Name: ___________________________________________ Geographic Regions and American Tall Tales PROJECT PACKET Assignment: Write your own American Tall Tale to explain the natural features of one North American geographic region. Background Information: Tall talk, or exaggerated storytelling, began in the 1800s as a way for Americans to come to terms with the vast and inhospitable lands they’d come to inhabit – thick, dark forests filled with bears and panthers; treeless, arid deserts and plains; towering mountains; and uncharted seacoasts. The heroes and heroines of the tales were like the land itself – gigantic, extravagant, restless, and flamboyant. Their exaggerated feats of courage and endurance helped the backwoodsman face the overwhelming task of developing such land. Tall tale characters…were born from various combinations of historical fact, the storytelling of ordinary people, and the imagination of professional writers. Davy Crockett and Johnny Appleseed, for instance, were actual people who lived in the first half of the 1800s. Over a period of time, as their stories were told…the true details of their lives were exaggerated and revised until they became folk heroes as well as historical figures. Other tall tale characters, such as Pecos Bill [and Paul Bunyan], were not actual men of history….these figures were for the most part the literary inventions of professional newspaper and magazine writers… …[T]he tales reveal a wide range of geographic settings and they illustrate the different occupations that contributed to the development of the country. Pioneer settlers, backwoodsmen and –women, sea captains, volunteer firefighters, farmers, cowboys, cowgirls, railroad workers, loggers – all can be found in the American tall tale.*
Students will explore geographic regions of North America by composing an original American Tall Tale.
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Name: ___________________________________________
Geographic Regions and
American Tall TalesPROJECT PACKET
Assignment: Write your own American Tall Tale to explain the natural features of one North American geographic region.
Background Information:
Tall talk, or exaggerated storytelling, began in the 1800s as a way for Americans to come to terms with the vast and inhospitable lands they’d come to inhabit – thick, dark forests filled with bears and panthers; treeless, arid deserts and plains; towering mountains; and uncharted seacoasts. The heroes and heroines of the tales were like the land itself – gigantic, extravagant, restless, and flamboyant. Their exaggerated feats of courage and endurance helped the backwoodsman face the overwhelming task of developing
such land.
Tall tale characters…were born from various combinations of historical fact, the storytelling of ordinary people, and the imagination of professional writers. Davy Crockett and Johnny Appleseed, for instance, were actual people who lived in the first half of the 1800s. Over a period of time, as their stories were told…the true details of their lives were exaggerated and revised until they became folk heroes as well as historical figures. Other tall tale characters, such as Pecos Bill [and Paul Bunyan], were not actual men of history….these figures were for the most part the literary inventions of professional newspaper and magazine writers…
…[T]he tales reveal a wide range of geographic settings and they illustrate the different occupations that contributed to the development of the country. Pioneer settlers, backwoodsmen and –women, sea captains, volunteer firefighters, farmers, cowboys, cowgirls, railroad workers, loggers – all can be found in the American tall tale.*
Some tall tales were written to explain the creation of some of the more dramatic natural features in the American landscape. In the tradition of Greek myths, African folktales, and American Indian creation legends, characters like Pecos Bill are responsible for the existence of dramatic physical features, like the Grand Canyon. Other tall tales wrestle with American mixed feelings
about the transformational mechanical inventions of the 19th Century, like the steam engine.
* from American Tall Tales by Mary Pope Osborne, p. x-xii, 1991
Characteristics of American Tall Tales
The hero or heroine is larger-than-life in some way and accomplishes great feats using strength, skill, and wits.
The author uses exaggeration and humor. Many of the things that happen in the tale could not happen in real life.
The hero is helped by a powerful object or animal (or both).
The story starts when the hero is a child or baby.
The tale includes stories from the hero’s childhood that show what’s unusual about him.
The tale includes stories that explain how the hero played a role in the creation of famous places or familiar objects. These stories are usually told in a humorous or outrageous way.
At the end of the story, the hero disappears in some way.