The Great Wall Through The Lens of Folktale

Lesson: Extricating Reality and Folktale in"Meng-Jiang Nyu"
Age: Grades 4-8
Time: Two 50 minute class periods with one homework of 45 minutes.
Author: Grace Harriman

1. Teacher Preparation:
   1. Read about the Great Wall. This site has great color photos and solid information for Middle School students.
      
   2. Read and prepare copies of "Meng-Jiang Nyu," folktale.
      
   3. Copy History Extraction Sheets
      
   
   
2. Homework for the Night Before:
   Have students take home the following list and see how many definitions they can find, asking family, using a dictionary or the web.
   
   Literature Words:
   • Tall Tale
   • The Great Wall
   • Trickster Myth
   • Explanation Myth
   • Creation Myth
   • Myth
   • Folktale
   
   
3. Class Procedure:
   1. Discuss with students the differences in the story genres they defined for homework. Why would people enjoy explanation myths in a world before science? Which of the genres would be entertainment and which might serve a more serious teaching function? Do we have modern myths? Is Superman a mythic figure?
      
   2. Show slides and information on The Great Wall.
      
   3. Read "Meng-Jian Nyu" aloud in pairs. (If teacher chooses to break activity into two lessons, this would be a good stopping place for lesson #1).
      
   4. Break class up into small groups. Explain to groups that they are to read the myth again and highlight any historical or cultural information they can extract. All extracted data should be written down under the appropriate category of information on the Extraction Sheet.
      
      Teacher can model the first page for the class, extracting information and placing it in categories. The first page of the myth contains the following information:
      
      1. Red worn at weddings
      2. Marriage had feasting that lasted for several days
      3. Couple considered lucky because they never suffered "hunger nor cold," implying famine & cold may have been a threat for others at this time.
      4. Farming was developed at time of Great Wall
      5. There was an army and the emperor could conscript/draft a man at any time, without notice to work on building projects, like The Great Wall.
      6. Elders were respected, "Grandfather a village elder respected by all, offered his opinion."
      
      
   5. Students continue (in pairs) to extract information for the remainder of the folktale.
      
   6. Student Groups share their information by Category and it is written on Board or under specific categories on a colored, large piece of poster board for display.
      
   7. Final Discussion: Teacher and students summarize the types of information on culture, geography, history and social values that are imbedded in any mythology. Discuss how a myth and its details begin a study of a culture. Mythology teaches about a culture from the "inside out" and can prove a fine tool for understanding history.
      
   
   
4. Extension Activity:
   1. Build a large Wall of China. Varied colors of plasticene works well for terrains, waterways, mountain ranges, deserts etc. Sugar cubes or Starburst work well for the wall. Small flags of cut down index cards can be placed on plasticene, including direct quotes from the folktale, or from the students' writing.
      
   2. Using Gerald McDermott's picture books of myths, students might read and discuss the similar elements from their" Extraction Sheets" in "Sedna " an Inuit story, "Raven" a Native American tale and "Arrow to the Sun" a Hopi Indian tale or "The Magic Tree" an African myth. McDermott's books are in libraries and used paperbacks can be purchased on Amazon.com.