Essay Sample on Urban Legends: Morals and Messages

Paranormal urban legends are narratives that convey messages of warning or cautions to people. Urban legends are dramatic in content and intend to deliver strong emotions messages to the recipients, such as humor, horror, and shock. Urban legends narratives are mainly used for academic purposes because they represent enduring social narratives. This paper will discuss the morals and lessons learned from urban legends and our thoughts, fears, and the appealing message that keeps us telling these stories.

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Urban legends stories initiate underlying fear by providing people with a cautionary message or a moral lesson that tells us how to protect ourselves from danger. There is a famous urban legend story, "hook -hand killer." This story involves a young couple who went on a date in a remote area (Joy 170). On the way, they overheard from a radio that a mentally ill person with a hooked hand has escaped from a mental hospital. After the alert was issued, the young lady wanted to leave, but her boyfriend insisted on staying because there was nothing to worry about. After staying for a while, the lady heard some scratching outside their car, and the boyfriend assures her there is nothing wrong. The girl continued insisting there was something, and they finally drove off. When the boyfriend dropped the girl at her house, he was caught up in a horrific scene when opening the passenger side, because blood was hanging from the door handle.

The moral lesson learned in this story is that you should not involve yourself in a premarital intimacy. This story teaches us not to ignore our intuitions because something horrific might happen. Urban legend stories bring some anxieties or nervousness. For example, the girl felt something wrong was going to happen, and that way, she was persistent; they leave the place. My thoughts concerning urban legends stories are that they serve as warning tools, and they are valuable insights into our culture. These stories call us to be more careful and cautious with whatever actions we persuade.

Urban legends stories are narrated because they have a moral lesson, and they warn us before entering into terrible situations. Urban legends have been circulating worldwide. These stories are spread through text messages, word of mouth, emails, and Facebook posts. The reason behind its massive spread is that they are horror, knowledgeable, and have negative consequences on individuals or communities. Urban legends narratives show fear throughout their context. For example, in the "hook-hand killer," the lady is fearful because they are engaging in premarital sex at a young age, and she fears something terrible might happen. However, Urban legends stories reveal that human beings are fearful. The fear can be relieved through tangible targets. Urban legends stories show that some people tend to ignore the truth. For instance, the young lady tried to convince his boyfriend that it was not safe for them outside after hearing the radio announcement. The boyfriend ignored the truth later on; he came to learn the truth. These stories are popular in our society, and they are designed in a way that will excite their audience.

Conclusion

To sum up, urban legends stories are designed to send a specific lesson to a particular person or community. The urban legend stories are fictional stories told to audiences and passed from one person to another. The stories help us to stay alert and avoid false information. “Hook-hand killer” is an example of urban legend stories. The story involves two young lovers who went for a date. So many moral lessons can be learned from this particular story. These stories are widely spread globally. The Internet has made it easier for people to tell these stories. However, they are used for academic purposes, for example, in literature classes. Urban legends stories instill fear to people when they are narrated. In our society, urban legend stories are used to lead people in a more upright way.

Works Cited

Joy, Anna. We are America: A Thematic Reader and Guide to Writing. Cengage Learning, 2007. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=K_ODxUN60UcC&oi=fnd&pg=PR3&dq=Joy,+Anna.+We+are+America:+A+Thematic+Reader+and+Guide+to+Writing.+Cengage+Learning,+2012.&ots=7yUHg3DVFZ&sig=HSkwi2gMJdMo6aiiLCwiz9sTMHI