Working Bibliography: Working Bibliography: Thinh Nguyen WR39B Portfolio

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Genre Analysis

Brotherton, Rob. “Proportion Distortion.” Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories, Bloomsbury Sigma, London, 2016, pp. 268–271.

In his book, Brotherton explores and analyze the techniques conspiracy theorists have employed throughout history. My genre analysis essay utilized a small excerpt from his book, where the concept of proportional bias was discussed. Proportionality bias is, simply put, the tendency that everyone has to associate significant events with equally grand causes.
I used a specific example in Brotherton's book to show how even academics are susceptible to the influence of this bias in order to show how conspiracy theorist can use this bias to easily persuade normal people to believe in their own grand theory of how an event actually occurred. This bias is incredibly significant as it appears in every conspiracy theories that exists. Since all conspiracy theories offer an alternate explanation to seminal events like 9/11, proportionality bias makes people susceptible to believe that grander causes are responsible for 9/11 instead of the mainstream narrative.

McIndoe, Peter. “The History.” Birds Aren't Real, https://birdsarentreal.com/pages/the-history.

Bird Aren't Real is the centerpiece of my genre analysis, I used the satirical work to analyze three genre conventions: proportionality bias, creative paranoia, and ingroup cohesion. Since Birds Aren't Real rhetorical purpose is to put a mirror to the conspiratorial genre, the genre conventions used by McIndoe are apparent for all to see, making analysis of these conventions relatively easy. Furthermore, due to the young age of Birds Aren't Real, the conspiracy's targeted audience is clear (who ae millennials and Gen-Z), further illuminating why certain tone and rhetorical choices were made in the website.

Pynchon, Thomas. “The Counter Force.” Gravity's Rainbow, Random House UK, 2013, pp. 902–904.

I used a very small excerpt from Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, a science fiction novel, to illustrate a central theme of the conspiratorial genre. In the Chapter The Counter Force, Pynchon made use a a term, "creative paranoia," which he describes as the action of “developing at least as thorough a We-system as a They-system.” This definition of creative paranoia dully describes the central tenet of all conspiracy theories. In order for a conspiracy theories to attract an audience, it must generate group cohesion, and there is no easier way to do so than to point at a single enemy group. In a sense, the conspiracy theorists and his followers are developing a "We-system" in order to combat what they sees as a combative "They-system."

Van Prooijen, Jan-Willem, and Karen M Douglas. “Conspiracy Theories as Part of History: The Role of Societal Crisis Situations.” Memory Studies, vol. 10, no. 3, 2017, pp. 323–333., https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698017701615.

This article was useful for the development of my GA since I was able to pull several examples of how conspiracy theories develop throughout history such as those surrounding JFK's assassination and the darker side of anti-Semitic dog whistles in history.

View, Travis, et al. “Qanon Anonymous on Apple Podcasts.” Apple Podcasts, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/qanon-anonymous/id1428209307.

The QAnon podcast serves a thread to connect my GA with the most prominent conspiratorial group in America today, the QAnon. The podcast provides perspective on how QAnon utilizes much of the same genre conventions employed by McIndoe in Birds Aren't Real and the dog whistles mentions in “Conspiracy Theories as Part of History." This podcast also serves as a source to illuminate the consequences of when a dangerous genre convention, demonizing the enemy, managed to mobilize people to act as a mob, precipitating in the January 6th riot on the Capitol.

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Imitation Project

“Examples of Anomalies and Inconsistencies in the Apollo Photography.” Anomalies and Inconsistencies in the Apollo Photography | AULIS Online – Different Thinking, www.aulis.com/nasa4.htm.

AULIS is a website devoted proving that the Apollo mission as well as many other NASA missions were either faked or had ulterior motives. This website is useful since it pushes a narrative much similar to mine (that the moon is a projection). I was able to provide a source of independent "evidence" from AULIS that supposedly prove the moon-landing pictures were doctored. I treated AULIS as if it was a source of credible information, which is also a typical convention of this genre, using questionable sources as if it is credible.

Harwood, William. “Biden's 2023 Budget Request Gives Boost to NASA's Artemis Moon Program.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 28 Mar. 2022, www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-artemis-moon-program-biden-budget-2023/.

This article is only tangentially related to my IP's conspiracy; however, a common technique used by conspiracy theorists is to exploit America's low political efficacy by making it seems like the government is conducting secretive programs by pushing for more money to be spent. This article's rhetorical purpose is only to enhance the optics of my argument by associating the government with shady dealings.

Saul, Stephanie. “Record Sales of Sleeping Pills Are Causing Worries.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 7 Feb. 2006, www.nytimes.com/2006/02/07/business/record-sales-of-sleeping-pills-are-causing-worries.html.

One of the claims I made in my IP is that corporations are projecting a brighter moon to make people sleep less, thus increasing the public's spending on sleeping pills. This article serves to add a credible rhetorical situation to my IP, in order to make the upward trend in sleeping pills seems like it was actually caused by the moon, furthering my argument.

Toskovic, O. “Does Flattened Sky Dome Reduces Perceived Moon Size.” NASA/ADS(Astrophysics Data System), Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade, 2009, ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009POBeo..86..385T/abstract.

This article published in a Harvard's database serves as my mathematical proof that the size of the moon is anomalous. While the theory is aptly named the apparent distance theory, the fact that it is also called the Flattened Sky Dome Hypothesis is very convenient. The words Sky Dome is very popular among flat earthers, who believes that the flat world is enclose in a spherical bowl. This allowed me to use these buzzwords in the conspiracy community and potentially attract a wider audience. In my IP Final draft, much of of the math of this theory was skimmed and distorted to make it seems like the moon is actually a projection on the sky (like a projector in a planetarium). This mixture of facts and distortion is a common convention in the genre.

Williams, Sarah C.P. Yes, You Can Blame the Moon for a Bad Night's Sleep. Science, 25 July 2013, www.science.org/content/article/yes-you-can-blame-moon-bad-night-s-sleep#:~:text=The%20recent%20full%20moon%20might,a%20new%20study%20has%20found.

This article pointed to studies that found a correlation between the full moon and people's inability to sleep soundly. I change correlation into causation and state in my IP that the full moon actually caused insomnia, taking the research out out context. This is again a common technique used by conspiracy theorists, citing results from studies but exclude the careful nature of research to not mix correlation with causation.

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[{:section_type=>"rich_text", :content=>"<hr>\n<h3>Genre Analysis</h3>\n<hr>\nBrotherton, Rob. “Proportion Distortion.” Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories, Bloomsbury Sigma, London, 2016, pp. 268–271.&nbsp;\n<ul>\n<li>In his book, Brotherton explores and analyze the techniques conspiracy theorists have employed throughout history. My genre analysis essay utilized a small excerpt from his book, where the concept of proportional bias was discussed. Proportionality bias is, simply put, the tendency that everyone has to associate significant events with equally grand causes.&nbsp;</li>\n<li>I used a specific example in Brotherton's book to show how even academics are susceptible to the influence of this bias in order to show how conspiracy theorist can use this bias to easily persuade normal people to believe in their own grand theory of how an event actually occurred. This bias is incredibly significant as it appears in every conspiracy theories that exists. Since all conspiracy theories offer an alternate explanation to seminal events like 9/11, proportionality bias makes people susceptible to believe that grander causes are responsible for 9/11 instead of the mainstream narrative.</li>\n</ul>\nMcIndoe, Peter. “The History.” Birds Aren't Real, https://birdsarentreal.com/pages/the-history.\n<ul>\n<li>Bird Aren't Real is the centerpiece of my genre analysis, I used the satirical work to analyze three genre conventions: proportionality bias, creative paranoia, and ingroup cohesion. Since&nbsp;Birds Aren't Real&nbsp;rhetorical purpose is to put a mirror to the conspiratorial genre, the genre conventions used by McIndoe are apparent for all to see, making analysis of these conventions relatively easy. Furthermore, due to the young age of&nbsp;Birds Aren't Real, the conspiracy's targeted audience is clear (who ae millennials and Gen-Z), further illuminating why certain tone and rhetorical choices were made in the website.&nbsp;</li>\n</ul>\nPynchon, Thomas. “The Counter Force.” Gravity's Rainbow, Random House UK, 2013, pp. 902–904.\n<ul>\n<li>I used a very small excerpt from Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, a science fiction novel, to illustrate a central theme of the conspiratorial genre. In the Chapter&nbsp;The Counter Force, Pynchon made use a a term, \"creative paranoia,\" which he describes as the action of “developing at least as thorough a We-system as a They-system.” This definition of creative paranoia dully describes the central tenet of all conspiracy theories. In order for a conspiracy theories to attract an audience, it must generate group cohesion, and there is no easier way to do so than to point at a single enemy group. In a sense, the conspiracy theorists and his followers are developing a \"We-system\" in order to combat what they sees as a combative \"They-system.\"</li>\n</ul>\nVan Prooijen, Jan-Willem, and Karen M Douglas. “Conspiracy Theories as Part of History: The Role of Societal Crisis Situations.” Memory Studies, vol. 10, no. 3, 2017, pp. 323–333., <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698017701615\" target=\"_blank\">https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698017701615</a>.\n<ul>\n<li>This article was useful for the development of my GA since I was able to pull several examples of how conspiracy theories develop throughout history such as those surrounding JFK's assassination and the darker side of anti-Semitic dog whistles in history.</li>\n</ul>\nView, Travis, et al. “Qanon Anonymous on Apple Podcasts.” Apple Podcasts, <a href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/qanon-anonymous/id1428209307\" target=\"_blank\">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/qanon-anonymous/id1428209307</a>.\n<ul>\n<li>The QAnon podcast serves a thread to connect my GA with the most prominent conspiratorial group in America today, the QAnon. The podcast provides perspective on how QAnon utilizes much of the same genre conventions employed by McIndoe in&nbsp;Birds Aren't Real&nbsp;and the dog whistles mentions in “Conspiracy Theories as Part of History.\" This podcast also serves as a source to illuminate the consequences of when a dangerous genre convention, demonizing the enemy, managed to mobilize people to act as a mob, precipitating in the January 6th riot on the Capitol.</li>\n</ul>"}, {:section_type=>"rich_text", :content=>"<hr>\n<h3>Imitation Project</h3>\n<hr>\n“Examples of Anomalies and Inconsistencies in the Apollo Photography.” Anomalies and Inconsistencies in the Apollo Photography | AULIS Online – Different Thinking, <a href=\"http://www.aulis.com/nasa4.htm\" target=\"_blank\">www.aulis.com/nasa4.htm</a>.\n<ul>\n<li>AULIS is a website devoted proving that the Apollo mission as well as many other NASA missions were either faked or had ulterior motives. This website is useful since it pushes a narrative much similar to mine (that the moon is a projection). I was able to provide a source of independent \"evidence\" from AULIS that supposedly prove the moon-landing pictures were doctored. I treated AULIS as if it was a source of credible information, which is also a typical convention of this genre, using questionable sources as if it is credible.</li>\n</ul>\n&nbsp;Harwood, William. “Biden's 2023 Budget Request Gives Boost to NASA's Artemis Moon Program.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 28 Mar. 2022, <a href=\"http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-artemis-moon-program-biden-budget-2023/\" target=\"_blank\">www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-artemis-moon-program-biden-budget-2023/</a>.\n<ul>\n<li>This article is only tangentially related to my IP's conspiracy; however, a common technique used by conspiracy theorists is to exploit America's low political efficacy by making it seems like the government is conducting secretive programs by pushing for more money to be spent. This article's rhetorical purpose is only to enhance the optics of my argument by associating the government with shady dealings.&nbsp;</li>\n</ul>\nSaul, Stephanie. “Record Sales of Sleeping Pills Are Causing Worries.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 7 Feb. 2006, <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/07/business/record-sales-of-sleeping-pills-are-causing-worries.html\" target=\"_blank\">www.nytimes.com/2006/02/07/business/record-sales-of-sleeping-pills-are-causing-worries.html</a>.\n<ul>\n<li>One of the claims I made in my IP is that corporations are projecting a brighter moon to make people sleep less, thus increasing the public's spending on sleeping pills. This article serves to add a credible rhetorical situation to my IP, in order to make the upward trend in sleeping pills seems like it was actually caused by the moon, furthering my argument.</li>\n</ul>\nToskovic, O. “Does Flattened Sky Dome Reduces Perceived Moon Size.” NASA/ADS(Astrophysics Data System), Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade, 2009, ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009POBeo..86..385T/abstract.\n<ul>\n<li>This article published in a Harvard's database serves as my mathematical proof that the size of the moon is anomalous. While the theory is aptly named the apparent distance theory, the fact that it is also called the Flattened Sky Dome Hypothesis is very convenient. The words Sky Dome is very popular among flat earthers, who believes that the flat world is enclose in a spherical bowl. This allowed me to use these buzzwords in the conspiracy community and potentially attract a wider audience. In my IP Final draft, much of of the math of this theory was skimmed and distorted to make it seems like the moon is actually a projection on the sky (like a projector in a planetarium). This mixture of facts and distortion is a common&nbsp; convention in the genre.</li>\n</ul>\nWilliams, Sarah C.P. Yes, You Can Blame the Moon for a Bad Night's Sleep. Science, 25 July 2013, <a href=\"http://www.science.org/content/article/yes-you-can-blame-moon-bad-night-s-sleep#:~:text=The%20recent%20full%20moon%20might,a%20new%20study%20has%20found\" target=\"_blank\">www.science.org/content/article/yes-you-can-blame-moon-bad-night-s-sleep#:~:text=The%20recent%20full%20moon%20might,a%20new%20study%20has%20found</a>.\n<ul>\n<li>This article pointed to studies that found a correlation between the full moon and people's inability to sleep soundly. I change correlation into causation and state in my IP that the full moon actually caused insomnia, taking the research out out context. This is again a common technique used by conspiracy theorists, citing results from studies but exclude the careful nature of research to not mix correlation with causation.&nbsp; </li>\n</ul>"}]

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