Urban_Legend

URBAND LEGENDS PCSNT 1009 GEORGE W. RODRIGUEZ ALAVA DECEMBER 02, 2009 ABSTRACT Urban legend is a story derived from real life, but with elements of over the top horror. It is a way of expressing one’s fears, in a totally exaggerated way as to appear ridiculous. Urban legends are often widely circulated. Whether these stories are true or not, no one can tell with absolute certainty. But one thing’s for sure, they make for great copy. Schools particularly are favorite settings for urban legends. This is because most schools date way back to the Second World War, When most institutions were used garrisons, prisons and torture chambers. It is said that the ghosts of the soldiers and innocent civilians who have shed their blood in these places will forever walk the halls of these institutions. TABLES CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………...2 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………….4 WHAT IS AN URBAN LEGEND……………………………………………………………5 HOW WOULD YOU DETERMINE IF A STORY IS REAL OR AN URBAN LEGEND...6 EXAMPLES OF URBAN LEGENDS………………………………………………………..8 THE WEEPING WOMAN……………………………………………………………………8 BLOODY MARY URBAN LEGEND………………………………………………………11 CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………13 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………………14 INTRODUCTION An urban legend is any modern, fictional story, told as truth that reaches a wide audience by being passed from person to person. Urban legends are often false, but not always. A few turn out to be largely true, and a lot of them were inspired by an actual event but evolved into something different in their passage from person to person. More often than not, it isn't possible to trace an urban legend back to its original source -- they seem to come from nowhere. People use urban legends sometimes as a jokes or hobby. Also many people don’t like urban legends just because they are afraid to discover that many of them are true. I think urban legend are popular because of the people who have been talking about them for years even they are histories that happened many decades ago people still concern about them. In this paper I investigate about urban legends, what is an urban legend, where they come from, and how to distinguish is a story is real or an urban legend. In fact I’m going to give two examples of urban legends. WHAT IS AN URBAN LEGEND' An urban legend, more properly a "'contemporary legend'" is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories thought to be factual by those circulating them. Like all folklore, contemporary legends are not necessarily false, but they are often distorted, exaggerated, or sensationalized over time. Despite its name, a typical urban legend does not usually originate in an urban setting. The term is simply used to differentiate modern legend from traditional folklore in preindustrial times. For this reason, sociologists and folklorists prefer the term "contemporary legend". ORIGINS The term “urban legend,” as used by folklorists, has appeared in print since at least 1968. Jan Harold Brunvand, professor of English at the University of Utah, introduced the term to the general public in a series of popular books published beginning in 1981. Brunvand used his collection of legends, The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends & Their Meanings (1981) to make two points: first, that legends and folklore do not occur exclusively in so-called primitive or traditional societies, and second, that one could learn much about urban and modern culture by studying such tales.Brunvand has since published a series of similar books, and is credited as the first to use the term vector (inspired by the concept of biological vectors) to describe a person or entity passing on an urban legend. How would you determine whether a story is real or an urban legend' Step 1 Evaluate whether the anecdote you just heard sounds vaguely familiar. Step 2 Take note of the main characters in the story. Do they have identities' Are they friends of friends' Step 3 Take note of whether you remember any of the details of the story from the news. Most urban legends are so sensational that they would be all over the news if they actually happened. Step 4 Examine the person who is telling the story and their credibility. Step 5 Visit or make research of urban legends, to see if any information comes up about the story is true stories or urban legends. Note: they log both urban legends and true stories that just sound like urban legends. Step 6 Ask the person telling the story where she heard it from and whether she trusts her source. Step 7 Type the terms into Goggle News to see if any hard details about the story emerge. EXAMPLES OF URBAN LEGENDS: The Weeping Woman (La Llorona) This is a Hispanic story that the old ones have been telling to children for hundreds of years. It is a sad tale, but it lives strong in the memories of the people, and there are many who swear that it is true. Long years ago in a humble little village there lived a fine looking girl named Maria Some say she was the most beautiful girl in the world! And because she was so beautiful, Maria thought she was better than everyone else. As Maria grew older, her beauty increased and her pride in her beauty grew too When she was a young woman, she would not even look at the young men from her village. They weren't good enough for her! "When I marry," Maria would say, "I will marry the most handsome man in the world." And then one day, into Maria's village rode a man who seemed to be just the one she had been talking about. He was a dashing young ranchero, the son of a wealthy rancher from the southern plains. He could ride like a Comanche! In fact, if he owned a horse, and it grew tame, he would give it away and go rope a wild horse from the plains. He thought it wasn't manly to ride a horse if it wasn't half wild. He was handsome! And he could play the guitar and sing beautifully. Maria made up her mind-that was, the man for her! She knew just the tricks to win his attention. If the ranchero spoke when they met on the pathway, she would turn her head away. When he came to her house in the evening to play his guitar and serenade her, she wouldn't even come to the window. She refused all his costly gifts. The young man fell for her tricks. "That haughty girl, Maria, Maria! " he said to himself. "I know I can win her heart. I swear I'll marry that girl." so everything turned out as Maria planned. Before long, she and the ranchero became engaged and soon they were married. At first, things were fine. They had two children and they seemed to be a happy family together. But after a few years, the ranchero went back to the wild life of the prairies. He would leave town and be gone for months at a time. And when he returned home, it was only to visit his children. He seemed to care nothing for the beautiful Maria. He even talked of setting Maria aside and marrying a woman of his own wealthy class. As proud as Maria was, of course she became very angry with the ranchero. She also began to feel anger toward her children, because he paid attention to them, but just ignored her. One evening, as Maria was strolling with her two children on the shady pathway near the river, the ranchero came by in a carriage. An elegant lady sat on the seat beside him. He stopped and spoke to his children, but he didn't even look at Maria. He whipped the horses on up the street. When she saw that, a terrible rage filled Maria, and it all turned against her children. And although it is sad to tell, the story says that in her anger Maria seized her two children and threw them into the river! But as they disappeared down the stream, she realized what she had done! She ran down the bank of the river, reaching out her arms to them. But they were long gone. The next morning, a traveler brought word to the villagers that a beautiful woman laid dead on the bank of the river. That is where they found Maria, and they laid her to rest where she had fallen but the first night Maria was in the grave, the villagers heard the sound of crying down by the river. It was not the wind, it was La Llorona crying. "Where are my children'" And they saw a woman walking up and down the bank of the river, dressed in a long white robe, the way they had dressed Maria for burial. On many a dark night they saw her walks the riverbank and cry for her children. And so they no longer spoke of her as Maria. They called her La Llorona, the weeping woman. And by that name she is known to this day. Children are warned not to go out in the dark, for, La Llorona might snatch them and never return them. BLOODY MARY URBAN LEGEND She lived deep in the forest in a tiny cottage and sold herbal remedies for a living. Folks living in the town nearby called her Bloody Mary, and said she was a witch. None dared cross the old crone for fear that their cows would go dry, their food-stores rot away before winter, their children take sick of fever, or any number of terrible things that an angry witch could do to her neighbors. Then the little girls in the village began to disappear, one by one. No one could find out where they had gone. Grief-stricken families searched the woods, the local buildings, and all the houses and barns, but there was no sign of the missing girls. A few brave souls even went to Bloody Mary's home in the woods to see if the witch had taken the girls, but she denied any knowledge of the disappearances. Still, it was noted that her haggard appearance had changed. She looked younger, more attractive. The neighbors were suspicious, but they could find no proof that the witch had taken their young ones. Then came the night when the daughter of the miller rose from her bed and walked outside, following an enchanted sound no one else could hear. The miller's wife had a toothache and was sitting up in the kitchen treating the tooth with an herbal remedy when her daughter left the house. She screamed for her husband and followed the girl out of the door. The miller came running in his nightshirt. Together, they tried to restrain the girl, but she kept breaking away from them and heading out of town. The desperate cries of the miller and his wife woke the neighbors. They came to assist the frantic couple. Suddenly, a sharp-eyed farmer gave a shout and pointed towards a strange light at the edge of the woods. A few townsmen followed him out into the field and saw Bloody Mary standing beside a large oak tree, holding a magic wand that was pointed towards the miller's house. She was glowing with an unearthly light as she set her evil spell upon the miller's daughter. The townsmen grabbed their guns and their pitchforks and ran toward the witch. When she heard the commotion, Bloody Mary broke off her spell and fled back into the woods. The far-sighted farmer had loaded his gun with silver bullets in case the witch ever came after his daughter. Now he took aim and shot at her. The bullet hit Bloody Mary in the hip and she fell to the ground. The angry townsmen leapt upon her and carried her back into the field, where they built a huge bonfire and burned her at the stake. As she burned, Bloody Mary screamed a curse at the villagers. If anyone mentioned her name aloud before a mirror, she would send her spirit to revenge herself upon them for her terrible death. When she was dead, the villagers went to the house in the wood and found the unmarked graves of the little girls the evil witch had murdered. She had used their blood to make her young again. From that day to this, anyone foolish enough to chant Bloody Mary's name three times before darkened mirror will summon the vengeful spirit of the witch. It is said that she will tear their bodies to pieces and rip their souls from their mutilated bodies. The souls of these unfortunate ones will burn in torment as Bloody Mary once was burned, and they will be trapped forever in the mirror. CONCLUSION I have discovered that they are rumors with certain dose truly, they spread with great rapidity and they comply a function: to reflect and to prevent on common fears to all the humanity. It amazes the quantity of versions of the same history. That they spread by word of mouth today, with the support of Internet, they are increased and they diffuse with an unusual rapidity; some they border the improbable thing, but the incredible thing, is that the people continue them believing. The name, by-product of the English one urban legend, arose in the 70´s among the American folklorists that tried to explain rumors of the everyday life as if were a matter of somewhat true. Why people believe in them if the urban legends are not true' They are not "true" but contain elements that cause they seem them likely: they have an ordinary setting (a movies, the field, a street, a supermarket, a beach, etc.), contain objects of the everyday life (syringes, lipstick, tin plantings, etc.) and finally the surprising end that fits in the setting of the possible thing. For me to understand the three secrets so that urban legends succeed they are: that try an unexpected and sticky idea, that try somewhat concrete and finally that the listener can feel him; that be emotional. This it is the end of my research I expect it that you enjoyed. Thanks for reading it. REFERENCES 1. Oxford English Dictionary, 2d ed. 1989, entry for “urban legend,” citing R. M. Dorson in T. P. Coffin, Our Living Traditions, xiv. 166 (1968). See also William B. Edgerton, The Ghost in Search of Help for a Dying Man, Journal of the Folklore Institute, Vol. 5, and No. 1. pp. 31, 38, 41 (1968). 2. Mikkelson, Barbara; David P. Mikkelson. "Grade Expectations”. Urban Legends Reference Pages. http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp. Retrieved 2007-01- 3. Mikkelson, Barbara. "The Reich Stuff” Urban Legends Reference Pages. http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/fanta.asp. Retrieved 2007-01-09. 4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6090918.stm 5. Jan Harold Brunvand, “Encyclopedia of Urban Legends,” (Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2001. p. 459. 6. Richard Dorson. “American Folklore” University of Chicago Press, 1959, pp. 250-52. 7. A b Adam Brooke Davis. “Devil’s Night and Halloween: The Linked Fates of Two Folk Festivals.” Missouri Folklore Society Journal XXIV (2002) pp. 69-82. 8. John Mosier “WAR MYTHS” Historically Speaking: The Bulletin of the Historical Society: VI: 4 March/April 2005. 9. Robin Croft (2006), Folklore, families and fear: understanding consumption decisions through the oral tradition, Journal of Marketing Management, 22:9/10, pp. 1053-1076, ISSN 0267-257X. 10. Joel Best and Gerald T. Horiuchi. "The Razor Blade in the Apple: The Social Construction of Urban Legends." Social Problems 32:5 (June 1985) pp. 488-97. 11. http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2009/10/bloody_mary.html 12. http://literacynet.org/lp/hperspectives/llorona.html 13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legend 14. http://www.shvoong.com/humanities/1668159-urban-legend-existence/