Different Titles For The Urban Legend example essay topic
483 words
Don, t Look Back An urban legend is a type of folklore that is circulated by word of mouth, repeated in news stories, or distributed by email. They are also frequently recounted as having happened to a "friend of a friend". Some of the stories are slightly modified throughout the years and there are often variances in each telling of the stories. Even with the changes and modifications, an urban legend still remains the main idea and teaches a point. A lot of urban legends are false, as in the story about a couple coming home from a date late at night. The radio was broadcasting news about a maniac killer on the loose and told civilians to be on guard. The car ran out of gas and so the guy decided to walk to a nearby station to get gas and told the girl to stay put in the car under a blanket. When he comes back, he will knock three times to her know that it is him. Hours passed and finally the girl heard two knocks, then a third knock, and the knocks keep going. She figures that it isn, t him so she did not get up. She fell asleep and was awaken by sirens and a voice telling her to get out of the car and walk straight ahead without looking back.
She could not resist and looked back, horrified to see her boyfriend hung from a tree branch on top of the car, with his legs dangling and swaying in the breeze, his feet keep hitting the hood of the car. There are many variances to this story. When I told my friend about the legend, I was given different corrections of the details. Some said that the couple was on their way to an after-prom party, the limo hit a log on the road and the guy had to go get help. Others insisted that the guy,'s throat was cut and the dripping blood made the tapping noise. There are also different titles for the urban legend; the ones I came across were: ^aEURoeDon, t Look Back, ^aEUR ^aEURoeThe Dead Boyfriend, ^aEUR ^aEURoeHangman, ^aEUR ^aEURoeTap Tap, ^aEUR and other short versions without titles.
Even though these have different titles and the details are slightly varied, they still contain the main plot and point of the story. In most of the urban legends with escaped killers or criminals, the man is usually the one that dies and the woman survives. I think what this story is trying to get across is for women not to go out late at night, especially alone with her boyfriend. False urban legends like this one are altered almost every time it is passed to others, but still keep the main plot.
