The Great Stone Face [short story]

Genre: Legend/ Traditional Literature
Age Appropriateness: intermediate
Media: oil on canvas
Review: This book is a good example of legend because it has been retold by different people and has been passed down for many years. This story is about a boy who grows up believeing that someday the prophecy will show his face. The towns people believe that the prophecy will look just like the Great Stone Face on the mountain that over looks their town. There are a few men that pass through town during Ethan's life who the towns people believe to be the prophecy and one by one the men prove the town wrong. By the time Ethan grows up and has his own children and grandchildren he begins to believe the prophecy will never show. Until one day when he show more is sitting with his grand daughter and she she reveils to him that it is him who resembles the Great Stone Face and the town people realize that the prophecy has been with them all along. The pastor points out that it took a child to point out the truth that no one else could see. Ethan continues on with his goodness and well being without letting this idea change the way he lived. show less

This story fulfills a prophesy of the Great Stone Face in the New Hampshire mountains. Someone will be born with the face of the mountain and this person will be the most noble of their time. The tale follows a boy named Ethan who throughout his life time, he sees multiple people who the villagers think will fulfill the prophesy with their fame or wealth. They always prove to not be the true face of the mountain until Ethan's granddaughter says that Ethan has already fulfilled the prophesy through his character and goodness.

Ethan grows up in the shadow of the great stone face. With everyone else in his village, he waits and wonders who will fulfill the prophecy. Ethan begins to believe the prophecy will not be fulfilled in his lifetime, until a young child, seeing more deeply than all the rest.

Realistic Fiction
Media: Oil on Canvas
Characterization: Ethan is a round dynamic character. You see him grow up in his town and you have an understanding of his ideals and his lively hood. Throughout the book you see him change from a boy into a man and you see him develop and mature in his leadership of the village and his own family.
Theme: be who you are not who people want you to be
Review: The story in this book is very realistic. The town is real and the people could easily be real. However, the legend gives it the fictional element. It gives it that exciting and adventurous element. Yet, it is believable, because in the end the legend comes true.

A retelling of Nathaniel Howthorne's classic tale looking at the nature of goodness, character and a life well-lived.

Critique: This is a good example of realistic fiction because the plot of the story is one that could very well take place in real life. Just because it talks about prophecy doesn't mean that a village somewhere couldn't really have a funny supersticious belief.
Genre: Realistic Fiction

Folklore
Review: The Great Stone Face loomed over the town and as people from the town's past came back, everyone saw them as the same face that watched over them, but Ethan thought that none of them were the same.
Critique: This is a good folklore book because it has legend within it that is passed down from generation to generation within the small town