Writing Homework Help

An urban legend is a genre of folklore comprising stories circulated as true. Often, they’re about events that supposedly happened to a neighbor, a friend, or a family member, often with horrifying or humorous elements. Urban legends are most often circulated orally, but can be spread by any media, including newspapers, e-mail and social media. Some urban legends have passed through the years with only minor changes to suit regional variations. Recent legends tend to reflect modern circumstances: for instance, the common legend of a person being ambushed and anesthetized, only to wake up and realize that they are now missing a kidney that was supposedly surgically removed for transplantation. Some of my favorites growing up were about what happened to different people in town.

Now, urban legends might seem like glitch-in-the-matrix tales and it’s true that these forms of story overlap. But urban legends concern things that happened to other people and usually turn out to be impossible to verify as well. They seem like fictions. And like other forms of fiction, they often do different sorts of cultural work (i.e. have symbolic meanings). Specifically, they reflect prejudices and social anxieties or concerns. This discussion board post is about that.

Here are the directions:

1*Read the short urban legend “The Mexican Pet” uploaded under “Content” on D2L.

2*After you’re done, respond to the D2L post about it. Your post should have two parts. In the first part, state what you think the “Mexican Pet” symbolizes (what anxieties, fears, or prejudices does it reflect?). In the second part of your post, share an urban legend you know. Remember, urban legends can be about what such a neighbor did way back when, about spooky parts of town, or about more classical scary subjects. Note that urban legends about COVID-19 are already floating around. After you share your urban legend, state what anxieties or fears you think it represents or what other kind of symbolic work its doing.