Joel Beckwith Febuary 13, 2001
Urban Legends
In this paper I will explain exactly what an urban legend is,and
give some examples of very popular ones that have been passed by
word of mouth for decades across the United States.
1 " An urban legend is a story that is so bizarre,horrifying,or
unexplainable, that it makes something inside of us want to believe
it." 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 friends 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 good 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
kind of soda,the person's insides would explode". A legend that
eventually forced the candy company company to prove as untrue.
Most urban legends are began with "friend of a friend", which is
a key in realizing that what you are going to hear is probably untrue.
When I was in second grade, a famous legend was passed to
me, the story of the ''well to Hell''. Reportedly, down in Mexico, a
group of men were drilling holes in the ground looking for oil. These
holes were thousands of feet deep, and the men heard horrifying
screams coming from the depths below. Supposedly these
these terrible sounds were coming from Hell. This story caused
much debate among the Christian community, and was repeating
in news letters, and radio talk shows around the country. Eventually,
an urban legend investigator traced the story to a school teacher
who admitted that she made the whole thing up.
As legends are passed from person to person the stories are
modified and changed until several versions of the story actually
exist.
A good example of a mixed story is the classic urban legend
of 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 stranger is in the car he stays quiet and doesn't speak until he
says ''The end is near'' and disappears right before the drivers eyes.
Other versions are told of a young girl who does the same thing
sometimes the hitch hiker claims ''Jesus is coming again ''right
befor...
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...hich is which and who is who", we see the Wicked Witch 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", Good Witch Glynda exits in a bubble.
The song "Brain Damage" is played as the scarecrow sings "If I Only Had a Brain."
The heartbeat heard at the end of the album coincides with Dorothy listening to the Tin Man's heart.
(These similarities 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 many 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 written other good books as urban legend references,
including "The Baby Train" 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 more
as a personal hobby.
In 1939, Victor Fleming made a film version of L. Frank Baum’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” However, both the novel and the film focuses or touches on the same moral, it features the protagonist Dorothy who resides in Kansas the farm, along with her aunt Em and uncle Henry as well as her dog Toto. Both Baum’s novel and Fleming’s 1939 film adaptation the setting is in Kansas which is described as a small farm which Dorothy lives in which in Baum’s novel is picturized as gloomy, grey and dull. Throughout Fleming’s adaptation of Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” there are a number of differences which presents itself in a direct manner on screen as well as similarities. The variety of changes in the film’s adaptation tends to take away from the meaning of L. Frank Baum’s depiction in his novel to a certain level and extent.
After reading the chapter, the opening scene is vastly different from the movie! In the movie, Dorothy ran away from home and was caught in the cyclone while looking for her aunt and uncle, not standing there in the doorway watching as it formed. Neither did she simply lie down during the storm. A piece of the window, if I am recalling correctly, broke off and hit her in the head, causing her to fall down and witness flying animals, as well as family members, outside her window. The Land of Oz and Dorothy 's time there, is all real in the book, not just an elaborate dream caused from unconsciousness. According to Baum, Oz is just an undiscovered continent that is hidden and surrounded by a harsh desert. One major difference is the shoe color. The ruby red slippers were referred to as being silver in this original excerpt from the story. Also after consulting with parts of the movie, I saw no reference of the Tin Man’s story. I surely don’t remember the story of a limb
. She claims that the proceeding force connected with lady as-witch in this combination creative ability handles the problem on the power that surpasses embellishment and design the particular discernment connected with witches and witchcraft throughout. Looking at these kind of queries could encourage selection that the mention of their imagination and prejudices attached to the particular "lady as-witch" idea that the current strain on females building in popularity can easily trigger anger these days. She slyly evaluates having less adequate traditional beliefs with regards to the part women performed inside creating our community, at a variety of instances.
After Dorothy was swept off of her feet into a tornado she then lands in an odd place she had never seen before. It was an old playground that had been deserted after the munchkins (children) had been stuck to the walls. When Dorothy landed she killed the evil witch by accident not realizing that was the one who stuck the munchkins to the wall. All of the munchkins were grateful and made sure that Dorothy knew what great deed she had just done. Later in the scene the munchkins sang and danced to a song called “He’s the Wizard”, which described who The Wiz was and how he could help her get home. There danced in sync as they performed around the playground with all of their voices harmonizing as well. They pointed her in the right direction and she began to go forward but when she looked back to ask another question they were gone. She then began to sing a song that described how all she wanted to do was go home and go back where she belonged.
again but also involved this time is Hecate which is the leader of the witches. The scene
the very beginning of the play the three witches are talking and the first witch
The story goes: That Carmen Winstead was pushed down the sewer by girls who were bulling her, she died and came back to take revenge on the girls and whoever doesn’t believe her story. (Storyteller,2015). I don’t think this story is true. I find it hard believe that someone would come back to haunt you and kill you from the grave. When someone looks up her name on google all that comes up is, the story of her urban legend. You would figure if this was a real person who died an obituary would pop up. Per an article posted on wafflesatnoon.com, the legend is fake and was started as a chain letter on myspace.com. It also states in the article that the story was started in 2006 and was expanded in 2013 (Waffles, 2016). Dictionary.com
The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. The nasty woman with the candy cottage in Hansel and Gretel. But not many people know where the stereotype came from. In medieval Europe, the old-nat...
We also see in this scene that the witches have the power to see into
The subject of this report focuses on the phenomenon known as Urban Legend. Urban Legend, henceforth referred to as UL, is well known in the arena of folklore and other sorts of stories passed down through generations; however, it is relatively new to the world of literary composition as a legitimate genre to be analyzed and studied in texts by experts of literature. In fact, if it had to be labeled, UL would be considered a sub-genre of folklore by many of the experts. These stories are known as "modern oral folklore - typically a tall tale with a frisson of comeuppance of horror, related as having actually happened to a 'friend of a friend'" (Clute & Grant, 1997). UL is also considered to be very similar to myth and fantasy.
...he king and hide their intentions and guilt from others in order to appear innocent. The witches use their appearances to trick Macbeth by telling him prophecies that appear good, but actually lead to his downfall. Lastly, the Thane of Cawdor, Malcolm and Donaldbain’s appearances hide the truth from others, including Macduff and Duncan. The witches’ statement, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair,” best describes the idea that appearances can be deceiving (1.1.12). Each character tricks others for different reasons, whether they purposely mislead them or not. Through different characters in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, including Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, the witches and the Scottish Thanes; it clearly shows that appearances can be deceiving.
At the beginning of the film, Dorothy sings “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, where she quotes “If happy little bluebirds fly, beyond the rainbow why, oh, why can’t I? Portraying to the audience that Dorothy wants more than the life she has. However, as the film progresses, she does indeed understand that this fantasyland is not her home and she has obligations to her aunt and uncle. She is not swayed by the Land of Oz to the extent that she wants to reside there and realises that her roots and identity lie back in Kansas. The director uses the quote ‘There’s no place like home’ as it represents the major theme and reinforces an understanding of the importance of being true to where you come from. Finally, at the end of the film, Dorothy acknowledges the lure of faraway places while affirming that her emotional compass always points homeward in the quote "If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard," Dorothy says to further illustrate her awakened state of mind she has acquired through her adventures in the Land of Oz.
The play begins with a supernatural scene, where the three witches meet and give many clues as to who they are or what they have control over,
These lines from the very beginning of the play between the three witches, Macbeth and Banquo are displaying the witches’ first evil idea to intentionally confuse Macbeth. The witches tell Macbeth some things that are true like the fact that he indeed is Thane of Glamis, but include some information that is not yet true. The witches digress to tell him he is also the...
In most African societies, a witch is seen as the enemy of life and society. Laurenti Magesa affirmed “African Religion has a pragmatic approach to life: Everything that promotes the well-being of the community is good, and everything that destroys the community is evil.” Magesa suggests not to use the abstract Christian concept of sin but to speak of ‘wrong-doing’ or ‘destruction of life’. Evil is always attached to a wrong doer.... ...