Urban Legends Essay -- essays research papers

Joel Beckwith Febuary 13, 2001Urban LegendsIn this paper I will explain only if what an urban myth is,and give some examples of very popular ones that run through been manner of walkinged byword of mouth for decades across the United States.1 " An urban legend is a story that is so bizarre, affright,or unexplainable, that it makes some swerveg inside of us indirect request to believeit." Urban Legends can have traced origins from other countries,universities, states, or people,that just decided to made up as incredible story and pass it on to their jocks and family members.Many of these legends were started in the sixties and seventies,and still continue to be passed on to this day. A unassailable example, is the horrifying Pop Rocks death. 2"In the seventies ,school kids passed on the rumor that if Pop Rocks candy was eaten with any physical body of soda,the individuals insides would explode". A legend that eventually forced the candy confederation company to prove as untrue. Most urban legends atomic number 18 began with "friend of a friend", which is a key in realizing that what you are handout to hear is probably untrue.When I was in second grade, a noted legend was passed to me, the story of the well to Hell. Reportedly, down in Mexico, a group of hands were drilling holes in the ground looking for oil. These holes were thousands of feet deep, and the men heard horrifyingscreams advance from the depths below. Supposedly these these terrible sounds were coming from Hell. This story causedmuch reach among the Christian community, and was repeatingin news letters, and radio talk shows more or less the country. Eventually,an urban legend investigator traced the story to a school instructor who admitted that she made the whole thing up.As legends are passed from person to person the stories aremodified and changed until several versions of the story actuallyexist.A good example of a mixed story is the classic urban leg endof the vanishing hitch hiker. Most versions of the story are told of a tall thin hitch hiker walking down the road until he gets picked up.As the eery is in the car he stays quiet and doesnt speak until he says The end is near and disappears right before the drivers eyes.Other versions are told of a small girl who does the same thing sometimes the hitch hiker claims Jesus is coming again rightbefor... ...hich is which and who is who", we see the Wicked fascinate of the West looking at the dead feet of the Wicked Witch of the East. For "up..up..up", the Witch is on top of a ramp on "down..down.. down..", she is walking down. "And in the end", the dead Witch disappears. "Out..out..out", ingenuous Witch Glynda exits in a bubble. The song "Brain disparage" is played as the scarecrow sings "If I Only Had a Brain." The newsflash heard at the end of the album coincides with Dorothy listening to the Tin Mans heart. (These similar ities are found at http//turnerclassicmovies.com)Urban legends and their history can be a very interesting thing to devote your time to. The library has numerous good books on urban legends, one of the best is "Too Good to be True The Colossal Book of Urban Legends" by Jan Harold Brunvand. Jan Harold Brunvard has pen other good books as urban legend references,including "The Baby require" and "The Mexican Pet".Overall I enjoyed writing this report and I have found urban legends to be very interesting and I hope to explore them moreas a personal hobby.