American Folklore

Where would a nation be without its stories? To have a sense of identity and progress, to understand how it has become what it is today, every nation must know its past. History, as you know, is composed of many elements—events, memorable dates, important people, and political upheavals, for example. Together, these elements make up a nation’s story.

Beneath that history, however, is a fascinating picture. Think of it as a kind of tapestry woven by the nation’s people with brilliant threads and intricate details. Sadly, though, this tapestry is often under-appreciated. Without taking the time to examine and enjoy it, we miss a delightful, informative window into the lives of the people who helped to shape a nation’s history. This tapestry is called “folklore.”

For our study of American folklore, we will divide the country into six regions and explore some of the folklore of each one. In addition, we’ll take a quick look at the folklore of the American Indians.  We will also focus on specific types of folklore, such as tall tales and legends. It’s important to remember, though, that the different types of folklore don’t belong just to America. They have been around much longer than America has. Because the America we know today was settled by immigrants, the roots of our national folklore are not only in the New World, but also far, far away in the Old. Thus, folklore connects us to our heritage as Americans, to be sure, but also to our heritage in other nations across the oceans and the ages.

Our study will include (but not be limited to) the following topics:

• American Indians—mythology*, fables
• Northeast—legends, spooky stories*, and epitaphs
• Appalachia/mid-Atlantic—nursery rhymes, oral history, sea chanties
• Southeast—spirituals, animal tales, trickster tales
• Midwest—fairy tales, weird place lore, folktales
• West—cowboy lore and ballads, Spanish spiritual stories, fabled creature sightings

In addition, at the end of the course you will have the opportunity to choose a final project to complete that will pull your studies together. For example, you might create a scrapbook of your family’s oral history—perhaps recipes handed down from your grandmother, stories of your parents’ childhood, games you made up in the backyard with your siblings, and so on.

Are you ready? Let’s get started!

*Some parents may be understandably concerned about the inclusion of mythology and spooky stories in this course.  Because a study of folklore would not be complete without attention to these sub-genres, they are included.  Parents are encouraged to use the course in whatever way they see fit, even if that means skipping a lesson or two; however, it is important to note that these types of folklore are taught only from a neutral, academic perspective.