THE STORY BEFORE THE PLAY WILEY AND THE HAIRY MAN is inspired by an African-American folktale of the same name. The original story was written down by a man named Donnell Van de Voort but was not created by him. Unlike a book, a folktale does not have an accredited author. Like many folktales, Wiley and the Hairy Man was told orally for many years before it was put down on paper. In 1935, the Federal Government created the Federal Writers’ Project as part of the New Deal. The goal of this project was “to provide employment for historians, teachers, writers, librarians, and other white-collar workers” (Federal Writers’ Project, 2011). The project ended up extending its reach and collecting stories from all over the country. One of these stories was Wiley and the Hairy Man. FOLKTALES ♦ Before there was writing, people all over the world used stories to pass down their history. Is there a story about the history of your family that someone has told you? Write it down! How is that different than someone else telling it to you? ♦ Some folktales were saved by the Federal Writers’ Project, but others may have been lost! Write your own lost folktale. Make sure to have ♦ A beginning, middle, and end ♦ A hero: A good guy that learns something ♦ A villain: A bad guy who gets in the way ♦ A lesson: Something that is learned AFTER COMING TO SEE THE PLAY read the original ending to Wiley and the Hairy Man and answer the questions below. ♦ What is the largest difference between the ending of the play and the text? ♦
Why do you think the playwright, Susan Zeder, changed the ending?
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What do you think the moral of the story is? Why would mothers tell this story to their children? Why would this story need to be preserved and passed down to future generations?
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Write your own ending to the play Wiley and the Hairy Man. 11