1. Outcome:Recognize the pervasiveness of folklore and explain its forms and functions in the student’s own community as measured by a folklore collection assembled by the student.
   Assessment:The folklore collection will be graded by teacher-generated or –adopted rubrics and student self-evaluation.
2. Outcome:Organize and analyze information in a chart presenting the function and origins of various forms of folklore.
   Assessment:The folklore chart will be graded by teacher-generated or-adopted rubrics and student self-evaluation.
3. Outcome:Comprehend assigned readings about the types, functions, cultural and historical contexts, and social development of folklore.
   Assessment:The comprehension will be measured by teacher-generated multiple choice, short answer, and essay tests.
4. Outcome:Explain in an oral presentation to the class the role, function, or context in American society of a particular folk custom, work of folk art, and so on in an oral presentation.
   Assessment:The oral presentation will be evaluated by teacher-generated or –adopted rubrics and student self-evaluation.
5. Outcome:Analyze, compare, and recognize patterns in folklore as measured by essays and brief research papers.
   Assessment:The essays and brief research papers will be evaluated by teacher-generated or -adopted rubrics.

1. Origins and Functions of Folklore or Folkloristics
   1. Definitions
      1. Cultural levels
      2. The arts
      3. Folk groups
      4. Ethnocentrism
      5. The student's place in folklore
      6. History
   2. Why study folklore?
      1. Purposes of folklore
      2. Value of folklore
   3. Schools of Interpretation
2. Methods and Expression
   1. Genres defined
   2. Examples of genres
3. Cultural Comparisons and Contrasts
   1. How folklore functions in groups
   2. Purposes, origins, contexts
4. Collection Techniques
   1. Library
      1. Resources
      2. Research techniques
   2. Bibliography
   3. Format
   4. Analysis and explanation (interpretation)
   5. Other sources
5. Application
   1. Recognition
   2. Understanding
   3. Interpretation
   4. Awareness

Bronner, Simon J. American Children’s Folklore

Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Study of American Folklore. Readings in American Folklore

Castro, Rafaela G. Chicano Folklore: A Guide to the Folktales, Traditions, Rituals and Religious Practices of Mexican Americans

Dance, Daryl Cumber. From My People: 400 Years of African American Folklore: An Anthology

Dorson, Richard. American Folklore. Folklore and Folklife: An Introduction

Dundes, Alan. Interpreting Folklore. Mother Wit and the Laughing Barrel: Readings in the Interpretation of Afro-American Folklore

Espinosa, Aurelio M. The Folklore of Spain in the American Southwest: Traditional Spanish Folk Literature in Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado

Gates, Henry Louis. The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism

Jones, Alison. Larousse Dictionary of World Folklore

Leeming Davis and Jake Page, Myths, Legends, and Folktales of America: An Anthology

Livo, Norma J. Folk Stories of the Hmong: Peoples of Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam

Price, Charles E. A Student Guide to Collecting Folklore

Randolph, Vance. Pissing in the Snow and Other Ozark Folktales

Reynolds, Dwight F. Arab Folklore: A Handbook

Sanna, Ellyn. Latino Folklore and Culture: Stories of Family Traditions of Pride

Shoemaker, George H. The Emergence of Folklore in Everyday Life: A Fieldguide and Sourcebook

Sims, Martha C. and Martine Stephens. Living Folklore: An Introduction to the Study of People and Their Traditions

Titelman, Gregory. America’s Popular Sayings: Over 1600 Sayings on Topics from Beauty to Money and Everything in Between

Yolen, Jane, Ed. Favorite Folktales from Around the World

Zeitlin, Steven J, and Amy Kotkin and Holly Cutting Baker, Eds. A Celebration of American Family Folklore: Tales and Traditions from the Smithsonian Collection

Comparative Essay: Write a 4-page essay in which you compare two myths, two legends, or two folktales. Select two stories that are related in some way. Feel free to take these ideas and adapt them to something that interests you.

TOPIC EXAMPLES

• Two versions of Cinderella from different countries
• Two myths about the creation of humans
• Two trickster tales
• Two variants of a legend
• Two accounts of UFO abduction
• Two urban legends that have something in common
• Two folktales that have a three-part structure

Assignment: Folk Saying Collection
Make a collection of folk sayings and classify them. Organize the collection in a form of a table such as the one attached to this assignment. You will create three categories; each category should contain at least 10 folk sayings, and each saying should come with a definition and an example of a situation in which that folk saying might be used appropriately.

There are various ways that you can classify folk sayings. Here are some possibilities:

• By ethnicity or nationality (Mexican, Hmong, Russian)
• By region (West Coast, South, Northeast)
• By subject (women, men, children)
• By imagery (animals, plants, minerals)
• By typical use (to praise, to criticize, to warn)
• By structure or type (Wellerisms, Tom Swifties, Mondegreens; or comparison, contrast, equivalence)
• By family or personal significance (Grandma Sarah’s proverbs, Aunt Bert’s proverbs, Grandpa Joe’s proverbs