How are fairy tales difforent from tall tales?
Fairy tales are a subgenre of folk tales. More specifically, the literary fairy tales of Western cultures have been removed from oral tradition and set down on paper by one or more authors. This recording of fairy tales changed the evolution of these tales in that they became more fixed in content and structure than oral tales that change and flow with each person re-telling the story. Fairy tales explore inner conflicts in a simple, homely way. Instead of dictating how an audience should react, fairy tales allow for discovery, give reassurance and hope, and hold out the possibility of a happy ending for the common person. A critical element of fairy tales that sets them apart from folk lore is that they must contain magic or supernatural intervention. In addition, there often is something that is implicitly or explicitly prohibited that affects the plot, and in the end some manner of transformation takes place (either a physcial transformation or a character’s inner transformation of
