Living Folklore

In the Living Folklore, Martha Sims is focusing on misconceptions about what folklore is and its purpose to the reader. The way she does this is by looking at different genres and focusing on the different concepts it is trying to provide. Martha Sims refutes the idea of folklore being just an untrue, entertaining children's tale. She is trying to expand the basic readers perspective about folklore by explaining it as a day to day thing, that is involved in our personal lives. For example, she gives the idea of superstition as a type of folklore. We all have this lucky shirt or lucky underwear that we wear to specific events. Why do we do this? Why do we believe in an object that will give us good luck? The reason is because it gives us confidence. It makes us feel good about ourselves. When Martha Sims stated that folklore creates tradition, I had to think about it. She was stating that tradition helps to build identity. It then hit me, and I completely agree with her. For example, people who watch WWE. Wrestling is the best example of folklore in the real world. The story lines are fake and the moves that they do aren't real. Even though people know its fake, its one of the most watched entertainment series on cable and every WWE event has a sold out crowd. So why do people go? They go because they like it, its their identity, their passion. So I agree with Sims, about her whole idea of folklore. Before reading this text, I have never really thought about folklore as something more than a fake tale. This text broadened my horizons and taught me that the most simplistic things can be further interpreted.