1. What is a Tall Tale?

2. A tall tale is a fictionalstory that stretchesthe truth. The heroesor sheroes of tall talesare "larger than life.Sometimes the heroesor sheroes in a tall taleare completely madeup. Sometimes theyare based on an actualperson who reallylived. 3. Through the telling of thestory, these characters aregiven exaggeratedcharacteristics.They are bigger orstronger than realpeople and solveproblems in a way thatis hard to believe. 4. Tall tales were first toldin America by thesettlers who made theirhomes in the Americanwilderness. In thosedays, people didnt haveTV, movies, or even manybooks, so they dependedon storytelling for theirentertainment. After along days work, peoplewould gather togetherand tell one anotherunbelievable stories. 5. The tall tale heroes and sheroes were like regular people. They did the same type of work asthe settlers, except they did it withamazing speed, strength, or cleverness.Maybe having these heroes and sheroeshelped give the settlers the courage todo their difficult and dangerous work. 6. Some classic tall tale heroes andsheroes are Paul Bunyan, JohnnyAppleseed, Davy Crockett, SallyAnn Thunder Ann WhirlwindCrockett, John Henry, Pecos Bill,and Slue-Foot Sue. 7. Four things allTall Tales Havein Common 8. #1The main character has aregular job but is larger-than-life or superhuman inhis or her abilities. 9. #2The character has a problemor problems that he or shesolves in a funny way. 10. #3Details in the story areexaggerated beyond belief. 11. #4The characters use everydaylanguage and are like commonpeople in behavior. 12. The End