Zombie

Article summary

A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: zumbi) is a legendary undead being created through the reanimation of a cadaver, a corporeal manifestation of the revenant type. In modern popular culture, zombies often appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in which a zombie is a dead body reanimated through magic by a bokor sorcerer. Modern media depictions of the reanimation of the dead often do not involve magic but rather science fictional methods such as fungi, radiation, gases, infection, diseases, plants, bacteria, viruses, etc. The English word zombie was first recorded in the 18th century; dictionaries trace its origins to Bantu languages, such as Kimbundu . One of the first books to expose Western culture to the concept of the voodoo zombie was W. B. Seabrook's The Magic Island (1929), which includes a purportedly-true paranormal account of zombies being forced to work on a Haitian sugar plantation. A new version of the zombie, distinct from that described in Haitian folklore, emerged in popular culture during the latter half of the 20th century. This interpretation of the zombie, as an undead person that attacks and eats the flesh of living people, is drawn largely from George A. Romero's film Night of the Living Dead (1968), which was partly inspired by Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend (1954).…

Key claims

1. date of death: 1907 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. publication date: 1997 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
3. publication date: 1818 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
4. release date: 2014 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
5. release date: 1978 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
6. release date: 1993 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
7. release date: 1996 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
8. release date: 2005 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
9. release date: 2010 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
10. release date: 2004 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of death is "1907". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the publication date is "1997". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. The record states that the publication date is "1818". What evidence would count against this claim?
5. The record states that the release date is "2014". What evidence would count against this claim?
6. The record states that the release date is "1978". What evidence would count against this claim?
7. The record states that the release date is "1993". What evidence would count against this claim?
8. The record states that the release date is "1996". What evidence would count against this claim?
9. The record states that the release date is "2005". What evidence would count against this claim?
10. The record states that the release date is "2010". What evidence would count against this claim?
11. The record states that the release date is "2004". What evidence would count against this claim?
12. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
13. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1378295384