Aesop’s Fables

What are Fables?

• “a short story, typically animals as characters, conveying a moral”

• 4 characteristics: Allegory, Moral or Lesson, Personification, and Illustration of Human Characteristics

• Aesop’s Fables are very short, yet are very valuable

Allegory• “a story that can be interpreted to reveal a

hidden meaning, typically a moral one”• Allegories have two parts: surface

narrative/story )literal) and underlying meaning

• Literal: what happens in the story; the plot• Underlying meaning: deeper symbolism that is

in the literal; conveys the moral

Moral

• “a lesson, usually one that is concerning what is right and what is wrong”

• the message the story/fable is trying to convey• Examples of morals: tell the truth, think then

act, respect others• The moral or lesson is stated in the last sentence

of Aesop’s Fables, but are not straightforward. They require thinking and explaining

Personification

• “the attribution of human characteristics to animals or objects”

• Example: personified animals in Aesop’s Fables (the animals that talk, etc.)

Illustrate Human Characteristics

• aspect of Personification• Vices (bad) and Virtues (good)

Graphic Organizers

• “use words and phrases to highlight key points, and symbols and arrows to represent relationships”

• Example: Concept Pattern Organizers

Concept Pattern Organizers• Organize info around a word or phrase with characteristics connected by

arrows• Step 1: Write the name of the Fable• Step 2: Draw a circle around the name, then four arrows going towards

different corners of the page• Step 3: Draw a box and the end of each arrow. You should have four boxes.

Label each box as “Allegory”, “Moral or Lesson” , “Personified Animals”, and “Illustrate Human Characteristics”

• Step 3: Draw more arrows out of each box to label the different aspects of Fables (virtues, vices, literal, underlying, etc.)

Example of Concept Pattern Organizer

• This example uses one graph for multiple fables. For your own graphs, create one graph per fable for now

• http://www.peecworks.org/peec/peec_research/I01795EFA.3/ (page 77)

Example using “The Lion and the Mouse”

Allegory: -literal: Lion decides to not eat a Mouse after the Mouse tells the Lion he will help him one day. Lion is caught by hunters and the Mouse frees him by biting through the ropes.-underlying: do not judge someone by their size, every one is different and has different talents .Moral/Lesson: “Little friends may prove great friends”.Personified animals: the Lion and the Mouse, : the Lion and Mouse talk, the Mouse addresses the Lion as “King”, Illustrate Human Characteristics: -Vices: Judgement, Cruelness-Virtues: Friendship, Caring/Compassion (use this info to create graphic on whiteboard)

YOUR TURN

• Individually read the following of Aesop’s Fables: “The Dog and the Wolf”, “The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”, and “The Hares and the Frogs”. Take notes on the 4 aspects of Fables

• With a partner, create ONE GRAPHIC FOR EACH FABLE. Refer to the Fable graphic on the board for help or ask questions!

Homework

• Go to this link for all of Aesop’s Fables http://history-world.org/Aesops_Fables_NT.pdf

• Choose three more Fables (that we not done in class) and create a graphic organizer using the Content Pattern graphic like we have done in class