Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects
Department
Modern Languages
Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
The Appalachian region of the United States encompasses fourteen states, ranging from southern New York to northern Mississippi. Despite the thousands of miles separating the mountain region of Appalachia within the United States and the small, diverse country of Ecuador, the two areas are decisively similar in their values. These values are clearly demonstrated in the traditional children’s folk stories, passed down orally between generations, in both Ecuador and Appalachia. Having surveyed anonymous subjects in both areas, four stories from Ecuador and seven stories from Appalachia have been collected at random in order to draw on comparison and contrast of narrative features. These traditional stories share similarities in six distinct areas, with slight differences throughout: the values of nature, family, agrarianism, poverty, magic, and communal friendship. By analyzing the values held to a similar esteem within the two distinct cultures, we are able to better identify the common thread of morality and values within the world-at-large.
Advisor(s) or Committee Chair
Dr. Sonia Lenk
Disciplines
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education | Latin American Literature | Spanish Literature
Recommended Citation
Cox, Teresa, "Children’s Stories From Across Borders: A Contrastive Analysis of Children’s Folk Tales in Ecuador and Appalachia" (2011). Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects. Paper 315.
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses/315
Included in
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Latin American Literature Commons, Spanish Literature Commons