Urban Legends, like Hip Hop and Rap, exhibit many features of literature:
· They are dramatic, and play on such emotions as fear or embarrassment.
· They are filled with such rhetorical devices as Hyperbole (overstatement), Antithesis, Symbolism, Irony, and especially Poetic Justice.
· They appear credible, because they are grounded in reality, and because they explain mysterious phenomena.
· They are also based on stereotypes and archetypes we see around us every day.
· They get our attention, because they are gross and sexual and scatalogogical and titillating.
· And they are documented, because they always happened to a Friend of a Friend. They are therefore called FOAF tales.
“AI can make you laugh. But can it ever be truly humorous?”
by Jyoti Madhusoolanan”
https://undark.org/2025/07/21/ai-humor/
“Can AI essay writers understand satire, irony, or sarcasm in essays?”
by Daniel Felix
https://www.yomu.ai/resources/can-ai-essay-writers-understand-satire-irony-or-sarcasm-in-essays
International Society for Humor Studies: http://www.humorstudies.org/
Nilsen, Alleen and Don. The Language of Humor: An Introduction. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2019. www.cambridge.org/core/books/language-of-humor/B37E80D6A21DB3A2E344A4061D996D9C
Urban legends offer insight into American culture by reflecting common fears, values, and social tensions. They often highlight concerns about safety, strangers, technology, and morality, showing what society finds threatening or fascinating. These stories are passed on as cautionary tales, reinforcing cultural norms, warning against certain behaviors, and sometimes expressing deeper anxieties about change, authority, or the unknown. In this way, urban legends act like modern folklore, revealing what matters most to people in a particular time and place.
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