Myths, Legends, and Folktales--Past, Present, and Future |  |
Internet Exercises
| The Urban Legends Archive | | Browse through the site and see if they have heard of these urban legends, such as "Alligators in the Sewer" and "Toothbrushes on Vacation" (found under the "Classic" section), or the "Mrs. Fields Cookie Recipe" (found in the "Food" section). Find out how many of these stories they've heard of and consider who they heard it from, how, when, etc. Then have them go out and collect urban legends and talk about the different ways that these legends spread in contemporary society. Test out some of these legends on your classmates. Have they heard of them? Do they believe they actually happened? Do they know anyone who has actually experienced any of these events?
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http://www.urbanlegends.com/
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| Santa Claus | | The history of the evolution of the images of Santa Claus is documented here. Additional documentation is available at:
http://costumes.costumes-costumes.com/santa-costumes.html.
Consider modern American representations of Santa Claus. Are they myth, legend? folklore or literature? What kinds of institutions, values, and relationships do they support? What behavioral lessons do they try to impart? What rituals are they related to? What kinds of opposed relationships do they employ? Answer these questions by exploring web sites that document the history of the images of Santa Claus.
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http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/holidays/christmas/santa.html
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| Cinderella Main Page | | Read the annotations and notes for a more in-depth analysis of the story. Compare and contrast the various versions of the Cinderella story from all over the world (see the link to "Tales Similar to Cinderella"). Aspects of the stories to compare cross-culturally include Cinderella's name, gender, cultural details (such as food, dress, terms, local landscape, etc.), time the story was told, etc. Discuss how different historical and cultural contexts can lead to these different versions. Try to determine what interests, if any, the organizer of this web site has in presenting this information. How does this underlying interest influence the presentation of the material?
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http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education