...Urban Legends: How do they work? Urban legends are told every day of the week and for different reasons. Some of the legends tell a story while others are telling the reader about behaviors that might have serious consequences. Some are based on truth, while others are based on fiction. According to author Tom Harris, the definition of an urban legend is “A modern, fictional story, told as truth, which reaches a wide audience by being passed from person to person”. Urban legends come from different sources like the internet, passed from friend to friend or reading it in a book or newspaper. When reading or listening to an urban legend tale, one has to ask 1. Is the source objective or biased 2. Is the source reputable and 3. Is the source sufficiently detailed? The tales over the years have become more elaborate and some parts of the story maybe true but as time goes on, another part of the story gets added making the story more unbelievable. According to author, James M. Henslin states that “urban legends are stories with an ironic twist that sounds realistic but are false”. Urban legends are told to people because of a lesson that needs to be learned or behaviors that need to be corrected. The person who is telling the story might think that by sharing this story, it would help that person because it’s similar in nature; therefore the person speaking is trying to help. In conclusion, urban legends are told for a different reasons and it’s up to the people...
Words: 294 - Pages: 2
...Characteristics of an Urban Legend An urban legend is an apocryphal, secondhand story, told as true and just plausible enough to be believed, about some horrific, embarrassing, ironic or exasperating series of events that supposedly happened to a real person. As in the example above, it's likely to be framed as a cautionary tale. Whether factual or not, an urban legend is meant to be believed. In lieu of evidence, the teller of an urban legend is apt to rely on skillful storytelling and reference to a putatively trustworthy source — e.g., "it really happened to my hairdresser's brother's best friend" — to convince hearers (or readers) of its veracity. Not always false Albeit synonymous in common parlance with "false belief," the term "urban legend" is meant to denote a more subtle and complex social phenomenon, namely the emergence and transmission of contemporary folk narratives — narratives which are indeed usually false, but which also, on occasion, turn out to be 99.99% true. The critical factor is that it's told as true despite the absence of confirming evidence. As many versions as tellers of the tale The phrase "urban legend" entered the popular lexicon in the early 1980s with the publication of folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand's first book on the subject, The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings (New York: W.W. Norton, 1981). Urban legends are a type of folklore, defined as the handed-down beliefs, stories, songs and customs of ordinary...
Words: 469 - Pages: 2
...Urban legends are usually laughed at, or looked upon as a campfire story. What people don’t know is that we can learn some very important morals from urban legends. They can differ in story, but they usually have one thing in common, they have a moral to the story. Whether it be true, or false, the morals of urban legends can benefit you in your daily life. Urban legends have been passed down from generation to generation, and over time the stories change but the morals stay the same. Some of the things you learn from your parents as a kid comes from morals that are also tied into urban legends, such as; not trusting strangers, picking up hitch hikers, and wandering off on your own. The average child growing up, doesn’t know right from wrong, and is accepting of almost anyone they come by. Therefore, they don’t understand the concept of why you shouldn’t trust strangers. As we grow older we tend to forget the little things, there is an urban legend that has a moral that helps remind us of why we shouldn’t trust strangers. The urban legend is about a woman who went in the mall to go shopping, and when she returned to her car she realized that one of her tires was flat. So she puts her shopping bags in the car and grabs the jack out of her trunk and prepared herself to change the flat. Moments after she begins to change the flat a man who is dressed in a suit and tie wielding a briefcase approaches the car, and says to the lady, "I noticed you're changing a flat tire. Would...
Words: 1181 - Pages: 5
...Urban Legends Urban legend is any modern fictional story passed on from person to person told us truth. Urban legend as often false but sometimes they are inspired by an actual event but evolved into something different from person to person. Urban legends are characterized by combination of humor, horror, warning, morality or appeal to empathy. Urban legends are passed on from friend to a friend. It’s human nature to go to spread this feeling to others as people lore to till good story. In past 10 years there has been huge surge of urban legends on internet. The most common is forwarded e-mail. Here the story is not reinterpreted by each person who passes it on. Having the original story gives e-mail legends a felling of legitimacy. It will always be a human nature to tell bizarre stories and there will always be an audience waiting to believe them. No matter how much information technology we develop’ human being will be drawn in by unsubstantiated rumor. The urban legend is a part of our makeup. One urban legend was about Katie and Paul once paked at Ecliobay came access news about a rapist killer who escaped from prison. Instead of a right hand he had a hook. When Katie and Paul went home and opened door they saw a hook hanging on door handle. For decades “The Hook” story appeared as a genuine letter in “Dear Abby”, newspaper advice column and many students heard this story in grade school. Another urban legend is about “Kentucky Fried Rat”. It’s about a woman did not...
Words: 573 - Pages: 3
...There are many Urban Legends and Hoaxes about pregnancy, but above all Lina Medina’s story made the biggest impression on me. She is famous in the medical community for being the youngest mother in recorded history. At the age of five years she gave birth by Caesarean section to a healthy baby boy. When Lina, who was born in Ticrapo, Peru, first became pregnant, her parents did not realize what was happening. Due to her increasing abdominal size, they thought she had a tumor. They tried many local remedies, but when nothing worked they brought her to a doctor who diagnosed that she would be giving birth to a child soon. Dr. Gerardo Lozada was not sure about his thoughts, so he took her to Lima, Peru to confirm her pregnancy. A month and a half later, on May 14, 1939, she gave birth to a healthy boy and she named him Gerardo, after her doctor. Although the story was called a hoax, based on documents, pictures, and doctor’s verification, it is easily verifiable. During her pregnancy, doctors took x-rays and biopsies which proved that she would be a mother. When Lina was seven months pregnant, doctors took a picture showing her developmental body. Peru’s best physician, Dr . Edmundo Escomel, discovered that Lina already had regular periods when she was only eight months old, and she had a hormone disorder which explained her fully developed ovaries and matured body. The father of Lina’s Gerardo was never determined. Due to her age, doctors determined that...
Words: 447 - Pages: 2
...Bloody Mary Have you ever been told to go in to a dark room with mirrors and chant “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary. . .” and something bad will happen to you? Many people, including myself, have heard the legend of Bloody Mary as some people would call it the face in the mirror. The version I have been told was that if you go into a bathroom in the dark with a lit candle and say the words “Bloody Mary” 3 to 100 times, you will see her face. There are many possibilities that can happen when you upset Bloody Mary. It has been told that she will kill the person calling her, scratch his or her eyes out, drive the person mad or even bring the person into the mirror with her. If you had seen the movie Candyland or Urban Legend, perhaps, you would recognize the similarities to that of Bloody Mary [Halloween Web]. Teenage girls are usually the ones who call upon Bloody Mary, mostly summoned at sleepovers as a form of entertainment. However, you might wonder why kids might want to call this chilling woman. It may be a safe way to mess with danger. People who think they have seen Bloody Mary have said that she appeared in the mirror with a 1700s-1800s style dress holding her dead baby. Her face seemed decayed and rotten and her eyes were either white or rolled back. Bloody Mary also went by the names Bloody Bones, Hell Mary, Mary Worth, Mary Worthington, Mary Whales, Mary Johnson, Mary Lou, Mary Jane, Agnes, Black Agnes, Aggie and Svarte Madame. It has been rumored that you can also call...
Words: 866 - Pages: 4
...Legend of Monsters Urbans legends have been around for hundred of years. The three main in particular have stood out to me is. The lady in white dress, La Llorona, and Bloody Mary. I heard stories about “The lady in the white dress” but I never believed that she killed herself. The most common story behind this legend is that of a women being betrayed by a husband or fiance and then her own life (Duranti, Krista “The legend of the women in white”. People who claim to have seen her, say she only appears at night near rivers or lakes in Mexico (Duranti, Krista “The legend of the women in white”. I heard a sound that night then it stop but it did it again so I check what was going on I look outside I see the lady in white just staring at me and waving she looks at me evil like I did something, my dad was calling me making sure I was okay, but I look back outside she was gone. I was scared for my life the next day I was telling people in my class I saw the lady in white outside my house but they didn’t believe me. That was the only night I saw her....
Words: 503 - Pages: 3
...In “How Urban Legends Work” Tom Harris provides perfect examples of urban legends, what they are, how they’re spread, and how they’ve changed over time. Urban legends are stories created from some event and then passed from person to person, most of which are false but believed to be true. Urban legends exist everywhere and can be funny, cruel, or leave an impression on someone. Commonly passed between friends, this makes urban legends seem more real because the story is coming from someone whom you trust. As they are passed from person to person, the story is changed or made more interesting by each person. Often passed around because these stories interest people and it is within our nature to want to spread these stories. According to Harris, “You feel compelled to warn your friends and family”. Anyone can be tricked into believing urban legends because we tend to trust the information being told and not question it. As Harris states “In many cases, this trust runs so deep that a person will insist an urban legend actually occurred, even when confronted with evidence to the contrary”. Even if proved wrong people still believe in urban legends. Urban legends sometimes cause us fear because we can relate to them whether it’s a place we’ve been to or go to every day. All over the world urban legends tend to be passed around some of which are revisited from time to time. Harris mentions Legends such as the “Hook-hand killer” tale A young couple on a date drives off...
Words: 361 - Pages: 2
...Brand Blunder A brand blunder is an error associated with the branding of a product, especially a new product in a new market. Reasons for such slips include the lack of understanding of the language, culture and consumer attitudes in the new market. There are numerous examples of brand blunders in marketing history; there are also numerous urban legends surrounding brand blunders, where there is little evidence of an actual blunder. TRUE CASES An April 2002 Starbucks ad featured twin cups of their Tazo drinks with the caption "Collapse into cool" and an airborne dragonfly, imagery and wording which reminded many of the recent 9/11 attacks. Though the ads were created before the attacks and the resemblance was coincidental, the company apologized and pulled the posters. A 1997 direct mailer from Weight Watchers featuring Sarah Ferguson with a caption stating that losing weight was "harder than outrunning the paparazzi." appeared in mailboxes in the days before and following the death of Princess Diana, an incident in which paparazzi were at the time suspected to have played a role. The company quickly pulled the ads. In 2006 Sony had a limited Dutch billboard campaign promoting the then-upcoming arrival of the white PlayStation Portable by featuring a black woman and white woman with respectively colored clothing and hair in confrontational poses. After accusations of racism, Sony pulled the ads. In 2008, Greyhound Canada...
Words: 877 - Pages: 4
...wants to check the information for them, can do so at Factcheck.org. Politifact plays the same role as Factcheck.org, it is just a website that allows you to check if the politics you hear from the media are true or not. It is a great resource for finding out the truth about politics. It is known that for most years the turnout for voting is over half of population that is of age. (Infoplease.com) Always double checking what your candidate says in an election is very important, and these two sites allow you to do just that. If you are just interested in finding out what is the latest news in society, snopes.com clears up any rumors or misconceptions you may have about urban legends, folklore, and really anything you hear in society. This site really allows you to check any rumors you may hear such as urban legends like Bigfoot, or the lochness monster. On the websites about us section it states that “With over 15 years' experience as professional researchers and writers, the Mikkelsons have created in snopes.com what has come to be regarded as an online touchstone of rumor research. Their work has been described as painstaking, scholarly, and reliable, and...
Words: 452 - Pages: 2
...A River Runs Through It, A Perfect Storm, Urban Legend and Party of Five Authors and writers of novels and screenplays are often faced with a very difficult task. They must produce a work which will capture a person’s attention and hold it throughout the work. Norman Maclean and Paul Junger do this in their novels A River Runs Through It and A Perfect Storm, respectively. As do the writers and producers of Urban Legend and Party of Five. There are countless ways to keep a person’s interest. But there are two that are prevalent in these four works. These writers use dramatic irony, constant action, and a hint of mystery to captivate a reader or viewers attention. The thriller Urban Legend is the story of a murderer on a college campus who kills people using various methods in accordance with urban myths. For example, one "urban legend" is a gang initiation ritual. It is said that a gang member will drive without their lights on until somebody flashes them. The person who flashes their lights must now be killed in order to gain acceptance into the gang. While this is not necessarily true, it is a story that many have heard, and the movie is based upon these tales similar to these. Urban Legend is action packed and filled with mystery (never letting on as to who the killer is until the final seconds). By keeping this high level drama throughout the movie, the producers have in effect, kept a viewers attention and let them focus more deeply on the story. Junger’s A Perfect...
Words: 783 - Pages: 4
...A long time ago in a faraway land, there was a young prince named Juba. He was very handsome, with brown hair and blue eyes. No one compared to his beauty, but that has nothing to do with the story I am supposed to tell you, so here is the real story: Once upon a time there was a not so young king, whose name was Belshazzar. Now, Belshazzar had blond hair and brown eyes, which made him very ugly. No one really likes him, but he was king so everyone was nice to the mean and foolish king, Belshazzar. Belshazzar had a beautiful palace. The biggest in the land and the colossal hanging garden that his father, Nebuchadnezzar, had built for his mother was outstanding. His palace was located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Belshazzar...
Words: 389 - Pages: 2
...The chilling voice of the man-made goosebumps all over my body, “The children...have you checked the children..” the man said. It was too late. The screams of them still remain. Urban Legends are stories that cause fear in those who know no better, the stories could be a crazy phenomenon with serial killers or even ghostly figures that disappear into oblivion. These stories can be passed down generation to generation, it’s like a game of telephone but the game last for years. The fear for children is a commonly exploited fear in most of these Urban Legends. Examples of these could be in the story “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs”, The story of “Gravity Hill”, and even the story of “Bunnyman’s bridge” with the fear for children in each of these....
Words: 583 - Pages: 3
...Urban legends or folklore are in every state of America, some are spooky and others are unbelievable. Every county has one and Dillon being my small little town, there was not very many. I was astonished, when I found out, I have one of my very own that is popularly known nationwide! From books to the front of the newspaper , it is my privilege to tell you my tale. Picture, it; Dillon county in the 1960’s, it was a snazzy little town laid back with a calm serenity about it, so any news story was the talk of the town! This is more of a phenomenon than an urban legend, this true story is actually in my family. In fact, it is based off of my great grandmother Hattie Faircloth, she had a stroke. She was not necessarily in her right mind. The stroke was so bad, she did not have much more time on this earth. On her death bed, she told her daughter Ollie Brock ‘’This morning I’m going to be an angel’’. Hattie , old and in a bad state of mind, her family took it as of her dying and having hallucinations. She died in 1964, as time went on 7 years later. The family started doing yard work and they decided to cut down the legustrum shrub outside the window of...
Words: 442 - Pages: 2
...Mexican Urban Legend: It all started with an innocent sleepover party on October 31st. Isabella didn't know the other girls, but she was invited anyway. That night, that darkest and quietest of Halloween nights, they decided to play truth or dare. When it was Isabella's turn, she picked Dare and one of the girls said, "I dare you to the Donald Trump". Isabella thought about it for a few minutes, and accepted. The other girls gave Isabella a lit candle, pushed her into the bathroom, and closed the door. With the candle being her only source of light, she set it aside and stood in front of the mirror. Looking only at herself, she said his name 3 times, cringing and flinching with every syllable; “Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump”....
Words: 276 - Pages: 2
