英文摘要:Walter Ong''s major argument that such Homeric oral traditions asas repetitive phraseology and formulas are universal in all oral culturesaround the globe needs our examination. It is important to note thatnot all oral literatures are composed in the form of poetry; therefore,Ong''s Homeric criterion fails to cover the phenomenon of some otheroral cultures. By focusing on some various versions of three Bunun legends,we shall investigate the possible way the Bunun oral traditions, which are apparentlydifferent from the Homeric ones, work. In this thesis, two concepts about the working of oralitywill be brought forward. They are the narrative focus and the motif focus.The narrative focus is the framework of the narrative whereas the motif focus serves as the bridge connecting different stories with a similar or the same theme.The narrative focus is a generalized outline of a story stripped of details. Different versions of the same story grow with different details.The motif focus is classified into two categories: the major theme as the motif focus and the sub-theme as the motif focus.The major theme as the narrative focus will bring together the stories with a similar or the same subject matter.The sub-theme as the motif focus helps Story A to incorporate into it Story B which bears the idea that happens to be the sub-theme of Story A.At last, we shall also explore the historical changes which the people of oral traditions have gone through.By examining the working of the narrative and motif foci of different versions of a story created in different generations,we see that these historical changes are usually reflected in story-telling.