BEFORE YOU READ Tall Tales of the American West
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Name ___________________ Date _____ Class _____ The United States and Canada World Literature Reading B BEFORE YOU READ About the Selection Reader's Dictionary During the settlement of the Un ited States, bronco: wild horse storytellers entertained people with tall vicinity: a surrounding area tales-outlandish stories of courage, cun fl apjacks: pancakes ning, or just plain silliness. Many tall tales vittles: food provided an explanation for a natural event. Pecos Bill and the giant lumberjack Paul Gu ided Reading Bunyan are two famous characters from Note how the actions of Pecos Bill and Paul traditional American tall tales. Bunyan changed the natural landscape. Then answer the questions that follow. Tall Tales of the American West Pecos Bill Rides a Tornado Grand Canyon. That tornado was down to practically nothing when Bill finally fell off. He Now everyone in the West knows that Pecos hit the ground so hard it sank below sea level. Bill could ride anything. No bronco could throw Folks call the spot Death Valley. him, no sir! Fact is, I only heard of Bill gettin' throwed once in his whole career as a cowboy. Anyway, that's how rodeo got started. Yep, it was that time he was up Kansas way and Though most cowboys stick to broncos these decided to ride him a tornado. days. Now Bill wasn't go~a ride jest any tor nado, no ma'am. He waited for the biggest Paul Bunyan's Kitchen durned tornado you ever saw. It was turning the sky black and green, and roaring so loud it One winter, Paul Bunyan came to log along woke up the farmers away over in China. Well, the Little Gimlet in Oregon. Ask any old timer Bill jest grabbed that there tornado, pushed it who was logging that winter, and they'll tell to the ground and jumped on its back. The tor you I ain't lying when I say his kitchen cov nado whipped and whirled and sidewinded ered about ten miles of territory. That stove, and generally cussed its bad luck all the way now, she were a grand one. An acre long, taller down to Texas. Tied the rivers into knots, flat than a scrub pine, and when she was warm, tened all the forests so bad they had to rename she melted the snow for about twenty miles one place the Staked Plains. But Bill jest rode around. The men logging in the vicinity never along all calm-like, give it an occasional jab had to put on their jackets 'til about noon on a with his spurs. day when Paul Bunyan wanted flapjacks. Finally, that tornado decided it wasn't It was quite a site to see, them cooks of gettin' this cowboy off its back no-how. So it Paul Bunyan's makin' flapjacks. Cookie would headed west to California and jest rained itself send four of the boys up with a side of hog tied out. Made so much water it washed out the to each of their snowshoes, and they'd skate 33 Name ___________________ Date _____ Class _____ World Literature Reading B continued around up there keeping the griddle greased We had one mishap that winter. Babe the while Cookie and seven other men flipped Blue Ox accidentally knocked a bag of dried flapjacks for Paul Bunyan. Took them about an peas off the countertop when he swished his hour to make enough flapjacks to fill him up. tail. Well, them peas flew so far and so fast out The rest of us had to wait our turn. of the kitchen that they knocked over a dozen loggers comin' home for lunch, clipped the The table we had set up for the camp was tops off of several pine trees, and landed in the about ten miles long. We rigged elevators to the hot spring. We had pea soup to eat for the rest table to bring the vittles to each end, and some of the season, which was okay by me, but them of the younger lads in the camp rode bicycles boys whose Mamas insisted they bathe more down the path at the center, carryin' cakes and than once a year were pretty sore at losing their such wherever they were called for. swimming hole. '+fI Literary Response and Analysis 1. Explaining How did Pecos Bill change the landscape of the Southwest? 2. Identifying What examples of exaggeration are evident in Paul Bunyan's tale? 3. Analyzing Based on these two stories, name at least four characteristics of a tall tale. 4. Drawing Conclusions When American pioneers created tall tales such as these, what were they trying to say about themselves and their lives? Explain your answer. 34 .