How To Write a Fable How to write

How To Write a Fable How to write a fable

Starter: what’s the moral to this story? An ant went to the bank of a river to drink. It was very thirsty. It fell into the water and was swept away. It could not swim and was on the point of drowning. A dove sitting on a tree overhanging the water plucked a leaf with her beak and let it fall into the stream close to the ant. The Ant climbed onto it and floated in safety to the bank. Shortly afterwards a birdcatcher came and stood under the tree, and laid his net out for the dove, which sat in the branches. The ant, seeing what he was up to, stung him in the foot. In pain the birdcatcher threw down the net, and the noise made the dove fly away. The moral? One good turn deserves another.

• All fables contain a moral. Q: What is a moral? • A moral is a life lesson that can be learnt at the end of the story. Q: Can anyone give an example of a moral? Try and work out what the moral is for this fable…

The Boy Who Cries Wolf There once was a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. To amuse himself he took a great breath and sang out, "Wolf! The Wolf is chasing the sheep!" The villagers came running up the hill to help the boy drive the wolf away. But when they arrived at the top of the hill, they found no wolf. The boy laughed at the sight of their angry faces. "Don't cry 'wolf', shepherd boy, " said the villagers, "when there's no wolf!" They went grumbling back down the hill. Later, the boy sang out again, "Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!" To his naughty delight, he watched the villagers run up the hill to help him drive the wolf away. When the villagers saw no wolf they sternly said, "Save your frightened song for when there is really something wrong! Don't cry 'wolf' when there is NO wolf!"

But the boy just grinned and watched them go grumbling down the hill once more. Later, he saw a REAL wolf prowling about his flock. Alarmed, he leaped to his feet and sang out as loudly as he could, "Wolf!" But the villagers thought he was trying to fool them again, and so they didn't come. At sunset, everyone wondered why the shepherd boy hadn't returned to the village with their sheep. They went up the hill to find the boy. They found him weeping. "There really was a wolf here! The flock has scattered! I cried out, "Wolf!" Why didn't you come? "

Worked out the moral? An old man tried to comfort the boy as they walked back to the village. "We'll help you look for the lost sheep in the morning, " he said, putting his arm around the youth, "Nobody believes a liar. . . even when he is telling the truth!"

Structure of a Fable The boy who cries wolf Problem Gets bored calls for help! Something really does happen. Ending Opening Moral: Liars are not believed even when they speak the truth Something terrible happens.

Step 1: Thinking of a moral for your story • Can you think of a time when you had to choose between right and wrong? Bad Morals • Stealing • Lying • Being lazy • Being Greedy • Boasting Good Morals • Being Kind • Giving compliments • Sharing • Telling the truth • Being polite

Step 2: Creating characters and a setting • The characters in fables are usually animals that can talk. • You need to come up with a main character and one or two other characters that they interact with.

Step 3: Creating a problem • Now you need to create a problem for your character to get into. This is based on the moral you have chosen. • The main character will have to make a right or a wrong choice. • E. g. in ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’, the young shepherd kept lying to the villagers about a wolf and so they never believed him when there actually was one!

Step 4: Fill in the rest of the boxes • Event box: does your character meet another animal along the way? • Ending: what is the fate of your character? What is the consequence of their actions?

LO: I can plan a Fable Title: Problem Event (what happens next? ) Ending Start (characters and setting) Moral Name: