Born on a mountain top in Tennessee

The greenest state in the land of the free

Raised in the woods so's he knew ev'ry tree

Kilt him a b'ar when he was only three

Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild

frontier

Fought single-handed through many a war

Till the enemy was whipped and peace was

in store

And while he was handlin' this risky chore

He made himself a legend forever more

Davy, Davy Crockett, the man who knew no

fear

He went off to Congress and served a spell

Fixin' up the Government and the laws as well

Took over Washington, so I heard tell

And he patched up the crack in the Liberty

Bell

Davy, Davy Crockett, seeing his duty clear

When he came home his politic'ing was done

And the western march had just begun

So he packed his gear and his trusty gun

And lit out a-grinnin' to follow the sun

Davy, Davy Crockett, leading the pioneer

Setting: the time and place in which a text is set

Most of these texts are presumably set in the western

United States, except for Paul Bunyan, which was

likely set in more wooded states such as Minnesota or

Maine.

Setting

The Battle of the Alamo – a central battle in the revolution to

make Texas independent of Mexico – was a 13-day siege in

which Mexican troops from Santa Anna attacked American

rebels. The battle was from February 23 to March 6, 1836.

Many of the rebels who fought here have now become figures of

legend, such as Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie.

Plot: the events that come about as a result of the conflict; the action of a story

1. Exposition: Paul is

born. He and his

parents move.

2. Rising

Action: Paul

begins his

career as a

lumberjack, but

is lonely.

3. Climax: Paul

finds Babe the

Blue Ox in the

snow.

4. Falling Action:

Babe helps Paul haul

wood and Paul finally

has him as a friend

his own size.

1. Exposition: John

Henry is born and

becomes a steel-

driving man.

2. Rising Action: John

gets married and

challenges a steam

drill to see who is

faster.

3. Climax: John

Henry beats the

steam drill, but

is near death.

4. Falling Action:

John dies. His wife

comes with his son to

watch.

1. Exposition: Pecos

Bill is lost in the

desert and raised by

coyotes.

2. Rising Action:

Bill becomes one of

the roughest

cowboys around, and

courts Slue-foot

Sue.

3. Climax: Bill

marries Sue.

4. Falling Action:

When Sue tries to

ride Widowmaker, she

gets shot to the moon.

When Bill tries to

rope her back down,

he gets shot to the

moon too.

1. Exposition: Davy

Crockett is born in

Tennessee.

2. Rising

Action: Davy

kills a bear

at only three

years old..

3. Climax: Davy

fights many

wars and goes

into politics.

4. Falling Action:

Davy returns home.

All of the stories have the main characters being born or

growing up with some extreme strength.

Pecos Bill and Paul Bunyan both have the climax as the main

character finding someone to stop their loneliness. These

characters both match each other in some characteristic, such

as size or likeness to an animal.

Conflict: a struggle between opposing forces

Some of the most common conflicts are represented in these

texts:

Man vs. Machine: John Henry faces off against the steam drill.

Man vs. Feeling: Paul Bunyan (in a more minor way, Pecos Bill)

feels lonely.

Man vs. Nature: Pecos Bill lassoes the tornado.

Man vs. Man: Davy Crockett fights in many wars.

Characters Brave? Serious? Eccentric? Humorous? Bold? Determined?

Pecos Bill

Slue-foot Sue

Widow-

maker

John Henry

Wife

Paul Bunyan

Babe

Hell’s Gate

Gang

All of the main characters (and most of the supporting

characters) are eccentric in some way (size, strength, etc.).

Most of the main characters suffer from everyday problems

despite their abnormalities.

The supporting characters of these texts seem to all share

some key characteristic with the main character of their

story.

http://artofmanliness.com/2009/04/02/men-of-legend-the-

battle-of-the-alamo/

http://www.theoutlaws.com/heroes1.htm

http://www.manythings.org/voa/stories/Pecos_ Bill.html

http://listeningreading.blogspot.com/2010/09/john-henry-

folktale-from-voa.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fakelore

http://folkloreandmyth.netfirms.com/talltales.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= ZMn1ouO5FME

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/alamo/peopleevents/p_ crockett.

html

http://www.google.com/search?hl= en&q= Alamo&tbs= dfn:1&tb

o= u&sa= X&ei= pgqmTZ7pMo20vgPd_ 9GGCg&sqi= 2&ved=

0CB8QkQ4

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3274/2926869841_ 46e4ef508

b_ o.gif

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd133/maryana_ rox_ 95/a

wesome/animation/th_ asmallmonkey.gif

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv/davy-crockett-c.jpg

http://www.charactersforrent.com/WAH-Pecos.jpg

http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/artofthestamp/subpage%20tabl

e%20images/artwork/legends/John%20Henry/BIGjohnhenry.jp

g

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