Urban Legends on the Web
Urban legends are fascinating to almost everyone, and it would follow that there would be many websites available for the discussion of them. A simple search turns up thousands of "hits" on the subject, so how do we know which ones to believe? A good research site will have detailed information explaining the confirmation or rejection of the legend. References must be cited, especially when a legend is being "proven" as true. In addition, the site should also be easy to navigate and convenient. In my own curiosity, I have come across two sites that are excellent, the About.com Urban Legend Guide, and the Urban Legend Reference Page found at www.snopes.com, which was created by the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society. In contrast, there are websites (not to mention e-mail chain letters) that perpetuate false legends, and those that just do a poor job of evaluating them. In this category is the Urban Myth Archive, an amateur archive of myths heard in New Hampshire and Monkeyburgers, a site filled with interesting legends, but lacking adequate proof to back the conclusions.
The About.com Urban Legend Guide, address, http://urbanlegends.about.com/culture/beliefs/urbanlegends/mbody.htm?COB=home&PM=112_100_T, is an invaluable resource for researching urban legends. Upon signing into the page, the reader is given a list of topics to choose from, which always includes currently circulating hoaxes and legends as well as an archive full of information on every conceivable legend and internet hoax. Around Halloween time, of course, there are ghost stories and legends of the past that are explained and critiqued, but I found the most interesting section to be the one on e-mail hoaxes. Every individual with a...
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...good research tool, but it needs some more concrete evidence. After all, how can we believe that the author is correct without proof? That is as silly as believing an urban legend just because your brother's girlfriend's cousin told you so.
In my search for urban legend sites, I found an incredible amount of information on the net, some of it high quality, professionally presented information, and the rest simply unverified. The truth is that the connection we experience as part of the World Wide Web can either work for or against us. If we choose to evaluate information carefully before we accept it, and, more importantly, before we pass it on to others, the Web is invaluable. If, however, we take the information from a website and assume it is true without adequate proof, we are just perpetuating myths and untruths. This is the importance of critical reading.
The sparsely populated towns and countryside of the Pine Barrens of Southern New Jersey have often been the ideal setting of various ghost stories, including the infamous tale of the Jersey Devil, that are told in the more heavily populated Northern New Jersey and Philadelphia metropolitan regions. One of those “Piney” towns is home to a lesser-known, but equally interesting, tale of a street that is haunted by the ghost of a young boy. The story is set in the town of Atco, within Waterford Township, and is located approximately half-way between Philadelphia and Atlantic City, right in the heart of the Wharton State Forest section of the Pine Barrens National Reserve.
In April I sat down with a friend at my house and asked about any urban legends or ghost stories he had encountered. After a couple legends he had seen in movies, he mentioned a haunted bridge about ten minutes away from downtown. He is a twenty-one year-old White male; his father owns an appliance store and his mother helps out with the books. He first heard this story in the ninth grade from a couple of friends. Supposedly, they had heard from kids who had actually been to the bridge and heard strange things at night. The bridge is located off of Uniontown road, between a couple old farms. He has not encountered the bridge first hand but still remembers the story surrounding it:
Urban legends are the supernatural folklore of our modern society. From one generation to the next, they orally travel throughout the world, constantly changing from one region to the next. Although cultural variations exist, the core of all these urban legends remains the same, to unveil the universally known individual and societal fears. “The Graveyard Wager” is a timeless urban legend told again and again, and the one of which I will explore more in depth.
In trying to determine is a story is an urban legend or not, there are several different topics examined within the contents of the story. One of these is regarding how long the story has been around, for stories that are modern are what we consider urban legends and not folktales. A tale that has been around for a significant period of time, but what we would still consider ‘modern’ is “The Double Theft” from The Criminal Mind chapter. In this story, the beginning sentence is, ‘This “true” story was told to me back in 1970 in Silver Spring, Maryland” (Harold, 308). In this, it actually lists the year that the author originally heard the rumor, giving it the credit of being recent enough to count as an urban legend.
...s made its way all the way to England and Illinois. Lastly, even though some people might not believe in this legend, it should definitely be considered and never dropped because one day something horrible could happen and everyone would be very clueless. This beast is amazing at doing what it does, and after all these stories one can conclude that this creature is real.
End-of-life care in the United States is often fraught with difficult decisions and borne with great expense. Americans are often uncomfortable discussing death and
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
Perhaps some of the best stories told are classified as urban legends. Urban legends have become a part of culture, and a way to tell stories. They can tell us things about ourselves and about how we lead our lives. They serve to entertain us, but can also teach us lessons, such as morals to live by. Urban legends are passed on between generations, and become a part of the oral history of a place. Whether the stories are true or not, urban legends are often taken to hold at least some truth about a culture. No matter how radical some of the stories may be, people often take the urban legends to be true. People may take these stories to be true simply for entertainment purposes, but mostly because the morals the stories teach are important. Urban legends can become a part of the place where they originate, and can help define a culture, and shape its history.
Its one thing to hear an urban legend but it’s another to actually put you in the place the legend happened. Realizing the truth for you is one of the biggest reasons behind the many different stories told of myths and legends. But one of the problems with these stories being passed down is the lack of historical evidence. Anyone can come up with their own personal experience of something that may or may not have actually happened, but the solid background information is key in making it actually believable. This is why I’m lead to believe that story of The Nunnery, based in Logan Canyon, has too many fictitious angles surrounding the legend.
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In order to gain some purpose while working in a group, I know it can be challenging task to do because every group member is required to agree and cooperate. I am privileged to become a part of a group and completed our task successfully. Our group consists of 5 members and we experienced the stages of group development along with which different roles being considered. Our group formed with the common interest of competing and representing ourselves as competent and knowledgeable. The storming phase involved a trial being held to determine the capabilities of each other and positions were found to be disputed due to which we voted on leader of team. In the norming stage, roles of every group member have been stated and identified with the
found. A rumour of a beast is heard, but is quickly discounted as a nightmare.
Chandler, Diana Lyn. “ Urban Myths Melted.” The Equinox. 25 September 2003. Keene State College. 4 April 2005 http://www.keeneequinox.com/news/2003/09/25/Features /Urban.Myths.Melted-474861.shtml