Scope and Contents note Boyles examines the phenomena of people craving familiar food while they are in a foreign environment. She interviews males who served missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about their experiences with food in unfamiliar cultures, highlighting instances where informants excitedly ate contaminated food just because it was familiar. She asserts that people in foreign environments crave foods from home because they remind them of the comfort, security, and familiarity of...

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Ngeth collected accounts from male return missionaries about their initiation stories. Interviews describe missionaries faking being ill to trick the newcomers, staging a robbery, misinformation of language quirks, and tricking the new Elders into eating strange food. Created by Thyda Ngeth while taking Eric Eliason's English 391 course at Brigham Young University during the fall semester 2005.

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Heaps collects accounts of El Chupacabra, a mysterious creature that attacks domestic animals in Mexico, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and the southern United States. Some narratives are friend of a friend stories from regions plagued by Chupacabra attacks. Others involve El Chupacabra representations in the media of popular culture (such as television programs and internet chat sites). Created by Mary Heaps when she was enrolled in Eric Eliason's English 391 course during fall semester 2005.

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Young analyzes the culture of skateboarders. He collects folk speech and unique terminology, personal narratives (usually recalling injuries), skate park etiquette, and rules of a particular skateboarding game, skate, that helps skateboarders refine their skills. Created by Devin Young when he was enrolled in Eric Eliason's folklore class at Brigham Young University.

Scope and Contents note Rife collects stories from missionaries in the Missionary Training Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Stories Rife collects are told to the missionaries by their teachers, who are returned missionaries. Rife identifies several purposes these stories serve, including to educate missionaries about behavior that will ensure safety on their missions, and to provide an entertaining release from the long, hard days at the MTC. Created by Jared Rife when he was enrolled in...

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Parr mentions the societal and familial importance of names. She analyzes the naming process, focusing on the heritage associated with certain names, influences from society or culture on name decisions, and naming disagreements (between parents or other family members). Parr briefly discusses personal narratives about names. Created by JeniLynn Parr when she was enrolled in Eric Eliason's English 392 class during fall semester 2005.

Scope and Contents note Van Wagoner analyzes why blonde jokes seem to remain popular. She asserts that perhaps people now equate the blonde in these jokes with anyone stupid, and that they are laughing at anyone who acts stupidly, not at a group of people with a certain hair color. She also suggests that blondes themselves may tell these jokes as a way of making fun of people who actually believe the stereotype. She identifies three joke teller types: condensers, preservators, and elongators. She also identifies...

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Durtschi discusses elements of humor that make jokes successful. She asserts that the subject of a joke must be something the audience can relate to in order for them to find it funny. Durtschi collects lawyer jokes and analyzes negative stereotypes they express. She explains that lawyers who tell lawyer jokes don't consider themselves the kind of lawyer featured in these jokes. Created by Kate Durtschi when she was enrolled in Eric Eliason's English 391 class during fall semester 2005.

Scope and Contents note Hall asserts that most women who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can remember a favorite girls' camp song. Hall organizes the songs she collected into five categories: nonsense, "proud to be a Mormon," echo songs, gross-out songs, and "pretty" songs. She explains how songs in each of these categories meet the needs and interests of the young women who attend these camps. Created by Margaret Hall when she was enrolled in Eric Eliason's English 391 class during...

Scope and Contents note Eichelberger explains that the unique recreational environment among Brigham Young University students is made up of games that avoid typical college student activities that Mormon standards oppose. She uses drinking culture as a metaphor for BYU game culture, designating gaming personalities as "stone cold sober," "social drinker," "closet drinkers," and "addicts." Eichelberger includes oikotypes of familiar games as well as spontaneously invented games. Created by Carrie Eichelberger when...