Connie Lippenholz
LS521, Su02
6/12/02
Web Dropin #1
Urban Legends ~ the events of September 11th
Introduction:
What is an Urban Legend? Urban legends are popular stories alleged to be true and transmitted from person to person by oral or written communication (e.g., fax or e-mail). Said stories typically comprise outlandish, humiliating, humorous, terrifying, or supernatural events — events which, in the telling, always happened to someone else.
In lieu of proof, the teller of an urban legend relies on good storytelling and the citing of supposedly trustworthy sources (e.g., "I heard this from a friend of a friend") to boost its credibility. Sometimes, but not always, there's an implied moral message in the story (e.g., "Be careful, or the same thing could happen to you!").
Urban legends are a type of folklore — defined as the beliefs, stories and traditions of ordinary people ("the folk") — thus, one way of differentiating between urban legends and other kinds of narratives (popular fiction, for example) is by examining where they come from and how they are disseminated. Legends tend to arise spontaneously and are rarely traceable to a single point of origin. And again, they spread primarily from individual to individual through interpersonal communication, and only in atypical cases through mass media or other institutional means.
Because they end up being repeated by many different people in many different places, the stories tend to change over time. Hence, no two versions of an urban legend are ever exactly alike; there can be as many variants as there are tellers of the tale.
Also Known As: UL, urban myth, urban belief tale, contemporary legend, migratory legend (excerpted from about.com)
Activity: Go to the "11 Times the Terror" page of the Urban Legends Research Centre site <http://www.ulrc.com.au/html/report.asp?CaseFile=ULRR0089&Page=1&View=Request>
Review the coincidental occurrences of the number 11 in relation to the "Attack on America" that occurred on September 11, 2001. Answer the following questions:
1. Think of at least one other coincidence of the number 11 related to the events of September 11, 2001.
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2. Think of 2 other items related to 9/11 that do not relate to the number 11, to help dispel this legend.
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3. Look at the other September 11th urban legends linked at the bottom of the "11 Times the Terror" page. Describe three reasons why you think people may spend their time creating these stories.
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4. If you received the "11 Times the Terror" e-mail, after seeing why it is an urban legend, would you respond any differently to the sender? Would you forward it to others?
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If you finish the assignment early, explore other urban legends on this site.