Read the Prereading information on page 488. With this folk tale, instead of reading with a purpose in mind beforehand, read to discover the authors’ purpose. Which aim or purpose from the list on page 488 do you think the authors might use?
In order to find the authors’ purpose, you will read this folk tale twice. First read the folk tale silently. Then listen as a partner or your teacher reads the story aloud. What did you like about the folk tale and what did you learn?
If you are having difficulty discovering the authors’ purpose, write down the story events in order of occurrence. For example, the first event you might write down is the king summoning Nunyala to his palace. The second event is his request for a cow of no color, and so on.
Begin a class discussion on the authors’ purpose. Which of the following purposes might the authors have: to inform? to reflect? to entertain, enrich, or enlighten? or to persuade? Use lines from the story to explain your answers.