legends
CRITICAL THINKING LESSON FOR CHAPTER 16B: The Media, the Internet, and Urban Legends Have you ever heard the following claim? ... According to Emery (2000a), urban legends: typically comprise outlandish, humiliating, humorous, terrifying, or supernatural events--events which, in the telling, always happened to someone else. ... Urban legends spread rapidly because they deal with issues that tend to grab peoples attention. For example, urban legends that involve issues that scare many people--such as contaminated food or drinks (have you ever heard the "mouse-in-a-soda-bottle" story)--will get repeated often and spread rapidly. ... For example, television dramas that are known for basing their story lines on actual events have sometimes made use of urban legends. ... The Internet and e-mail also have created a situation in which urban legends can spread much faster and to a greater number of people than in the past. Because it now is so easy to quickly reach a massive number of people, it probably is not an exaggeration to say that we are living in a "Golden Age" of urban legends and popular myths. ... " In order to see if one or both of these anecdotes are urban legends, use the Snopes. ... com), which is a web site dedicated to describing urban legends, "misinformation, old wives tales, strange news stories, rumors, celebrity gossip, and similar items. ... What Exactly Are Urban Legends? Urban Legends and Folklore. ... Urban Legends and Folklore. ... How urban legends work.