Dispelling Urban Legends

Dispelling Urban Legends

Maya Conde-Kalmijn, Utep Librarian

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Urban Legends

​Definition

Stories that we tell that are often shocking, but believable tall tales that are often cautionary. There are several genres of Urban Legends including crime, medicine, internet, and paranormal.

​Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

​Information Literacy

​According to ALA.

Open Ended

What is an urban legend that you have heard?

You don't have to know for sure if it is true or false.

Open Ended

Have you ever caught someone telling an urban legend and the person

believed they were telling a true story? If so, how did they react when you told them that you know the story?

What makes a news source reliable?

• Publication Reputation and/or Bias

• Relies on Facts

• Cites Sources

• Not Unique

What makes a news source unreliable?

• It can't be verified.

• Appeals to emotion.

• No expert opinions or cited sources.

• It can't be found anywhere else.

• Fake news often comes from fake sites.

Multiple Choice

Is it true that daddy longlegs are the most poisonous spider? If so why?

• Yes

• No

• Not sure, I have never heard of this.

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​DIY Urban Legends

Today you will take a randomly generated urban legend, and retell the story as if it happened here. If you know of a recent urban legend that is alleged to have taken place in your community, you may use that to complete this assignment. Do not be afraid to embellish. All good storytellers take stories, transform them, and make them their own

Urban Legend Generator ― Perchance

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Make your own Urban Legend

• Make the source of the story someone you know.

• Make the story have an air of plausibility to it.

• Invent a lesson and be sure that it features people being punished for violating societal taboos.

• The story has a dramatic ending that is just a little too perfect.

​Take what the generator made, or your own original legend and add to it

It is important to think about how an urban legend may affect those in people like those described in the story.

Urban legends can be misleading and in the worst cases dangerous if they target a group of people or recommend dangerous behavior.

​But beware!

Urban Legends can be Fun