por A fantastic tale It is a literary narrative that consists of telling stories that are far from reality. Another way of defining it is as a text that relates a succession of supernatural and extraordinary events that do not occur in the real world, therefore they may seem illogical, incoherent and irrational.
The fantastic story can incorporate real elements or actions of daily life, but it will always be oriented to trigger surprising, imaginary and inexplicable situations. The purpose of this type of narration is to arouse curiosity, provide different visions of things and leave a lesson.
The fantastic tale mixes the real with the unreal. On the one hand, the characters show credible characteristics and even the receiver can identify with them, while the imaginary and unusual is manifested in the experiences that happen to the protagonists. These stories are usually aimed at children and young people.
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Characteristics of the fantastic tale
The fantastic tale presents the following characteristics:
– It is a short story.
– It must have a plot or argument that gives a logical sequence to the story.
– Possesses extraordinary elements and circumstances that defy natural or real world laws.
– Supernatural events occur to characters who usually have real characteristics.
– The fantastic story must have an environment in which the characters carry out their actions. The setting of the story can combine real and fictional elements.
– For the fantastic tale to have a reason for being, there must be a reader who believes, gets involved or is momentarily complicit in what happens in the narrative.
Structure
Start
It is the part that begins the fantastic tale. In this section the characters and their main characteristics are disclosed, the environment where the actions take place is also described. At the beginning, the situations that lead the story towards the knot or conflict are presented.
Development
The development exposes the conflicts or unexpected events of the narrative. In this part of the fantastic tale there is a break with the facts stated at the beginning. This phase of the story is the most substantial, expected and attractive because it constitutes the most relevant part of the story.
Final
In the fantastic tale the end refers to the end or denouement of the story. In this part, the problems or conflicts that originated in the development are resolved. Usually, the culmination of the narrative is characterized by the triumph of good over evil.
Items
Characters
They are the ones who carry out the actions within the fantastic tale and to whom extraordinary situations happen. The characters can be represented by human beings, animals, plants or objects. In the narratives, the participants have characteristics that differentiate them from others.
Atmosphere
The environment in fantastic tales is related to the place where the characters unfold and the events take place.
Time
Time is related to the time or year in which the story takes place. In addition, it refers to the duration of events, whether they happen in hours, in a day, in months or years.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere is related to the sensation and the «air» that prevails in the different circumstances of the narrative. This means that the story can have moments of emotion, sadness, anguish, mystery, loneliness or another emotional state.
Plot
In the fantastic story the plot refers to the conflict that motivates the development of the narrative. The plot is what gives way to the drama, the tension and the attractive power of the story.
Traditional fairy tales for children
– The frog prince.
– Sleeping Beauty.
– Snow White.
– Rapunzel.
– Cinderella.
– Hansel and Gretel.
– Little Red Riding Hood.
– The three Little Pigs.
– Thumb.
– Alice in Wonderland.
Invented example of fantastic tale
The power of faith
Years, many years ago, in a very distant place near immense mountains, there was a town called «Sin Pan» in which its inhabitants were very poor due to the spell of a shoemaker witch who was left owing money. Among the residents there were three children who dreamed of eating every day; their names were: Baguet, Bologna and Dulce.
Baguet was a boy of about ten years old, he was tall, thin and with haggard eyes. Even though he didn’t eat well, he had energy and strength. For his part, Bologna was eight years old, he was chubby and cheeky, his main strength was kindness. Dulce was a six-year-old girl, petite, smiling, vivacious, and had long hair.
The mysterious dream of the people
One day, the three children went out to look for food like every morning and realized that the rest of the town had not woken up.
«Everything is very quiet and the streets are very lonely,» Bologna said.
«It’s true, something is wrong. We’re going to investigate what’s going on,” Baguet replied.
The three children went through each of the houses, leaned out of the window and realized that the neighbors were in a deep sleep. Apparently hunger had stolen all the strength from him.
«We have to do something, we all need food,» said Dulce.
the strange snail
Baguet, Bologna and Dulce sat down on the banks of the river to devise a way to help the town get out of misery. After a few minutes, she passed a small snail near Dulce’s feet, she took it, while she held it in her hands she realized that the small animal left a shiny trail when she crawled. Surprised, the girl showed her friends what was happening.
«It’s a magical snail!» Bologna exclaimed.
«It’s fantastic, maybe I can’t help save the town,» said Baguet.
The three friends hugged each other and jumped for joy. The snail complained and said:
«Hey, they’re crushing me!»
The children stopped when they heard the voice, and their surprise increased when they realized that it was the snail that spoke. A few seconds later they caught their breath and became familiar with the magical animal. The snail told them that in its shell it kept an inexhaustible source of gold frost, which had the power to help those who believed that size did not matter to do great things.
the strange magic
The innocence of the children and their desire to get out of poverty led them to place all their faith in the snail. The animal then explained to them how magic worked.
—The first thing you must do is each take a little bit of my magic powder in your hands, close your eyes and imagine the shoemaker witch releasing the spell on the town. Afterwards, they must spread the frost on the doors of each house. The incandescent shine of gold will renew the forces of the settlers and they will wake up,” said the snail.
Baguet, Bologna and Dulce did everything just as the snail told them. The results were not long in coming, but the most fantastic thing was that when the inhabitants of the town touched the golden frost, the trees, rivers, mountains, flowers and roads turned into food. From that moment on, “Sin Pan” did not suffer again due to lack of food.
The three friends rejoiced at what had happened and wanted to thank the magical snail, but when they went to look for it, they only got the trace of its footprints. Baguet, Bologna and Dulce understood that faith transforms everything.
End.
References
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Fantastic tale concept. (S.f.). (N/a): Concept. From. Retrieved from: concepto.de.
Pérez, J. and Merino, M. (2017). Definition of fantastic tale. (N/a): Definition. From. Retrieved from: definition.de.
Ucha, F. (2012). Definition of fantastic tale. (N/a): ABC definition. Recovered from: definitionabc.com.
Definition of fantastic tale. (2016). Mexico: Definition. Recovered from: definition.mx.