Marylin Monroe, Superman, James Dean, Julia Roberts, Elvis Presley and The Simpson's are all part of American popular culture. Some may become a myth or a legend, and some will remain part of a specific time in popular history. Their own time.

Elvis Presley is a myth, there is mystery around him. People swear he is still alive, some people dress up like him and become Elvis' impersonators.

Remember what I told you when we started this WebQuest? People say that "Gardel sings better everyday." That makes him a myth.

Some times your parents may talk about a character or a figure that was very popular when they were younger. They say: You don't know who "so and so" was? Really?
And you don't know because even though that person was very famous at the time, they didn't become a legend, like Elvis, Marylin Monroe or Carlos Gardel.

In your group:

• Discuss these issues.
• Think of popular figures today, from TV, current events, movies, music, art and sports.
• Take a guess, which ones will become icons that will outlive generations, and which ones won't?
• What is the difference? What do they do?
• Are all popular icons "good role models"?
• Are there criminals, murderers and other "bad guys" who have become myths? Why?

After discussing and researching a bit on a couple of your favorite personalities, write up your group's definitions to the words: popular, icon, myth, legend, and famous.

Make a chart with those words on the top row, and all the names you came up with organized in columns.

Was Marylin Monroe famous? Is she a legend? What about local people, are they famous in your town? But are they an icon?

(Some names may appear in several columns.)