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1
In folklore studies, what most clearly distinguishes an urban legend from a simple fictional story?
It must be set in a large city
It is commonly presented as a true or plausibly true event
Its author must be anonymous
It must involve a supernatural creature
Correct answer: It is commonly presented as a true or plausibly true event. Urban legends are usually circulated as accounts that allegedly happened to a real person, often a friend of a friend. They do not have to occur in cities or involve the supernatural; their defining feature is the claim—or suggestion—that the event really happened.
2
Folklorists often use the abbreviation FOAF when discussing how urban legends are passed along. What does FOAF mean?
Fact Observed After Fear
Folklore Origin and Form
Fiction Once Accepted as Fact
Friend of a friend
Correct answer: Friend of a friend. FOAF means “friend of a friend.” Tellers often place the event at this social distance because it sounds close enough to be credible but distant enough that the details are difficult to verify.
3
Which recurring urban-legend motif involves a driver helping or picking up a stranger who later disappears without explanation?
The vanishing hitchhiker
The poisoned dress
The killer in the back seat
The phantom broadcast
Correct answer: The vanishing hitchhiker. The vanishing hitchhiker is one of the best-known migratory legend types. Versions appear in many countries, with local roads, landmarks, clothing, and identities substituted to make the story feel authentic to each audience.
4
Why do urban legends frequently change names, locations, brands, and technologies while keeping the same basic plot?
Copyright law requires every teller to alter the story
The original version is normally lost within one day
Legends adapt to local concerns and contemporary circumstances
Folklorists deliberately rewrite them for newspapers
Correct answer: Legends adapt to local concerns and contemporary circumstances. Urban legends are highly adaptable. Their core warning or fear may remain stable, while details are updated to match local geography, current technology, familiar businesses, or the anxieties of a new audience.
5
What is “ostension” in the study of legends?
Proving that a legend began in ancient Rome
Acting out, imitating, or staging events described by a legend
Translating a legend into another language
Removing supernatural elements from a story
Correct answer: Acting out, imitating, or staging events described by a legend. Ostension occurs when people behave in ways shaped by a legend—for example, visiting a supposedly haunted place, performing a ritual, or even staging an incident that resembles the story. The legend moves from narration into action.
6
What does the term “legend tripping” usually describe?
Visiting a location associated with a frightening legend to test or experience it
Accidentally confusing two unrelated folktales
Travelling to interview a legend’s original author
Using a false travel story to sell tickets
Correct answer: Visiting a location associated with a frightening legend to test or experience it. Legend tripping is the practice of going to a reputedly haunted or dangerous site connected with local folklore. Participants may perform challenges or rituals, turning the story into a shared social experience.
7
Which feature makes a warning-based urban legend especially persuasive?
It always includes official statistics
It names the person who first created it
It appears only in printed books
It combines a vivid threat with practical-sounding advice
Correct answer: It combines a vivid threat with practical-sounding advice. Warning legends often describe a memorable danger and then tell audiences how to avoid it. The practical advice makes the message feel useful, while the emotional story encourages people to repeat it before checking whether it is true.
8
Why is the Halloween “razor blades in apples” story important to the study of urban legends?
It was the first legend broadcast on television
It originated as a medieval harvest ritual
It shows how repeated warnings can create widespread fear despite little evidence of the claimed pattern
It caused apples to be legally banned from Halloween
Correct answer: It shows how repeated warnings can create widespread fear despite little evidence of the claimed pattern. The story became a powerful example of a moral panic: alarming reports and repeated warnings shaped public behavior even though investigations did not establish the widespread pattern suggested by the legend.
9
What is the best first step when evaluating a viral post that claims to reveal a dangerous new urban legend?
Trace the claim to its earliest identifiable and reliable source
Share it quickly so others can stay safe
Assume it is true if several accounts repeat it
Judge it only by the number of comments
Correct answer: Trace the claim to its earliest identifiable and reliable source. Repetition is not verification. A strong first step is to trace the claim backward: identify the original report, check whether named authorities actually issued the warning, and look for independent evidence rather than copied posts.
10
Which statement best explains why urban legends remain culturally valuable even when they are not factually true?
They provide exact records of historical events
They replace the need for journalism
They are always harmless entertainment
They reveal shared fears, values, social tensions, and ideas about acceptable behavior
Correct answer: They reveal shared fears, values, social tensions, and ideas about acceptable behavior. Urban legends are useful cultural evidence because they show what communities fear, distrust, admire, or consider dangerous. Their significance often lies less in whether the event happened and more in why people find the story believable and worth repeating.
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