Introduction: Folktales are stories told from generation to generation. They are usually fictional stories. Each story focuses on the traditions of a culture or group. A folktale is part of an oral tradition. It is a story or legend that originates around a certain group. The original story of Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) is a folktale I've heard before. Anyone can make up a folktale, like the one about “Bloody Mary.” If you say "Bloody Mary" several times in front of a mirror in total darkness, an evil biblical character will come out of the mirror and kill you. I write this article because stories impact our lives every day. Stories give us life advice and tell us morals. We tell stories every day to tell others about our lives. Stories are not only written, but also in words. They are passed down from generation to generation for a message or for our entertainment. The stories influenced me by telling me more about my grandmother. I never got to meet her, but through the stories my father or grandfather tell me, she lives on. Stories are how you become immortal. Once a story is created, it can be told many more times. This way someone can live forever. The research: If I could go back to the day our class chose our genders, I would have undoubtedly chosen another. Finding information about folk tales was certainly a more difficult task than finding information about fairy tales or fables. On the first day of research in our media center, I used an online encyclopedia to discover the basic structures behind a folktale. As easy as it sounds, it took me a while to finally find an article with useful information. When it came time to read some folktales I was ecstatic. But once I started reading some of them, I realized I didn't understand......half of the paper......and stories. In society, folk tales are used to explain natural phenomena and other unknowns in the world. Works Cited • "Popular Literature." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopedia Britannica Online school edition. November 12, 2009 .• "Famous American Fairy Tales and Folk Stories from A to Z." Famous American Folktales and Stories from A to ZNp and the Web. January 20, 2014. .• Hammond, Peter. "Folklore." Dictionary of American History. Ed Stanley I. Kutler, 3rd ed. vol. 3. New York: Sons of Charles Scribner, 2003. 393-397. Student Resources in Context, Web. December 20, 2013.• Nielsen, Paul, Sr. Personal Interview. January 2, 2014.• Bettelheim, Bruno. "The Child's Need for Magic." The uses of the spell nd: n. page Print.• "Blackbeard's Ghost" YouTube. YouTube, October 12, 2012. Web. February 20. 2014.