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Urban Legends

In: English and Literature

Submitted By Mahogany
Words 294
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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 listening or reading the story to either believe it or not. The urban legends pass through different generation, we listen; draw our own conclusion, the pass the story to the next generation.

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