Category Archives: Life cycle

The Hermit – Camp Story

Nationality: United States
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: 4/4/23
Primary Language: English

Context: BM is my friend at school and he let me know that he had a good story from his summer camp to tell me. BM is from New York originally, but he has lived in Philadelphia for longer. The camp where he heard this story is located in Maine and it is an all boys camp. A common practice at this camp was for counselors to tell scary stories to the campers. This story is located at the camp’s central lake, in which there is an island where campers would take overnight trips.

Performance:

BM: So at my camp the campers would do an overnight at the island in the middle of the lake nearby. So when we went our counselors decided to tell us the story of the hermit on the island, and we were not prepared to say the least.

Basically I don’t know the word for word story but it goes a little like this: The Hermit (which is based off of a real hermit in Maine) was an old counselor at camp and he was a very disgruntled guy, he was a maintenance guy. Maintenance guys lived on the outskirts of camp and they were always grumpy kinda guys. This guy had some grudges against the kids, against the counselors, for whatever reason. One night decides to light some fireworks under one of the bunks, Bunk 13 (which no longer exists). It was a horrible move obviously, but thankfully only one kid was in there and he turned out to be OK, but [the Hermit] lit the fireworks and he lost his whole right hand cause he didn’t pull it away fast enough and he was in agony and everyone was running and the cops were coming, so he swims in the lake with one arm, and a half, and he makes it to the island. He chops some wood down, because he found an axe, and he built a house, and he made a life there. Sometimes there would be kids that would go on the island while water skiing, and he would go and he would take the kids. He lives on the island, Its his island, he doesn’t live on the house anymore but he’s got places to hide.

And then one of the counselors came from the darkness around the fire, pretended to be the Hermit, and gave us all a scare, nobody slept that night.

Analysis:

This narrative indicates the presence of nature and wilderness in the context of a rural Maine summer camp. Hermits and woodland peoples are common themes of stories, but are most scary when told in a scenario when the audience is also isolated. At the end of the story, it was a tradition for camp counselors to scare the campers by pretending to be the Hermit and running around the campfire. This story also is telling about American cultures idea of societal outsiders. Those who live outside the confines of what would be considered normal society are often demonized and made out to be evil.

The Puppy in the Basement

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: University of Michigan
Performance Date: 4/4/23
Primary Language: English

Context: KC is a friend of a friend who volunteered to share her story with me when she found out I was interested in hearing people’s stories. She heard this story at her summer camp, although she failed to tell me where it is located.

Performance:

KC: This story is called the puppy and the basement, I heard it from summer camp.

Mommy told me never to go in the basement, but I wanted to see what was making that noise. It sounded like a puppy, and I wanted to see the puppy, so I opened the basement door and tip toed down a bit. I didn’t see a puppy, and Mommy yanked me out of the basement and yelled at me. Mommy had never yelled at me before, and that made me sad and I cried. Then Mommy told me never to go in the basement again, and gave me a cookie. That made me feel better, so I didn’t ask why the boy in the basement was making noises like a puppy, or why he had no hands or feet.

Analysis:

This is a short story but it still reveals much about cultural ideas of the sick and twisted. The story plays upon the childhood innocence of the narrator and the presence of a puppy to subvert the listeners expectations of what would be normal to have in ones basement. Upon the reveal that the thing in the basement is actually a mutilated boy it becomes clear that the horror aspect of the story comes from the fact that a seemingly normal suburban home, common in American culture, could house something so deranged and sick.

Saying: We’re All Girls Here

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Santa Barbara ,California, United states
Performance Date: 2-16-2023
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Text:

“We’re all girls here”

Context:

The informant recounts that her old synchronized swim teacher would say this saying in response to young girls being afraid to change or be naked in the locker room. The intention as the informant remembers was to create a sense of solidarity and safety among the girls and to tell them that it was safe and not taboo to be naked in this space.

The informant also notes that she has brought this saying up with her boyfriend who has played football (and therefore, presumably been in many a men’s locker room). He was unfamiliar with the saying and did not recount a male equivalent to the phrase.

Analysis:

To me, this saying is an example of teaching or imposing gender on children. This phrase indicates a need to remind children of the gender systems around them. When children are young they are generally unaware of gender. when they go to school and exit their homes later in life they are introduced to gender and what that means for their lives. This saying informs young girls that around other girls and women it is safe and acceptable to be naked and show taboo body parts like genitals and secondary sexual characteristics. It also subtly indicates that it is unsafe or unacceptable to be naked around boys and men.

The fact that there was not a clear or memorable male equivalent saying indicates to me that boys and men are not held to the same standard of concealing their bodies. Nor are they taught of exposure being something dangerous.

Little Sally Walker

Nationality: American
Age: 21
  1. Text
    Little Sally Walker is an interactive song/game that involves a group of people.  Everyone arranges into a circle with at least one person in the center.  The person (or people, depending how large your group is) in the center starts walking/skipping around the circle while everyone sings: “Little Sally Walker, walking down the street.  She didn’t know what to do so she stopped in front of me, she said, hey girl, do your thing, do your thing, do your thing.  Hey girl, do your thing, do your thing, do your thing, now switch!”  When the song reaches “stopped in front of me,” the person in the middle will stop in front of any member of the circle and face them.  This center person will then do a dance move, and the person on the edge will mirror this move, all while the group continues to sing, “hey girl, do your thing, do your thing, do your thing.  Hey girl, do your thing, do your thing, do your thing, now switch!”  The person from the circle now switches positions with the person in the middle, and becomes the new “Little Sally Walker” and the cycle continues.
  2. Context
    This song/activity was a tradition at my childhood summer camp that I encountered in my first summer there in 2008, and repeated every year until my most recent summer (now working as a counselor) in 2022.  Little Sally Walker always occurred on the first day of camp, once all the campers had arrived and it was the first official “icebreaker” of the 2-week overnight session.  
  3. Interpretation
    While I’m sure this jingle has deeper historical origins than I’m aware of, it seems to express values around interaction and engagement with others.  As it requires nothing more than a group of people, it is able to be done anywhere.  In the context of my camp, it was also a successful way of passing time or distracting campers until an event or activity starts.  

Slogan: “Two lines, one stripe, 干!”

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Near USC Campus
Performance Date: 2/21/2023
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

Text: “两横，一竖，干！”
Pinyin (Simplified): liang heng, yi shu, gan
Translation: Two horizontal, one vertical, fight!

Context:
G is a Chinese international student from Anhui Province, Hefei City in China. During high school, he played in a soccer team.
G: “It’s about my soccer team in high school. It’s what we do before game. It’s a like slogan that we do before a game. Every player comes and together to form a circle and we put our hands together and we yell it. And the slogan goes “两横，一竖，干！” It’s not really a good translation, it’s like fighting but not in a good way. We’re using it positively but not in a good way. It’s almost near “f**k” but it’s a positive way we’re using it.”

Interpretation:
There is an interesting juxtaposition to be mentioned with the positive denotation of such a negatively connoted word in this chant. This folk phrase, or folk chant is said for good luck and to release tension. It invokes a feeling of unity and comradery between players, which completely changes the meaning of the word in this specific context and therefore, changes the tone of the chant. On the surface level, it is merely a saying that describes how to write the word “干“ in Mandarin. The word itself, as G describes, means something negative and almost taboo whenever spoken aloud in a social setting different from this one. Perhaps because of the presence of the specific competitive sport team-player like atmosphere and tension about competing at all, this phrase seems to take the aggression of the phrase and repurpose into a chant of good luck and release of nerves. The act of doing it with fellow team members joins this community together and that they have something to share strengthens their bond. The meaning changes once it is uttered aloud in this context, making this folklore exclusive to this group of people and therefore only understandable to those who can understand the context that it is said in. This phrase has the exclusive purpose of bringing good luck and releasing tension similar to that of a charm.