Michigan Myths and Traditions

One of the things I like best about Synge's work is his incorporation of some local stories popular on the Aran Islands. For my peice of our travel log, I'm going to tell some stories or "legends" that are popular at U of M. The three I'm planning on tackling are, not stepping on the M, not kissing someone under the arch (unless you wish to marry that person of course), and the necessary acts of indescent exposure required to dispel either of the former legends effects.

I know all of these stories very well, but I have two concerns about writing on them. First, I know that we are supposed to take on an "outsider's perspective" when writing our sections of the travel book. Some people were able to do this by writing about some aspect of campus life/culture to which they were themselves outsiders. However, these legends are something that everyone on campus is exposed to (usually at orientation). Therefore I am not sure how an outsider would view these myths. I think though, that stories like the one's I am writing about are somewhat analagous to campfire stories told at summer camps. So an outsider may view them in that way.

Also, I am very worried about satirizing these stories. I am naturally a very cynical person and I like to make light of or even mock certain things. Hopefully I will be able to simply tell these stories in a way that reflects their true character. One thing I may try, is framing these stories, like Sygne does, in the voice of a local storyteller. I suppose in the case of the not stepping on the M story, that would be an orientation leader or a jumpy freshman on the diag.