Category Archives: Narrative

Underground Dinosaur Legend

Text: So it’s actually from elementary school, but we had this like Legendish thing where there was supposedly a basement in my elementary school. And like, you could tell because if you like, knocked on the floor, whatever, it sounded hollow. And so there’s like a basement underneath. And like a long, long, long time ago. They trapped this dinosaur down there. And like with the leftover food from the cafeteria, they like fed it to make it happy and like. And then they would say like, oh, and if you dig up the sand like in the playground if you dig far enough, you’ll find like, fossils and other things. But that was like our lore.

Context:

Informant is a freshman at USC studying Aerospace Engineering, originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We are sitting in a USC dining hall as she shares between bites of her pancake. She is excited and enthusiastic as she remembers her stories, using frequent hand gestures to emphasize her points.

“I learned it from the other kids at summer school in Oklahoma. A lot of people knew about it. But, like, we really only talked about it in summer school. I don’t know, like outside of summer school, we didn’t really. And when I was like, fifth grade and stuff, we didn’t really talk about it anymore. But it’s still in the back of my mind. It made it feel kind of interesting because I was like, oh, what if it’s true? Like that would be so cool and interesting. Like, I don’t know, because I kind of like mysteries. And I like not knowing something, you know, like something’s possible. Even though that definitely was not. I was like still kind of hoping that there was something there. I think I believed it at first. At first I was like maybe not a dinosaur was down there, but like the fact that for some reason I thought it was proven that it was hollow underneath. So I was like, what is down there?”

Analysis: This legend is an example of socially negotiated belief. The purpose was to confront individuals with what they actually believe, and present evidence like the floor sounding hollow in order to make one question what they believe to be possible. And even if one It’s evident that beliefs are crafted as a social process, especially within this specific demographic of children who are high on the continuum context, meaning they are more likely to believe this legend. This type of legend might be more plausible in this society of elementary school children as this is the time they are new to learning about dinosaurs and fossils and such items.

USC Nazi Tree

Text: Okay, so I heard from other people that the tree in front of that restaurant on campus, they say was donated by a Nazi.

Context:

Informant is a freshman at USC studying Aerospace Engineering, originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We are sitting in a USC dining hall as she shares between bites of her pancake. She is excited and enthusiastic as she remembers her stories, using frequent hand gestures to emphasize her points.

“I heard about this from other students at USC, and I think I did kinda believe them, even though I never researched it myself. The tree they’re talking about is pretty big and noticeable. It kind of makes me feel skeptical, like I don’t really know if I belief this. It doesn’t really make sense though the more I think about it.”

Analysis: This folk narrative about there being a tree donated by a Nazi at USC is an example of a legend. This legend proves how beliefs are crafted as a social process, because of how this legend was spread through word-of-mouth, even if some like the informant are not convinced of its truth. There is definitely an aesthetic to this belief, especially since said tree is quite eye-catching and unique, so it is exciting to have this sort of legend about it. People might find this type of legend more enticing because it is more of a “friend-of-a-friend” legend as the source cited is just by fellow peers.

Nazi Origins of EVK Dining Hall at USC

Text: They say, like, EVK stands for, the name of this person who was a Nazi, but they like re-did the name to where it now says Everybody’s Kitchen.

Context:

Informant is a freshman at USC studying Aerospace Engineering, originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We are sitting in a USC dining hall as she shares between bites of her pancake. She is excited and enthusiastic as she remembers her stories, using frequent hand gestures to emphasize her points.

“But people are like, it doesn’t make sense because like everybody’s kitchen. Why is the V in there? You know, like EVK, I don’t know. So like, yeah. I heard this from other people at USC, I never actually looked it up myself. I did believe it. I don’t know because they gave me like an actual name for the supposed namesake of EVK. So I was like, oh, I don’t know. It made me feel kind of funny. I was kind of like, oh, that’s so interesting. But then again, I was like, why would they keep it there if it was actually donated by a Nazi? I feel like people would find out and it would be a whole scandal because they have like that whole Jewish section of USC, you know?”

Analysis: This folk narrative is an example of a legend. It is meant to socially negotiate your beliefs, especially since there is little evidence presented to promote the belief, but just enough to make one question if this is true. There is a sort of aesthetic to this belief because it makes the day-to-day life of these college students visiting EVK dining hall a bit more interesting if they believe in this scandalous legend. It meets the requirements of legends of being plausible within this society because most USC students are aware of factual scandals and questionable history of the institution and therefore a Nazi namesake fits into the belief of this society.

Ghost in Old House

Text: Basically I was falling asleep in my bed. And to get to my room you have to go through my brother’s room. Anyways I was trying to fall asleep, and I was facing the wall when I heard my door open. I assumed it was my mom, but I didn’t hear the door to my brother’s room open. Then I heard pacing back and forth and heard someone going through my things for so long. I was so scared. I forget how long it was until I worked up the courage to move and look to see what it was, but there was nothing there, and my door was closed.

Context:

Informant is a freshman at USC studying Journalism, originally from the Bay. We are waiting for class to start as she dramatically tells her experience. She is genuine and convincing in her manner of storytelling.

I live in a really old house (like 115 years old I think) in the Bay, and so I’ve always been aware of superstitious stuff there. This was one instance that freaked me out probably 4 or 5 years ago. I would define this experience as supernatural or a ghost story because I feel like there was no other way to explain it. It couldn’t have been sleep paralysis or anything because I could move.

Analysis: This ghost story folk narrative is an example of a legend. Ghosts are a type of legendary creature, and therefore, this story is an example of a memorate, or a personal experience that has been translated into a traditional legend. The informant’s experience has been translated into a ghost story because of the prevalence of ghost stories in this particular context, making it plausible within this society. Furthermore, the idea that ghosts are more common in “old” houses goes back to an idea highly promoted by Ulo Valk in “Ghostly Possession and Real Estate: The Dead in Contemporary Estonian Folklore,” where he proposed that spirits maintain the value placed on ownership, a “powerful relationship between the self and material objects that is often projected beyond the grave” (Valk 49).

Easy A

Context: LJ, a former student of a private all-girls school in London revealed to me a unique legend that circulated during her time there. With biennial exams being the center of their curriculum, LJ explained how a legend came about amongst the students to unify themselves during the stress of exams and to make humor out of the extreme pressures that were being put on them as these 2 sets of exams were the sole indicators of their academic achievements within school to show off to higher level learning institutions.

Text: “I went to a private all girls school in London where we would have to take national standardized tests at the end of every 2 years for different classes. At the end of year 11 we would take our GCSE’s which were a bunch of exams on the classes we had been taking for the past 2 years and at the end of year 13 we would take our A levels, which were exams based on the 3 subjects we had been exclusively studying for those past two years.Throughout those 4 years from year 10-13 there was this legend that if someone died in the exam room whilst a GCSE or A-Level took place then everyone in the room would get an A* or a 9(the highest grade depending on if A-Level or GCSE). There was also a similar concept of if someone went into labor during the exam then that person would receive an A* or 9 as well. During exam/ study times there would be lots of jokes made surrounding someone “taking one for the team” implying a student taking the exam should literally sacrifice themselves in the room so that the entire class can get a perfect grade. Similarly, 9 months before those exams girls would make jokes about needing to get pregnant so they could time their birthing to be during an exam. All this being said, this ideology was never confirmed by any teacher or exam board but was commonly known across the London private school kids as the loophole to getting a perfect grade on an exam.”

Analysis: I believe that this legend works as a testimony to the British educational system’s impact on student well-being. It shows how the pursuit of academic excellence can lead to unhealthy levels of competition and that the humor in this legend serves as a rebellion against the system, poking fun at sacrificing the life of a classmate to attain a good grade. This underscores both the rigorous level of academia that students in this system seemed to be struggling with, but also the collective wish for a miraculous escape from the pressures of exam taking. Ultimately I think this legend is a reminder of the need for balance in educational pursuit and the importance of addressing issues involving mental health and general wellbeing of students.