Which feature best tells you that a story is a tall tale?
AIt teaches a lesson with talking animals and a moral at the end
BIt tells about a larger-than-life hero using huge exaggerations, as if they were true
CIt explains facts using charts and labels
DIt takes place in a magical kingdom with a fairy godmother
Tall tales stretch the truth on purpose and tell it with a straight face. Talking animals with a moral describe a fable, charts describe nonfiction, and a fairy godmother belongs to a fairy tale.
Question 2 True / False
People who told tall tales expected listeners to believe every part was true.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
Listeners were in on the joke. The teller acts serious, but everyone knows a man cannot really dig a river or ride a tornado. That is what makes it funny.
Question 3 Multiple Choice
Which sentence is an example of tall-tale exaggeration?
APaul Bunyan was a tall lumberjack who worked hard.
BPaul Bunyan's giant footprints filled with rain and became lakes.
CPaul Bunyan ate breakfast before work.
DPaul Bunyan had a pet ox.
Footprints big enough to make lakes are impossible, so that is the exaggeration. In many versions his ox, Babe, is giant and blue, but just having a pet ox is not exaggerated.
Question 4 Short Answer
Davy Crockett was a real frontiersman, but people told tall tales about him. Why do you think storytellers turned a real person into a tall-tale hero?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: People admired his bravery and frontier skills, so they made his deeds bigger and funnier to celebrate him and to entertain listeners.
Tall tales often grow from real people or real work. Exaggeration shows what a community admired, such as strength, courage and cleverness.