Introduction

Build your vocabulary and learn stimulate, proliferation, enhance, contrived, abound, recount, disparity, impair, impassive, and addendum in this Word Power and in the context of our topic, Paul Bunyan and the Tall Tale.


Audio Podcast


Paul Bunyan and the Tall Tale

There must be something about campfires that stimulates the storyteller in us. It was around frontier campfires that boredom and a sense of competition combined to create a proliferation of tall tales. Here were born such characters as Pecos Bill and John Henry. Even the actions of real human beings like Davy Crockett were enhanced with carefully contrived tales of unbelievable strength and courage. Perhaps the best-known character is Paul Bunyan, the logger.

Stories of Paul Bunyan’s size abound. One story claims that at birth a huge boat served as Paul’s cradle. The river gently rocked baby Paul to sleep, but when he rolled around in his bed, he created waves so large that people had to climb on their roofs to escape them. Another story recounts how Paul created the Grand Canyon by dragging his ax behind him as he walked across the plains.

The disparity between Paul and his surroundings occasionally caused some problems. He had to be constantly reminded not to step on houses or put his foot on a mountain to tie his shoe. In most of the stories of Paul Bunyan, he is accompanied by his famous blue ox named Babe. Like Paul, Babe was huge. Her size was a great advantage. Paul Bunyan could clear an entire forest in one morning. Before he had Babe, however, his work was impaired because he had no way to carry away the trees he cut down. Babe could carry all the trees in a forest on her back.

In one well-known tale, a serious water shortage occurred at a logging camp in North Dakota. Paul and Babe could not stand by impassively while men went thirsty, so Paul tied a big tank on Babe’s back and set out to get water from the Great Lakes. On their return trip, Babe’s hoofs made holes in the ground, and the water from the tank spilled into them. According to the story, this is how Minnesota came to have so many lakes. One addendum to the story concerns an accident that supposedly occurred midway through the journey. Babe tripped, and all of the water spilled out of the tank on her back. This spill was the start of the Mississippi River.


Unlock Keywords

Choose the best answer.

Which word could best replace stimulates in "There must be something about campfires that stimulates the storyteller in us."?

a proliferation is a _____.

If you enhance something, you ______.

A contrived tale is one that is ______.

Abound means ______.

If you recount a story, you ______.

Another word for disparity is ______.

Another word for impaired is ______.

If you sit around impassively, you ______.

An addendum is ______.


Interactive Activities

Flashcards


Learning


Matching


Spelling


Test


PDF Downloadable Worksheet

Episode 617 Word Power Paul Bunyan and the Tall Tale by English Plus Podcast on Scribd

Become a patron at Patreon!

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

<a href="https://englishpluspodcast.com/author/dannyballanowner/" target="_self">English Plus</a>

English Plus

Author

English Plus Podcast is dedicated to bring you the most interesting, engaging and informative daily dose of English and knowledge. So, if you want to take your English and knowledge to the next level, look no further. Our dedicated content creation team has got you covered!

You may also Like

Meaningful Measurement | Word Power

Meaningful Measurement | Word Power

Learn about how the metric system came to existence and how it replaced the archaic arbitrary imperial system as a meaningful measurement in this new Word Power episode from English Plus. In this episode, we will also discuss in detail ten keywords and learn what they mean in context and beyond.

read more
William Tell, Man or Myth | Word Power

William Tell, Man or Myth | Word Power

Learn about the Swiss hero, William Tell in today’s Word Power episode from English Plus Podcast and lean ten keywords in the context of the story. The word are intrepid, conventional, incensed, impetus, obeisance, impertinent, reputedly, guise, egalitarian, and partisan.

read more

Recent Posts

Are You a Content Creator or a Content Curator?

Are You a Content Creator or a Content Curator?

Explore the role of AI in creativity and the fine line between content creation and curation. Are we losing our unique voices by relying too heavily on technology, or can AI help us create with more meaning and intention? Discover the balance in this week’s English Plus Magazine editorial.

read more

Categories

Follow Us

Pin It on Pinterest