Urban Legends

The elements of urban legends, or folklore, are that they (click all that apply):

• Teach a lesson.

• Reinforce cultural norms.

• Can be difficult to verify.

• Usually are presented as being fact.

Academics who study these legends are referred to as:

• Folklorists

• Archeologists

• Sociologists

• Paleontologists

Methods of transmission of urban legends include (click all that apply):

• Oral (FOAF)

• Electronic (emails, social media)

• Obscure news articles.

• Transmission of urban legends rarely occurs.

True or False: Urban legends are a good indicator of trends, fears, and attitudes in society.

• TRUE

• FALSE

True or False: Conspiracy theories fall into the category of urban legends.

• TRUE

• FALSE

What makes it so difficult to determine the validity of urban legends?

• Many contain a grain or two of truth.

• There can be variations to the legend.

• The original source may be difficult or impossible to track down.

• By definition, all urban legends are fallacies that are strictly created frighten or humor the gullible.

1. Urban legends exist because communicators attach risk to them not being retold by recipients, thus exploiting fear. An example of this type of legend would be:

Many times, urban legends warn the recipient about institutions and hidden agendas. One example of this would be the legend of:

Many times, urban legends comment on the dangers in society and societal trends. An example of this type of legend would be:

Urban legends are typically difficult to disprove. In 4-7 sentences (kept in third person), describe the ways in which you attempted to validate your legend, what difficulties you encountered, and your degree of success.