Myth, in the generic definition of the term, is  "a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon "(www.askoxford.com). The myth is used as an explanatory device and, as is evidenced in American myths, a promotion tool. Myths permeate the consciousness of the public to the point where they are widely acknowledged and often become "fact" at some level.

     An example of an explanatory myth is the creation story of Adam and Eve in Genesis of the Bible. These myths are useful for certain groups because it provides affirmation that they are entitled to privileges provided in their explanation. For instance, they are superior to other groups, such as Adam being given reign over the animals.  This myth could also be skewed to give a certain group of humans dominance over other groups of humans.

    A myth used a promotion tool is evidenced within Henry Nash Smith's "Virgin Land." In his essay Smith cites an extensive example that discusses the American mythologized West: the "Garden of the World." This is an agrarian myth that idealizes the bounty of the Western plains. The myth describes the West as an "image of an agricultural paradise... embodying group memories and earlier, a simpler and, it was believed, a happier state of society," (Smith 124). By promoting this Edenic myth of the West, those groups who desired expansion Westward in America provided a reason for the common person a reason to move further out.

1. www.askoxford.com
2. Smith, Henry Nash. Virgin Land.
3. The Holy Bible.  King James Version. New York: American Bible Society: 1999; Bartleby.com, 2000