italki Student Activity - Urban Legends It’s possible that every nation around the world has an urban legend or two that are used to scare little children and gullible tourists, and in Australia the lovable Koala bear, in fact it is a marsupial not a bear, has an evil cousin based firmly in folklore. The Australian Drop Bear looks just like a Koala, it’s even quite cute if you see it sitting in a Eucalyptus tree eating leaves, but whatever you do, make sure you walk around the tree, and not under it. Thousands of tourists have discovered to their peril that the wonderfully cute Koala Bear can often be confused with their not-so-wonderful cousin whose fangs are long and sharp, and it will drop from the tree, landing on your shoulders with an ear-shattering screech, and proceed to bite and maul the unsuspecting human. At night, the Drop Bear’s eyes glow red and their mating call is enough to turn a strong-willed person insane. Luckily, the Drop Bear is just an urban myth, like the Tikoloshe of Zulu myth, or the internationally popular "escaped prisoner hiding behind the seat" of your car. Myths don’t always have to be scary, sometimes they only need to speak to people’s gullibility to be successful. Intermediate/Advanced Activity: 1) What makes a good urban myth? Is it important that the story be believable? 2) Does an urban myth need to be provably false? Would a myth that could be true be as successful? 3) Are urban myths created by just one person; maybe a comedian, or a guest at a party? How do urban myths start? 4) Imagine creating your own urban myth. What kind of protagonist would be most scary? What type of action should the victim take? What advice would the story give to gullible believers on how to avoid becoming a victim of the myth? 5) Do urban myths add to our culture? Or do they just manipulate people into believing silly stories?