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Urban Legends

Aim
Learning what the unit Urban Legends
is all about
Practice listening

Next lesson:
Why does Urban Legends exist?

What is an Urban
Legend?

Warm-up
Retell the sentence to a friend by
whispering

Definition
A story about an unusual event or
occurrence that many people believe is
true but that is not true http://
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/
urban%20legend

Also known as an Urban Myth

How can you know that it


hasnt happened?
You cant know for sure
But the teller has no direct knowledge
or evidence to back it up
Assumes that it is true but you cant
know for sure
Often changes as it passes through
people

The Vanishing Hitchhiker

The Vanishing Hitchhiker


Two friends going to a party, sees a girl on the side of the road and invites

her to the party


She borrows one of the boys overcoat
Drops the girl off at her place
The next morning they go back to get the forgotten overcoat
Meets her mother who tells them shes been dead for 12 years, on this
day
Killed at the same corner where they picked her up last night
Mother points to the cemetery where they find a tombstone with the
overcoat on top of it

http://www.scaryforkids.com/vanishing-hitchhiker/

The poodle in the


microwave
A friend of a friend had a grandmother who was a little bit "dotty."
One day, Grandma had just bathed her miniature poodle, Pierre, and
was about to towel-dry him when the phone rang. It was her
daughter, reminding her that they had arranged to meet for lunch a
half hour earlier. Grandma apologized for being late and said she'd be
there as quickly as she could.
As she began towel-drying Pierre, it dawned on her that there was a
quicker way to do it: the microwave. So she put her beloved pet inside
the oven, set the dial to "defrost" and switched it on.
A half a minute later, as Grandma was donning her coat to leave, she
heard a muffled explosion in the kitchen. Pierre the poodle was no
more.

Background to The
Poodle
"The Poodle in the Microwave" (a.k.a. "The Microwaved Pet") enjoyed
its first wave of popularity in the mid-1970s. In part, it's a
cautionary tale reflecting societal ambivalence toward technological
change (a recurrent theme in contemporary folklore). Greater
convenience entails greater risks, such stories seem to say, so we
should approach new technologies with caution. Yet "The Microwaved
Pet" also hearkens back to warnings dating back to the 1940s, if not
earlier, about dogs and cats suffering injury or death after crawling
unnoticed into old-fashioned gas ovens. While one can always quibble
over the "function" or deeper meanings of urban legends, it's safe to
say that they almost always serve as a barometer of our everyday
fears.

Quote from http://


urbanlegends.about.com/od/dogs/a/microwaved_pet.htm

Real or Fake?
http://
urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_imag
e_quiz.htm

More Urban Legends


http://urbanlegends.about.com/
Quiz:
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_quiz1.htm

Assignment 1: Tell an urban legend


Instructions:
1. Find an urban legend (online, youtube, rws.net,)
2. Be prepared to tell your urban legend to the class
by
the end of next Fridays lesson.

Why Urban Legends?


Our wishes, foibles, and fears.
To understand the origins and meaning of living folklore is
to better understand ourselves and the cultures in which we
live.
To talk about reliable sources and how easy it is to write
believable even if its not true

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aafpr-vh.htm

How to remember
http://
www.ted.com/talks/joshua_foer_feats_o
f_memory_anyone_can_do

Practice your urban


legends
1. Practice
2. Is it anyone who dares to tell us
his/her story?

How do I know?
Too Perfect to be True
Heard It Before
Do Some Online Research

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