Urban Legends In American Culture

I agree that The Beverly Hillbillies in episode two exploits hillbilly, redneck and white trash stereotypes. In the beginning of the scene, the Clampett family arrived to their new home stunned that they have a driveway leading to their residence. This proves that hillbillies are. stereotype to be in a low class Caucasian. In addition, as the attendant showed the family around their new home, the grandma told jethro to "fetch my stove so I can get some vittles to cook". This image demonstrate that rednecks and hillbillies have to go hunting for their food. Unlike the richer folks they have servants to cook for them. The grandma was surprised that everything was installed in the house for them showing that hillbillies are in a culture lag.

What would it be like to be a vampire? What would it be like to have a vampire in one’s life? What were the vampires of folklore like? These topics will be reviewed throughout this essay by comparing four of the vampire books and movies. All the vampire movies have some similarities and differences but four literature pieces in particular will be gone through in this comparison. The four pieces of literature to be compared in this comparison are Dracula by Bram Stoker, Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) by Francis Ford Coppola, Nosferatu (1922) by F.W. Murnau, and Dracula (1931) by Tod Browning. In these works of fiction, there are answers to what it would have felt like to be a vampire, what it would have felt like to have a vampire in one’s life,

he Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver focuses on both real life and fictional events and tells the story of the Price family’s experience in the Congo. Kingsolver makes good use of foreshadowing to dramatize the tragic incidents that occur in Africa. Orleanna Price is the most reliable narrator in the novel and is used to foreshadow future events and to explain various aspects of the past.

Urban legends are a horrific story that is passed down through generations to persuade someone into believing that specific event has happened. But if they are just urban legends that are false then why are they continually circulating and being passed down through generations and generations. The best way to sum it up would be with Jan Brunvand’s essay The Hook in the first sentence she states, “People of all ages love a good scare.” And this quote in fact holds a lot of truth because we as humans love fear and love to scare others and ourselves. People enjoy feeling scared and seek the feeling out because, deep down, they know they are in no real danger. They dismiss those stories as urban legends deep down but they are fearful at the beginning.

When we think of the American West, we always envision a land of rugged mountains and vast prairie, on which cowboys ride on horseback and chase after the Indians. This is the definition of the American West as presented on big screens in cinema, where most Americans’ perception of the myth of the American West comes from.

1. How is the purpose of urban legends of today the same as that of folktales that have been passed down for generations?the way that these urban legends can in some ways serve a similar purpose is that it has always keeped people aware of what's around them. The fact that people have scene or even talked about things that may seem unreal, well that idea even to the non believers, would still be aware.

“Anatomy of a Rumor” by psychologist Daniel Goleman, introduces the reader to how rumors work. Typically, rumors dealing with death or disease are the most commonly shared. Goleman successfully uses results from various research projects to explain to the audience that fear and anxiety play a role in why these rumors are spread.

L. Andrew Cooper and Brandy Ball Blake are analytical when explaining the origins of monsters and how every monster ever told in a tall tale or written in a novel, represents good or bad omens. All of the monsters described were analyzed in depth but left the door open to questions about how monsters have changed over the past hundred years. For example, monsters told in stories by the elderly hundreds of years ago were warnings about the dangers that could occur when tampering with nature or with gods. In Greek mythology, almost all stories that talked about mortals, demigods, and monsters, sent a message to the empire of Greece to respect and obey the gods in order for the god to have mercy on them. For example, the story of Arachne the weaver and Athena explained how challenging a god could end in a fatal decision.

Many of the allusions used by Annie Dillard in An American Childhood are put into the story to provide a clear cultural picture of Pittsburgh in the 1950’s. By using made of the references that she does, Dillard is able to “paint a picture” of society in the 1950’s, because she is referencing objects, places, or people that are familiar to some today, but mostly those who were alive around the 50’s or later. As well as 50’s culture references, Dillard also uses some classic American references. The first major allusions seen in the book are examples of the latter. Dillard brings up Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson in the prologue of the book while writing of pre-settled Pennsylvania, about its wildness and vast expanse

Overall we will never know who’s the mighty superior of them all but what we

Bloodletting, which is the withdrawal of blood from a patient to cure or prevent illness and disease, dates all the way back to circa 2500 BCE. It was used for centuries but not until the late 1800s was it questioned for its beneficiality, and it was still used in some forms during the 1900s.

The definition as well as the specific parts of accurate American history is a highly debated topic- especially in regards to educating children on American history. In “Let’s tell the Story of All America’s Cultures” by Yuh Ji-Yeon gives her point of view on the controversial topic of the success of American history education. As the author is a Korean immigrant she has a special connection to this topic, and is writing this article to giver her opinion in the debate of reforming education in America. Ji-Yeon successfully persuades the audience that American history education in the United States is discriminatory by using her personal experiences and emotions as she informs the audience of a possible solution

Twilight novel shows more differences than similarities from the old vampire literature. In Twilight, the main characters are good vampires. They have several human qualities and a conscience that sets them apart from the traditional vampires than were more supernatural beings than humans and with no conscience. Meyer has created vampire characters that make the main vampires more like humans by passing on human characteristics into their life of vampires. Consequently, there is a thin line between the world of the vampires and the real world. Vampires can thus for improbable relations with human beings even though they are their natural enemies because of their desire for human blood.

Authors Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen quote psychologist Nicholas DiFonzo, in “Have You Heard This? The Latest on Rumor,” as asking, “What is it about being human that sets the stage for rumor activity?” (478). Rumors and gossip are usually designed to hurt others. Since rumors hurt or destroy other people’s lives and take away their happiness, then why do people like to spread them? Some of the people who spread rumors often feel better about themselves, and they enjoy seeing others suffer. Most rumors start with some truth, then, as they are passed from one person to another, people change some of the information or the whole story. Many people, today, are manipulated by others into spreading information about individuals

The Shroud of Turin, currently located in in Turin, Italy, is considered one of the most important and valuable relics, by Christians all over the world. It is said to be the shroud that Jesus Christ was wrapped, and buried in after being crucified. This makes it one of very few items that proves that Jesus Christ, did live, and was crucified on the cross. Not only is the shroud a renowned artifact, but it is also one of the most scientifically studied objects ever. After meticulous testing, scientists still aren’t confident in either the origins of the shroud, or how it was created. Regardless of whether Jesus is divine and part of the holy trinity, the Shroud of Turin is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ.