Read the passage below from the story of Pecos Bill (1966); then answer the questions that follow.
What Bill planned to do was leap from his horse and grab the cyclone by the neck. But as he came near and saw how high the top of the whirling tower was, he knew he would have to do something better than that. Just as he . . . came close enough to the cyclone to feel its hot breath, a knife of lightning streaked down into the ground. It struck there, quivering, just long enough for Bill to reach out and grab it. As the lightning bolt whipped back up into the sky, Bill held on. When he was as high as the top of the cyclone, he jumped and landed astraddle its black, spinning shoulders.
By then, everyone in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma was watching. They saw Bill grab hold of that cyclone's shoulders and haul them back. They saw him wrap his legs around the cyclone's belly and squeeze so hard the cyclone started to pant. Then Bill got out his lasso and slung it around the cyclone's neck. He pulled it tighter and tighter until the cyclone started to choke, spitting out rocks and dust. All the rain that was mixed up in it started to fall.
The story of Pecos Bill, like those of John Henry and Paul Bunyan, represents which of the following literary genres?
  1. Myths
  2. Fairy tales
  3. Epics
  4. Tall tales
Explanation
Correct Response: D. A tall tale typically provides a description of outlandish or highly improbable actions or events. In this case, Bill's ride atop a cyclone and attempt to break it like a wild horse is sufficiently outlandish and qualifies the story as a tall tale.   Although the tall tale is related to the fairy tale (B) and the epic (C), fairy tales usually contain some element of magic (e.g., charms, spells), while epics usually focus on some great and serious subject (e.g., honor, courage)—neither of which are qualities of the tale of Pecos Bill. A myth (A) generally involves supernatural or godlike beings and tends to explain how something came to exist—a distinction that would exclude the tale of Pecos Bill as an example.
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