France: EwennCongar

BackgroundThe struggle of good against evil is a common theme found in folktalesaround the world. A character with purely good intentions must face offagainst a seemingly larger and more powerful evil character. As a result, the“good” character is often left to rely on his or her wits to make it through theconflict. Not to worry though. In folk literature, the good guy always finds away to succeed and live “happily ever after.” The plot of France: EwennCongar relies heavily on the struggle between good and evil, while alsoweaving in a little bit of romance. Folk literature terms relevant to this taleare provided below:

folk literature/folklore — Traditional tales, knowledge and beliefshanded down from generation to generation by word of mouth.folktale — A type of folk literature that has grown from the lives andimaginations of people. Folktales often tell of the adventures of human oranimal characters and sometimes attempt to explain the physical or spiri-tual world. Folktales can be organized into several different categories.magic and wonder tale — A type of folktale. Magic and wonder talescontain some element of magic. This magic can be used for good or bad.Transformations from human to animal or animal to human are commonin this type of folktale.

Program SummaryEwenn’s father makes many sacrifices so that his son can go to school, butwhen there are no more possessions to sell, Ewenn leaves home and prom-ises his father that he will return with all the money they need. Ewennencounters a magician and pretends that he is illiterate so that he can getwork as a stable boy. While working at the magician’s castle, he meets Ines —a princess who is trapped there. Because of a spell cast upon her, Ines livesher life in human form for only a few moments each day. The rest of a time,she is a horse that resides in the magician’s stables. Ewenn discovers themagician’s hidden library and begins to learn all of the magic words he canin order to help Ines. Ewenn finds a way to get Ines out of the castle but isdetermined to put an end to the magician’s evil ways. While the magician isat the King of Spain’s castle, Ewenn and Ines used their wits and some animaltransformation magic to finish him off. Eventually, Ewenn and the princessare married and live “happily ever after.”

Pre-viewing Discussion• Find the location of the story’s origin on a map. Use the map and other

geographical information to make inferences about the landscape andpeople of that place. How might this information be relevant to a story setin this location?

• Review some of the different types of folktales so that students can classifythis tale after viewing.

• Discuss how “good guys” and “bad guys” are typically described ordepicted. This tale features the classic struggle between good and evil.Predict what the protagonist and antagonist might look like. Return tothese predictions after viewing the program to see which were correct.

Follow-Up Discussion • Recall the events and characters of the tale. Which parts of this story are

realistic? Which parts are magical? • Ewenn relies on animal-human transformations to outsmart the magician in

several parts of the tale. At one point, he transforms from a donkey into arabbit to quickly escape the magician. If you could transform into anyanimal, what would it be? What would you do as that animal?

• Discuss the cultural elements of the characters, setting and plot by askingstudents which aspects of the tale appear to be unique to France andwhich are more universal in nature.

Follow-up Activities • Before folktales were written or turned into films, they were passed down

orally, from one generation to the next. Introduce students to the art of sto-rytelling. Discuss different ways in which the storyteller can engage listen-ers (e.g., using sound and gestures, giving vivid sensory details). Practicestorytelling techniques by having each student retell a portion of this tale.

• France: Ewenn Congar is an example of a magic and wonder tale. Here, wesee an enchanted castle with a magic fountain and many animal-humantransformations. Have students compare this tale to other magic andwonder tales. Consider watching Taiwan: Aunt Tiger or Germany: TheEnchanted Lion — both tales contain animal-human transformations aswell. Discuss why storytellers might choose to feature magic in their tales.Encourage students to get creative and come up with their own magicaltales. Students can write and illustrate their stories or prepare for a dra-matic storytelling.

• Act it out! Recreate France: Ewenn Congar in your classroom. This can bedone as a puppet show, a mime skit, a student play, etc. In preparation forthe production, examine and critically think about the story’s elements ofcharacters, setting and plot. Consider how the story might change if thesetting was a different time and place.

• This folktale is exciting in that it features magic, romance and a strugglebetween good and evil. Have students design movie posters for this tale. Asstudents plan their posters, have them consider how the image on theposter can generate interest among a wide variety of people. Also, makesure that the image doesn’t give away the ending! As an extension, studentscan post their posters around the school and host a screening of the folk-tale in their classroom. Students can even lead discussions about the talefollowing the screening.

• A treasury of French folk literature is available to enjoy. In fact, CharlesPerrault, a 17th-century French poet, writer and storyteller, is often creditedwith developing the fairy tale genre. The tales he wrote were adapted fromearlier versions of near-forgotten folktales. “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Puss inBoots” and “Sleeping Beauty” are all stories from Perrault. Visit www.gutenberg.org/files/17208/17208-h/17208-h.htm to view TheTales of Mother Goose as First Collected by Charles Perrault in 1696.Compare Perrault’s tales to France: Ewenn Congar. Do they share anycommon elements?

• Compare modern-day France with the setting and people portrayed in thefolktale. Organize these similarities and differences using a Venn diagram.

Page 1 of 2 Teacher’s Guide © 2007 by Schlessinger Media, a division of Library Video CompanyP.O. Box 580, Wynnewood, PA 19096 • 800-843-3620

Suggested Internet Resources• www.info-france-usa.org/kids/

Discover France and what it is like to live there! This web site by theEmbassy of France provides information about the art, economy, cultureand history of France.

• www.surlalunefairytales.com/sitemap.htmlThis site features a comprehensive assortment of fairy tales, including asmall collection from France.

• www.darsie.net/talesofwonder/This archive of folk and fairy tales from around the world presents a sampling of the many stories that make up our world’s oral tradition.

Suggested Print ResourcesTo learn more about the land and people of France:• Nardo, Don. France. Children’s Press, Danbury, CT; 2000. • Sasek, Miroslav. This is Paris. Universe Publishing, New York, NY; 2004.If you are interested in tales from France, you might also enjoy:• Brown, Marsha. Stone Soup. Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, New

York, NY; 1997. A Caldecott Award-winning retelling of an old French tale.• Shannon, Mark. Acrobat and the Angel. Penguin Young Readers Group,

New York, NY; 2001. An interpretation of the medieval French folktale “TheAcrobat of God.”

• Zelinsky, Paul O. Rapunzel. Penguin Group, New York, NY; 2002. Aretelling of a 17th-century French version of this tale.

Teacher’s Guides for titles in this series are available at www.LibraryVideo.com

Teacher’s Guide Copyright 2007 by Schlessinger Media, a division of Library Video CompanyP.O. Box 580,Wynnewood, PA 19096 • 800-843-3620

Programs © 2005 S4C International All Rights Reserved

Teacher’s Guide written by Megan Carnate, M.Ed., Curriculum Specialist, Schlessinger Media

Page 2 of 2

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