What is a Fable?

Mrs. Sullivan introduces the concept of a fable as a type of genre. She defines a genre as a category or group of things with a particular style or format, differentiating between non-fiction and fiction writing genres. Fables are presented as a fiction genre alongside fairy tales, action adventure, mystery, science fiction, and poetry.

A fable is described as a short, make-believe story where animals may act like people. The most crucial characteristic highlighted is that fables always have a moral, which is a life lesson.

The video uses "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" as a well-known example of a fable, explaining its moral: "Nobody believes a person who lies. It is always better to tell the truth." It is noted that this is an Aesop Fable, and Aesop lived over 2,000 years ago in Greece. Other Aesop Fables mentioned include "The Tortoise and the Hair" with the moral "Slow and steady wins the race," and "The Lion and the Mouse" with the moral "Kindness is never wasted." There are about 150 fables by Aesop.

Fables are described as a fun way to share wisdom and help people learn life lessons, also known as morals. The video concludes with a Fable chant to help remember the genre, repeating the key characteristics: short story, make-believe, animals acting like people, and having a moral.