Text: Pictured below is the fully-folded fast paper airplane.

Context:

The image above shows the paper airplane that was made. This airplane is specialized to be faster and go farther than other paper airplanes. The creator of the airplane knew how to make many different planes, and assured me this one was the fastest. It landed in second place in a paper plane throwing contest. The creator of the airplane used to fold these planes while playing in elementary school.

Analysis:

The multiplicity and variance in paper airplane designs illustrates the folk dispersal from children in action. Different kids compete against each other to showcase their better, faster, more advanced folk items. This specific element of competition leads to more folk items being created, and those items, the paper airplanes, to be constantly optimized, until a fastest airplane is made and disseminated. Other factors also affect a plane’s popularity, like its ease to build, and its durability. Ultimately, paper planes are a great example of folk item culture amongst children, and showcase children refining and expanding their folk knowledge, as they compete amongst each other while playing.