“So at a pet store in New York, they sell baby alligators and then people buy them because they’re cute when they’re little. Then they start growing and people don’t know what to do with them, so some flush them down the toilets and others leave it outside near the drain things. Now people say that there are alligators in the sewers in New York and that they’re albino because there’s no light down there. They’re like white alligators because they don’t get any sun.”

Claudia heard this a few years ago from one of her friends when they were at dinner one day. She says that they just went on a tangent and started talking about strange things and her friend knew about the alligator story. According to Claudia, this story is very popular and a lot of people know it. She thinks that this story is usually told to amongst adults when they just find out and want to share an interesting, not mundane story. They know that it is not true, but they still tell it for entertainment reasons. It probably dates back to the early 1900s when sewers were being developed and improved in New York City.

She also thinks that people tell it to children when they are little because they would believe this more than adults. This urban legend could be used to scare kids to keep them away from the sewers. I believe that this could be partially true because some children like to play around the sewer drains along sidewalks. In order to keep kids away from it because it is unsanitary and could be dangerous if someone slips, parents may tell this to their kids as a preventative measure.

This urban legend also comes up in the movie, Alligator, which was released in 1980. It was directed by Lewis Teague and written by John Sayles and is based off of the legend of alligators being flushed down toilets into city sewers. The movie adds its own flare to the story by having the alligator become a giant, man eating reptile as it drinks in an experimental growth chemical that is dumped into the sewers. This is only part of the nature of folklore for people to add their own bits to it.

I also believe that this legend came from sewer workers who might have seen something while working down there in the dark. There is always the possibility for an alligator to end up in the sewers. This legend also exists in Europe where they have intricate underground sewer systems. Since sewers are an unknown place to the majority of the population because most people have not been in the sewers, it is only natural to come up with stories about the unknown. It adds excitement to everyday life and there is nothing that people can do to prove each other wrong unless they really want to climb into sewers.

Annotation: Sayles, John. Alligator. Alligator Associates. 1980.

“You know there’s this haunted house by my home. Some woman went crazy and killed her husband and two sons and umm they never found her and she went missing and some say she still lives in the house. But the house is definitely deserted. It’s a big white Victorian, broken window on a hill in a huge dirt lot. You hear noises when you go near the house. It’s all in your mind.”

Samantha heard this story from her friends in Santa Cruz when she was in the eighth grade, so she was about thirteen years old. She says that the story is at least twenty years old because she knows thirty-eight year old people who knew about it when they were in high school. This story is usually told at night when teenagers want to scare their friends, especially after a scary movie. This legend would be very frightening to hear after watching a horror film because it is closer to home. If they have nothing else better to do and are not too scared, then they will go visit the house because it is in the neighborhood. Samantha thinks that all the sounds that people hear are in their minds. She says that bored teenagers probably came up with this legend in order to scare their friends one day.

I believe that what Samantha says has some truth to it. Since the house is a beaten down, Victorian styled home, it has that eerie feeling to it that makes the story more plausible. Being deserted, no one is quite sure of the house’s origins, so teenagers most likely just made up something to compensate for the lack of a real story. Only teenagers from Santa Cruz would know about this story unless they told it to visiting friends and relatives because it is mostly confined to the area where the house is located.

“So there’s this animal that sucks blood if you go too far into the jungle. The chupacabra. It’s a big deal in South America. My friend Mallory, was working in the Peruvian jungle when she worked there for a semester and they always warned her about it when she went out at night. I heard it was like a goat and a head of some sort of lizard or something.”

Samantha heard about this creature from her friend, Mallory, over Thanksgiving Break 2007 because her friend was just there. Mallory told Samantha about it because it was out of the ordinary and something that she only heard of when she was in South America. People in Peru are warned about the chupacabra and are told about its blood sucking ways. They tell it to everyone there because they want to prevent anything bad from happening in the jungles. Samantha thinks that the chupacabra is a very strange and interesting creature, but she does not think that it really exists.

In South America, there have been findings of dead farm animals that had the blood sucked out of them. I think that the natives who have caught a glimpse of the animal might have created an obscure description of the creature and shared it with their neighbors who then in turn, shared it with others. The natives made this animal up to explain the unexplainable. Legends are sometimes created as a result of uneasiness and anxiety. They have no idea what kind of natural animal could do this to their livestock, so they made up a new creature. I believe that it is most likely a deformed animal that resembles a reptile at night.

“In 1920, one of the personal habits and customs of most Americans suddenly came to a halt. The Eighteenth Amendment was put into effect, which effectively put the end to the importing, exporting, transporting, selling, and manufacturing of liquor and alcohol. This was the dawning of bootlegging, which rapidly swept across America in the early 20th century.

Paddy Murphy, according to SAE legend, was a bootlegger who was doing deals with Al Capone. During one of the arrangements, Elliot Ness and his company of crime fighters stormed in on the affair to apprehend Murphy. However, when Ness signaled for Murphy to surrender, he instead reached for a gun, and Ness shot him down.
As Murphy fell to the ground, dying of a wound inflicted by Ness, he gave Ness the secret handshake that only the brothers of SAE know. Ness, an SAE himself, realized that he had killed a brother of his fraternity. Ness ordered that Paddy Murphy have an honorary burial, in recognition of his fallen brother.” (Adam Block).
I was told this story on two different occasions from two Sigma Alpha Epsilon members. However they are from different universities and as a result there was discrepancies in there versions. Both informants were uncertain of the exact details of their stories, but there were still distinct differences in their versions. Although the story began about one man, over time as the story has been retold it has been slightly altered and a result the same story takes on many varying versions.

They both believed to some extent that they story had a basis of validity but had been exaggerated over time.

The story sounds logical in some regards to me as historical facts are incorporated in the story. The beginning of the story sounds reasonable yet the ending where the man does the Sigma Alpha Epsilon secret handshake sounds a little but suspicious. It did not seem clear how Paddy Murphy knew that Ness was a member of his fraternity in order to give the secret handshake.

The story does show the ideals that a fraternity tries to represent. Although

Paddy Murphy did commit an illegal act because he was a “brother” to Ness he was given a proper burial and was treated with respect after his death. The idea of a fraternity stipulates that each brother needs to support one another. Ness would not have provided a proper burial for the fallen Paddy Murphy had it been a person with whom he had no relation with. Yet as soon as he realized it was one of his brothers the situation changed.

The Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house most likely uses this story to illustrate to its members the strengths of the bonds that exist between fraternity members. It emphasizes the ideas of understanding and respect when it comes to situations involving fraternity brothers.

This story has been adapted over time and most likely if members of this fraternity house from other schools would recite this story there would be minor modifications to it as well. The story is used not for its plot and exact details but more for the ideals that the story represents.

“In 1920, one of the personal habits and customs of most Americans suddenly came to a halt. The Eighteenth Amendment was put into effect, which effectively put the end to the importing, exporting, transporting, selling, and manufacturing of liquor and alcohol. This was the dawning of bootlegging, which rapidly swept across America in the early 20th century.

Paddy Murphy, according to SAE legend, was a bootlegger who was doing deals with Al Capone. During one of the arrangements, Elliot Ness and his company of crime fighters stormed in on the affair to apprehend Murphy. However, when Ness signaled for Murphy to surrender, he instead reached for a gun, and Ness shot him down.
As Murphy fell to the ground, dying of a wound inflicted by Ness, he gave Ness the secret handshake that only the brothers of SAE know. Ness, an SAE himself, realized that he had killed a brother of his fraternity. Ness ordered that Paddy Murphy have an honorary burial, in recognition of his fallen brother.” (Adam Block).
I was told this story on two different occasions from two Sigma Alpha Epsilon members. However they are from different universities and as a result there was discrepancies in there versions. Both informants were uncertain of the exact details of their stories, but there were still distinct differences in their versions. Although the story began about one man, over time as the story has been retold it has been slightly altered and a result the same story takes on many varying versions.

They both believed to some extent that they story had a basis of validity but had been exaggerated over time.

The story sounds logical in some regards to me as historical facts are incorporated in the story. The beginning of the story sounds reasonable yet the ending where the man does the Sigma Alpha Epsilon secret handshake sounds a little but suspicious. It did not seem clear how Paddy Murphy knew that Ness was a member of his fraternity in order to give the secret handshake.

The story does show the ideals that a fraternity tries to represent. Although

Paddy Murphy did commit an illegal act because he was a “brother” to Ness he was given a proper burial and was treated with respect after his death. The idea of a fraternity stipulates that each brother needs to support one another. Ness would not have provided a proper burial for the fallen Paddy Murphy had it been a person with whom he had no relation with. Yet as soon as he realized it was one of his brothers the situation changed.

The Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house most likely uses this story to illustrate to its members the strengths of the bonds that exist between fraternity members. It emphasizes the ideas of understanding and respect when it comes to situations involving fraternity brothers.

This story has been adapted over time and most likely if members of this fraternity house from other schools would recite this story there would be minor modifications to it as well. The story is used not for its plot and exact details but more for the ideals that the story represents.

“There’s this really popular story in Korea and they even made it into a lot of dramas. Uhh… it’s about this girl named Chunhyang and her dad died and her mom teaches her how to be a really proper lady. But they are like the Korean version of geishas. So she’s thought of as really low in society. Umm. So one day, Chunhyang is out swinging on the swings and this random guy sees her. His name is Mongyong, and he falls in love with her. Ummm.. Mongyong is the son of a major and he tries to get with her, but she rejects him. Later, she falls in love with him anyways and they get married in secret. Mmm… then the guy’s dad gets a promotion and they move so they separate for a while. He finishes school and he gets a job as one of those internal affairs type of guys that arrest corrupt officials. He goes back to his hometown where Chunhyang is and finds out that she’s been arrested by the new mayor there. Uhh… The mayor is this really bad guy and he tries to seduce Chunhyang, but she rejects him, so he arrests her and sentences her to death. When she is about to be killed, Mongyong reveals himself and arrests the mayor. Mmmm… Then the two live happily ever after.”

Alicia learned this story from her mother when she was a young girl, probably still attending elementary school in Los Angeles. It was one of those stories that her mom told her to amuse her and pass the time. She said that her mother learned it from her mother, but that the story is actually very common knowledge in Korea. In fact, it is often written in textbooks about Korea. Alicia, herself, has learned this story from multiple sources, including in one of her classes at the University of Southern California.

This story is told usually to young children who have yet to learn much about Korean culture and its past, usually around the elementary ages. It can be performed at any time, but usually comes up when talking about Korean folklore or culture. Although many Korean-Americans know of this story, Alicia said that most details are lost in the American versions. She said that the full version is most often heard in Korea. She also said that some people in America confuse dramatized versions of the story with the original.

Alicia regards this story as very typical and a mixture between Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet. She does not think much of the story and its cultural importance and explained by saying that it acts like a child’s favorite bedtime story. However, she did say that it is one of the few stories still being passed down and the various versions continue to be a part of Korea’s culture.

I think that the story of Chunhyang and Mongyong is very similar to many maarchen and legend stories. The good and evil characters are typified and are not necessarily very developed. The story basically tells the audience that love conquers all, no matter what gets in the way. The story also reveals that a long time ago there was a caste system in Korea. Rank and status was very important in arranging marriages. People in government are considered of higher power and therefore better status, while working families are just commoners. There is a fine line of separation between the two groups, which explains why Chunhyang and Mongyong had to get married secretly.