Final answer:
The statement is true; fairy tales were well-known and not surprising in their day as they were repeatedly told, becoming a part of cultural tradition and community knowledge.
Step-by-step explanation:
In their day, fairy tales were surprising to people because they were not commonly known or widely circulated. Fairy tales were originally passed down through oral tradition, meaning they were told and retold, but they were not widely accessible or widely known.
It wasn't until the Brothers Grimm collected and published a definitive collection of German folk tales that fairy tales became more well-known, but this was already in the mid-nineteenth century. Before that, fairy tales were not commonly known and therefore did surprise people when they heard them.
Fairy tales were indeed well-known in their day, so the statement that fairy tales were not surprising in their day because people knew the basics of these tales is true.
These tales, including myths and stories like those collected by the Brothers Grimm or told by enslaved individuals, were deeply rooted in the cultures that told them. They were used not only for entertainment but also to pass down cultural values, morals, and lessons about life within communities. As these stories were retold across generations, their familiarity became a staple in households, making the basic plotlines and morals well-known to listeners even before the stories reached their conclusion.