Engl092 Week2

Bishan Baldev

09/15/2012

ENGL092

Prof. Duvick

How Urban Legends Work

Tom Harris in his article "How Urban legends Work" defines what Urban Legends are, explains why they are so popular and examines their purpose in our culture.

Urban legends are usually without any theme like an amusing story or an ordinary joke. But every Urban legend gives us warning and something to learn. So what is an Urban legend "an urban legend is any modern, fictional story, told as truth, that reaches a wide audience by being passed from person to person." (Harris, 2007). These legends could be funny, horrific and are usually compelling enough that you tell those Urban Legends just to warn your friends and family.

The one's that are close to us is our friends and family members and if they tell us something we believe them since we trust them but it also largely depends upon how the story is presented. If the story is convincing enough we share it with our friends. We could pass it just because it's funny and interesting or it could also be because we want to warn our close ones. As the author said "Just about anybody can be duped into believing an urban legend because very few people distrust everything and everybody." (Harris, 2007).

So what does these urban legends really mean and why do they circulate among us. It's for our safety and well-being. Stories are usually spread out to caution people to be careful so they can protect their loved ones. For example the story of "Hook-hand Killer" which was spread out in 1950s so that people can stay where it's safe and not go somewhere all by themselves and be more cautioned about their surroundings. Urban Legends are "providing a cautionary note or moral lesson telling us how to protect ourselves from danger" (Harris, 2007).

Urban Legends exist even in today's modern technological world. It is still passed from person to person but in an even more realistic manner. That is e-mailing, we still might not know whom it is coming from...