over the course of a story. By paying close attention to what characters say and do and how others react to them, you identify their particular points of view. Try It Read the beginning of a short story. Kate threw her pom-poms angrily onto the bed. “Everybody leave me alone!” she roared, slamming her bedroom door. The first day of cheerleading tryouts had been miserable. Every bone in her body ached, and she could still hear the chattering and giggling of the older girls who knew they’d make the squad. What’s the point, Kate fumed. It’s all a big popularity contest anyway, it’s all rigged— Her phone rang. Oh, no! It was Aunt Patty calling! She’d been a cheerleader and had encouraged Kate to try out for the squad, insisting that girls were judged solely for their talent. How could she tell Aunt Patty that she planned to quit the tryouts even if she made it to the next round? Discuss From what point of view is the story being told? Circle words in the first paragraph that show you. What is Kate’s outlook regarding cheerleading? What is Aunt Patty’s? What do you imagine happening as this story continues that could change Kate’s point of view? Keep in mind that her attitude could change for better or worse. As you read, record your answers to questions about point of view and perspective on the Close Reading Worksheet on page 280. Duplicating any part of this book is prohibited by law. © 2014 Triumph Learning, LLC © 2014 Triumph by law. Duplicating any part of this book is prohibited The Boy Who Dreamed Too Much 7 CC13_ELA_G7_SE_L01_005-030.indd 7 5/7/13 1:31 PM Purpose for Reading Read along with your teacher. Each time, read for a different purpose. First Read Focus on drawing and supporting inferences. Second Read Focus on analyzing point of view. Third Read Focus on evaluating the story critically. The Boy Who Dreamed Too Much 1 Outside a small, snow-covered village, a boy called Fritz lived with What can you infer his mother. The boy’s father had died years before, and now the family about how Fritz feels was destitute. Each day, Fritz looked with longing as the village children about chopping went to school while he chopped firewood and carried water for his firewood? Underline mother, who took in sewing from the wealthy ladies in the village. She textual evidence that barely made enough money to buy eggs and flour for their bread, and supports your inference. she had to sew by firelight because candles were too expensive. Write your answer on the Draw and Support 2 “Someday,” said Fritz, “I will make enough money so that Mother Inferences Chart. can live a life of ease, and I will never have to chop wood or carry water. It will be a good life.” 3 One winter’s day while Fritz was in the woods, he heard a sound From what point of view like a mewling cat coming from a small cave. He peeked in and is the story told? How can discovered a lamb that had been abandoned by its mother. Fritz you tell? Circle point- wrapped the lamb in his coat and carried it home to his mother. of-view clues in the first paragraph. 4 “Can I keep it please, Mother? I’ll take good care of it, and in the summer, I’ll take it out to graze every day.” 5 So, even though they barely had enough food for themselves, Fritz’s mother said he could keep the lamb. 6 As the months went by, the weather got warmer and spring slowly arrived. The lamb thrived under Fritz’s care and grew to be a healthy sheep. He became very fond of it. Each day it accompanied him as he searched the forest for firewood, and it slept in a shed behind the Duplicating any part of this book is prohibited by law. © 2014 Triumph Learning, LLC © 2014 Triumph by law. Duplicating any part of this book is prohibited house at night. 8 Lesson 1 • Traditional Literature CC13_ELA_G7_SE_L01_005-030.indd 8 5/7/13 1:31 PM 7 The village children would see Fritz traveling around the woods What can you infer from with his sheep and tease him mercilessly. Fritz’s special care of the 8 “Look at Fritz! Not enough money to go to school, but he has a sheep? Underline textual pet sheep!” and “Don’t you know you should kill the sheep and let evidence that supports your mother make stew? Then you’d have something more to eat than your inference, and dry bread!” record your answer on the Draw and Support 9 But Fritz ignored them and held his head high as he walked with his sheep behind him. Inferences Chart. 10 During the summer months, the days were long, and Fritz didn’t have to spend hours gathering wood for his mother. This gave him What is a quality that Fritz ample time to wander the countryside with his sheep following. displays that is shared the Some days, Fritz would sit in a sunny spot and daydream his favorite world over and makes this dreams—all about what he would do when he was wealthy. a folktale? 11 “I know,” he said to himself. “Next March, when it is shearing time, I’ll take my sheep into town and sell the wool, and with that money, I’ll buy a second sheep.

Load more