Learning About Genre Convention

I came into WR39B with little knowledge of any conspiracy theories at all. The little that I was exposed to came from a short study in AP US Government of the recent political phenomenon surrounding president Trump's willingness to embrace aspects of conspiracy, especially those from alt-right groups. 

From the very beginning of the course I was amazed by how conspiracy theories and its conventions have pervaded world history for perhaps hundreds of years. In effect, the accumulation of conspiratorial material throughout the decade have elevated conspiracy theory into a large genre whose authors share a similar aim to market their theories to a wider audience.

In the beginning of the class, one of the provided article was about the history of conspiracy theory. This article really served as a foundation for much of my future research (for the GA and IP) and acted as a foundation for me to build on and describe what a conspiracy theory is at its core.

Figure 1. My notes of Week 2's reading Conspiracy Theories as Part of History.

From this article, I realized that conspiracy theories often emerged during times of great and widespread change, it is a reactionary tendency for those who fear that the status quo is disrupted. This article and the conspiratorial genre has become increasingly relevant in recent years as America experiences a myriad of seminal events. In fact, the majority of conspiracy theories that we explored in this course can be traced back to a significant event. For example, Loose Change: 9/11, is a chain of conspiracy theories surrounding the events of the 2001 terrorists attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. This event shocked the whole world and caused many to seek explanation for this incredible loss, one of which became conspiracy theory. 

In recent years, we are also living through a period of widespread change in America, all caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. When we first discovered the virus, most of us naively thought that it'll be contained like the SARS outbreak of 2002, how wrong we were back then. The COVID pandemic has caused such massive upheaval of out lives that the social environment became ripe for conspiracy theories. I'll refrain from discussing any specifics in this passage as I'll discuss more about Plandemic, a COVID-19 conspiracy theory, in the next section.

This article on the history of conspiracy theory is just a small portion of how this class illuminated the prevalent nature of conspiracy theories in my life (and perhaps in the lives of everyone in America right now). Realizing that conspiracy theories is everywhere and anyone can come up with a convincing one has allowed me to channel my crazier side to come up with conspiracies about mundane aspect of life in my Journal Entries, which culminated in an Imitation Project. Furthermore, being exposed to the conventions of conspiracies theories, such as its tendency to sprout from impactful events and the demonization of an outgroup (historically often the Jewish population), has also allowed me to be more aware when the techniques of conspiracy theorists are being used, and how to avoid falling into the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories.

Intertextuality: How Sociological Concepts Can Be Applied to Critical Analysis of Conspiracy Theories

I had the opportunity to take SOCIOL 1B, an introductory course to the discipline of sociology. A particularly interesting and relevant topic that we learned in SOCIOL 1B was the social analysis of group behaviors and dynamics. The dynamic of the in-group, a social group we belong to, and the out-group, a social group we do not belong to, presents itself in almost every rhetorical technique of conspiracy theories. 

Figure 2. A portion of a sociology presentation on group dynamics.

Additionally, research have consistently shown that even arbitrary group distinctions can trigger in-group versus out-group processes, such as ethnocentrism. This characteristic makes the in/out group dynamic, also called the "us-vs-them" mentality, incredibly easy to exploit by conspiracy theorists.

Figure 3. This is a comic showing how a small difference (i.e., being in different schools) can caused people to favor the community in which they belong and discriminates against another community. This tendency to discriminates against an outside group is also a major genre convention in many conspiracy theories. For example, QAnon, as a conspiracy theory, characterizes most liberal institutions as evil and part of a "cabal." However, as also noted in this comic, interactions with the outside group will often reveal that they are not so different and often are very good people, too. 

Connecting this to the topic of WR39B, the rhetorical function for much of recent conspiracy theories is to foment this kind of in-group vs out-group conflict by emphasizing the even minor differences between groups of people and creatively illustrate a perceived opposition group as nefarious in some ways.

These knowledge from SOCIOL 1B also allowed me to see and analyze certain rhetorical techniques and genre convention employed by conspiracy theorist much more readily and at a deeper level. It also served as a starting point for my research during the process of crafting my GA. I was able to utilize concepts such as proportionality bias and group cohesion to further my analysis of conspiracy genre conventions. In a way, the rhetoric of conspiracy theories is just the rhetoric of group, and sociology provided a strong basic explanation of group mechanics I can rely on to expand my GA.

Another concept I learned from sociology that contributed greatly to my analysis of conspiracy theories throughout WR39B  is groupthink. As I explained in a short summary of groupthink (in the passage attached below), the concept describes a phenomenon where an individual, or a group of individuals, felt compelled to align their opinion with the consensus of the larger group. 

Figure 4. My short passage on groupthink.

The effects of groupthink are always detrimental, even more so when the group is led by a charismatic leader. The feeling of community provided in a group under the influence of groupthink gives said group a strength in number, where they become able to act on potential false and harmful belief in a way an individual can not. I was able to draw a connection between how Birds Aren't Real and many other conspiracies exploited this in-group mechanics from sociology to create a sense community in its follower. This allowed me to show, in my GA, how the January 6th capital riot is an example of groupthink induced by conspiratorial rhetoric coming from charismatic figures such as former President Trump and Alex Jones.

Figure 5. An excerpt from my GA, where I analyzed how Birds Aren't Real and QAnon uses the same rhetorics to achieve the ultimate purpose of fostering a sense of community in there audience. This sense of community is crucial in the spread and maintenance of any conspiracy theories as a conspiracy is only as real as the amount of people that believes and supports it.

As a side note: While these previous knowledge has served me well in preparing for a more complex analysis of genre conventions, it could also be detrimental as I overburden my essay with outside information. The process of writing the GA has allowed to see where my writing become too cumbersome and comments from peers and the professor has helped me distribute my ideas throughout my GA more effectively.

Critical Reading: Satire, All That Glitters Is Not Gold 

One "conspiracy theory" that absolutely pique my interest in this course is Peter McIndoe's movement Birds Aren't Real. You might've noticed how I put quotation marks around conspiracy theory, their presence is incredibly significant as, as much as Bird Aren't Real is trying to peddle a theory on the fringe of logic, a complete analysis of this faux movement would have to dive into its inherently, subtly, satirical nature. 

Figure 6. This is my notes taken for The History of Birds Aren't Real. This is my first exposure to Birds Aren't Real as a conspiracy theory, and the so-called movement pique my interest, through its clever use of conspiracy theory conventions to craft a satire of the genre.

When I read the first few paragraphs of The History of Birds Aren't Real, I thought to myself: "Well, this is one weird conspiracy theory." I was fully immerse in analyzing the piece as only a conspiracy theory and noting the genre conventions employed by McIndoe, such as using "us-vs-them" rhetoric, pandering to other conspiracy theories, and mixing historical truth with fiction. 

However, the more I read, the more I start to notice that the real rhetorical purpose of Birds Aren't Real flew right over my head. From the inclusion of pop culture references such as Big Bird and Netflix, to the childish jokes of bird feces annoying a CIA director so much it drove him to try and annihilate all avian species. I realized that Birds Aren't Real real purpose is to satirize conspiracy by utilizing typical genre conventions in order to craft a real-to-life conspiracy theory.

After analyzing the rhetorical techniques used by McIndoe in Birds Aren't Real, I was also able to gain a deeper understanding of how to effectively utilized the convention of conspiracy theories and apply them to create my own conspiracy theory in my Journal Entry #3. 

Figure 7. My attempt at imitating McIndoe's conspiracy theory. Albeit much sorter than Birds Aren't Real, my journal entry #3 employs several genre convention also employed by McIndoe, such as: painting an otherwise innocent animal's (cats) behavior as threating, the inclusion of advance technology to explain how a supposed nefarious act (spying) is accomplished, and framing the government as a shadowy group acting without the best interest of the people.

Finally, aiming to imitate a little of the techniques used by McIndoe, I created a conspiracy theory about how another species of animal is also being used by a nefarious government to spy on the people.

All the strategies used in the process of critical reading has allowed me to put Birds Aren't Real under a microscope and see the satirical piece for what it is, and then absorb the genre conventions employed by McIndoe to build my own conspiracy theory. This process has helped me greatly in composing my Imitation Project. Since McIndoe masterfully imitated the genre conventions and created a conspiracy theory that fooled me on my first read, I find that incorporating some of his techniques (e.g., humor, linking to other conspiracies, dubbing the audience as "truthers") would help me create a better Imitation Project.