Writing 50: Writing and the Research Process
Urban Legends, Conspiracy Theories and Hoaxes
N. Douglas Bradley
University of California, Santa Barbara
The links below can help you with your Writing 50 class assignments. They are organized by assignment number/letter. Please share! If you find other on-line resources that are useful to you, forward them to me so that I can list them here for your classmates.
To jump quickly to a specific assignment, click on the assignment number/letter:
Assignment #2
Assignment #3
Assignment #4
Working with Numbers and Infographics
Reference Links and Notes:
Websites for researching urban legends, conspiracy theories, fake news, and hoaxes
UCSB Writing Program Online Writing Resources
Individual (numbered) Assignment
Assignment #2: Resume or curriculum vitae
For help with both the resume and CV, start with the UCSB Career Manual.
If you are writing a resume...
Refer to reserve materials at the UCSB Davidson Library for help with resumes. They contain plenty of helpful examples and tips. Be sure to write down the call numbers for each to help the library staff locate them.
101 Best Resumes for Grads [HF5383. B5342. 2003. #8981]
Best Resumes for College Students and New Grads [HF5383. K87. 2003. #8999]
If you are writing a curriculum vitae (CV)...
Writing the Curriculum Vitae, by Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
Purdue OWL comes through yet again with this straight-forward how-to on writing a CV.
Curriculum
Vitae Guide, by JobSearch, Inc.
A great guide to writing CVs, with templates and samples. This web page also
features links to other helpful sites.
The purpose of this assignment is to get you moving on your final paper! You will be writing a very brief, business-style memo to propose a paper topic. Please keep it short: What is your topic? Who is your audience? What sort of paper are you proposing (primary research with secondary sources, review of literature, etc).
Please be sure to use a standard memo format, with the word "Memo" or "Memorandum" at the top, "To," "From," "Subject," and "Date" fields, and your signature at the bottom or initialed next to the "From" line. Here are some helpful links for writing business memos:
Memo
Writing, by Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL)
Excellent advice on memo writing from one of my all-time favorite websites.
This is an excellent place to start when writing business correspondence. It
also links back to OWL's home site where you'll find lots of other helpful info.
Business Memos, by The Writing Studio at Colorado State University
This offers nicely indexed, step-by-step guidelines for writing all kinds of memos. Be sure to use the linked contents on the right side of the page.
Indexed links from North Dakota State University
This marvelous index covers not only memos, but all kinds of documents. The links are well selected and up-to-date; feel free to browse.
For help with cover letters, start with the UCSB Career Manual.
Cover letter and resume samples (by industry) from Northwestern University Career Advancement
Browse through multiple examples of various cover letters and resumes by industry. (Use the index on the left side of page.)
How to
write a great letter, by William S. Frank
Tips on writing all kinds of business letters.
Working with Numbers and Infographics
Infographics convey graphic, qualitative, and quantitative information. For example:
"The 90 Best Infographics," InfoBloq.com (2015 AUG 24)
"13 of the Year's Best Infographics," Wired (2013 OCT 13)
Three scaling examples:
Joshua Sneideman, "Four ways to understand the Earth's age," TED-Ed, Ted.com
This short video, designed for middle and secondary school students, explains the Earth's age with four metaphors: a wall calendar, pages of a book, body metrics, and a person's development from birthday to high school.
"Atomic structure analogies: Analogies for Avagadro's Number," ScienceAnalogies.com
This web page features no fewer than eleven analogies for understanding the atom, including a scaling schema for Avagadro's Number, a commonly used term in chemistry.
Jon Martindale, "How fast is the speed of light really?," 20 Feb. 2015, KitGuru.com
What if you were the Silver Surfer and surfed at the speed of light from the sun outward? How long would it take you to reach the edge of our solar system? This site helps readers better appreciate the speed of light.
Procedure for Writing Your Paper
Step 1: Talk to the instructor!
The sooner we discuss your paper, the better. This will give us plenty of
time to brainstorm a topic and think about the sort of audience you will be
addressing and how you will approach them.
Step 2: Submit a proposal
Assignment #3 asks you to write a formal memo to submit your proposed paper
idea. This is mainly to get you moving on a topic (by Week 3 you should decide),
and to give me a chance to review your idea. Use a proper
memo format (see the Assignment #3 help links above)
and keep it short. I do not need to know your rationale for choosing your topic.
Just simply state the topic you will writing about, the title of your paper, and the type of paper you are proposing.
Step 3: Write! Write! Write!
By the fourth week, you will need to make a firm start on writing your paper.
Be certain to pay attention to the visual organizers in your paper such as figures,
tables, and charts as these often require a surprising amount of time to prepare.
Properly cite all references, using a formally recognized bibliographic style. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! We will be reviewing drafts
of your paper before the final deadline. Be sure to bring the latest version of
your paper to each scheduled peer review.
The final deadline for all conference papers is the last day of the instructional quarter (last day of classes)
Oral presentations are scheduled to begin during the eighth week and will extend through week ten. This allows you ample time to prepare your paper. You can also use the audience feedback from your presentation to enhance your paper. Each presentation must be accompanied by slides (typically PowerPoint) and will be allocated a maximum of 15 minutes, including set-up, presentation, questions, and take-down.
Here are some suggestions for your oral presentation. See especially the list at the end of this link, which will help guide you in your planning.
"What should I say in my presentation?"
Firstly, note that an oral presentation is not reading your conference paper! Your oral presentation should be prepared separately from your paper. You can read a prepared text, or speak from talking points. Whatever you do, be sure to have detailed notes and rehearse. Your presentation should flow smoothly, with a logical introduction, middle and end. The ultimate purpose of your presentation is to summarize your paper and entice the audience to eventually read it.
Slides should change steadily throughout your presentation and be readable. Do not leave any slide up for longer than 45 seconds. If you need more time, divide your slide into two or more smaller slides and use these. (No "monster tables" with rows and rows of tiny data! Summarize data with graphs and charts.) Be certain to make the font size large enough to be readable from the back of the room. (In our classroom, using our projector, this generally means 14-point or larger.) Be certain to submit a copy of your PowerPoint slides with the final version of your paper. Slides can be submitted on CD-ROM or diskette. On the day of your presentation, be certain to have at least one back-up copy of your file(s) in case of technical problems. It is your responsibility to test your files and equipment in advance to verify that everything works.
Some students like to include handouts with their presentations. This lends a very professional edge. Your handouts might include a simple printout of your PowerPoint slides, or a brochure. Feel free to bring in examples, experiments, props, photographs, or anything else that will help enhance your presentation. Involve your audience whenever possible to keep them engaged.
Websites for researching urban legends, conspiracy theories, hoaxes, and fake news
"Guard your senses" —Lao Tsu
NOTE 1: Websites below are referenced for research purposes only! The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the instructor(s) or students of Writing 50, the owner of this website, or the views of the University of California. Students are advised to exercise maximum critical discretion when exploring the content of these sites—many of them express extremist views, and some are just plain bizarre and/or offensive!
NOTE 2: If you find a useful website that you would like to share with your classmates, please email the instructors with the URL.
NOTE 3: Where provided below, website descriptions are quoted from respective sites' "About" links.
General Interest
Above Top Secret
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/
"AboveTopSecret.com is the Internet's largest and most popular discussion board community dedicated to the intelligent exchange of ideas and debate on a wide range of "alternative topics" such as conspiracies, UFO's, paranormal, secret societies, political scandals, new world order, terrorism, and dozens of related topics with a diverse mix of users from all over the world."
Coast to Coast A.M.
http://www.coasttocoastam.com/
"Coast to Coast AM airs on more than 500 stations in the U.S., as well as Canada, Mexico and Guam, and is heard by nearly three million weekly listeners. With hosts George Noory, George Knapp (weekend) and Ian Punnett (weekend), it is the most listened to overnight radio program in North America. A media phenomenon, Coast to Coast AM deals with UFO's, strange occurrences, life after death, and other unexplained (and often unexplicable) phenomena. Coast to Coast AM is overnight talk radio with daytime ratings."
Disclose TV
http://www.disclose.tv/
"Disclose.tv is a fast growing multimedia and news hub dedicated to unusual and unexplained phenomenoa as well as alternative topics that may be ignored, denied or inadequately covered within the mainstream media—the first and already largest of its kind."
Realities Watch
https://realitieswatch.com/
"Realities Watch seeks to deliver the best articles in world news and other major topics of interest and importance. In every situation, we try our best to provide as much relevant information as possible, without flooding people with triviality or fear based sensationalism and propaganda. [...] Realities Watch believes in creating change by thinking outside the box. We encourage and inspire each other to take action with the goal of bringing to life a bright future for us all."
Skeptic's Dictionary.com
http://www.skepdic.com/
"Exploring Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions and Dangerous Delusions since 1994."
Snopes.com
http://www.snopes.com/
"The snopes.com website was founded by Barbara and David Mikkelson, a husband and wife team who live and work in the Los Angeles area. What they began in 1995 as an expression of their shared interest in researching urban legends has since grown into what is widely regarded by folklorists, journalists, and laypersons alike as one of the World Wide Web's essential resources."
Cryptozoology
Bigfoot Field Researchers Website
http://www.bfro.net/
"Founded in 1995 -- The only scientific research organization exploring the bigfoot/sasquatch mystery."
The Chupacabra Home Page
http://www.princeton.edu/~accion/chupa.html
"A myth? A legend? All we know is that it strikes in the night and has a weakness for blood. Put away the goats, and any other household pets, my friends, cause the Chupacabra may be coming to a barn near YOU."
Legend of Nessie
http://www.nessie.co.uk/
"The Ultimate and Official Loch Ness Monster site."
Musuem of Unnatural History
http://www.unmuseum.org/lostw.htm
Oregon Bigfoot.com
http://www.oregonbigfoot.com/
Sasquatch Information Society
http://www.bigfootinfo.org/
Tony Harmsworth's Loch Ness Information Website
http://www.loch-ness.org/
Moon Hoax Conspiracy
American Patriot Friends Network
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/moon.htm
Bart Sibrel, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xciCJfbTvE4
Political Conspiracy / Political Conjecture
911 Truth.org
http://www.911truth.org/
"OUR MISSION: TO EXPOSE the official lies and cover-up surrounding the events of September 11th, 2001 in a way that inspires the people to overcome denial and understand the truth; namely, that elements within the US government and covert policy apparatus must have orchestrated or participated in the execution of the attacks for these to have happened in the way that they did..."
Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth
http://www.ae911truth.org/
"Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth (AE911Truth) is a non-profit corporation. We are a non-partisan association of architects, engineers and affiliates dedicated to exposing the falsehoods and to revealing truths about the "collapses" of the 3 World Trade Center high-rises on September 11, 2001."
The Atlantean Conspiracy
http://www.atlanteanconspiracy.com/
BeforeItsNews.com
http://beforeitsnews.com/
"Before It's News® is a community of individuals who report on what's going on around them, from all around the world. Anyone can join. Anyone can contribute. Anyone can become informed about their world."
Bretbart News Network
http://www.breitbart.com/
Conspiracy Planet
http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/
Disinformation.com
http://www.disinfo.com/
"Disinfo.com...collects the most shocking, unusual and quirkiest news articles, podcasts and videos on the web, most of which are submitted by the site's visitors. It is our intent that Disinformation becomes news that you did not know that you needed … based on the extent that anyone today can define what news is in our hyper-mediated, cyber-cultural environment. If you would like to join us in this task, just read on."
Info Wars
http://www.infowars.com/
Reddit.com Conspiracy
https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/
Scholars for 9/11 Truth
http://911scholars.org/
"Scholars for 9/11 Truth (S9/11T) is a non-partisan association of faculty, students, and scholars, in fields as diverse as history, science, military affairs, psychology, and philosophy, dedicated to exposing falsehoods and to revealing truths behind 9/11."
True World History
http://www.trueworldhistory.info/
"TrueWorldHistory.info presents a compelling series of video documentaries, lectures and interviews. These videos offer an uncensored and non-partisan perspective of today's modern world, as well as where we are heading as a people, a nation and a global civilization with individual characteristics."
Truth Frequency Radio
http://truthfrequencyradio.com/
"Chris & Sheree Geo founded Truth Frequency Radio with the purpose of compiling an archive of information which can be used for generations to come. Not your typical radio show, Truth Frequency focuses more on the history of the occult and the deeper underlying conspiracy behind current events in an effort to predict the future by understanding the past."
Underground Politics
http://www.undergroundpolitics.com/
Jessie Ventura, Conspiracy Theory
http://www.jesseventura.net/conspiracy-theory/
UFOs & Extraterrestrials
Alien Shift.com
http://www.alienshift.com/
"Alienshifter is the one who takes the Oath in order to uphold and defend Humanity and their Rights in any contact with Alien or Extraterrestrial beings in addition to represent[ing] the Earth in contact and communication with Star Visitors from all other Planets or in the Council of the Worlds and Federation of Planets."
Dr. Richard Boylan
http://www.drboylan.com/
"The UFO-Star Visitors-Star Kids/Star Seeds website of Dr. Richard Boylan:
A disinformation-free, professionally-researched, factual information site on UFOs (starcraft), Star Visitors and contact by them, the new Star Kids and adult Star Seeds, on Star Nations, and on the Star Kids Project."
British National Archives
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ufos/
"The files contain a wide range of UFO-related documents, drawings, letters and parliamentary questions covering the years 1985-2007."
Center for UFO Studies
http://www.cufos.org/
"The Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) has three principal activities. First, it maintains a library and archives of UFO-related materials. These materials include books, articles, documents, and sighting reports. Second, the Center publishes reliable information about the UFO subject through its quarterly magazine, the International UFO Reporter (IUR), and its annual scholarly publication, the Journal of UFO Studies. CUFOS also publishes books, such as Encounter at Buff Ledge and Examining the Earthlight Theory, as well as monographs that examine specific cases or other aspects of the UFO phenomenon. Third, the Center supports and conducts investigations into areas of particular interest and concern to contemporary ufology."
Cosmic Conspiracies
http://www.ufos-aliens.co.uk/
"Europe's biggest and most popular UFO/paranormal website!"
Exopolitics Institute
http://www.exopoliticsinstitute.org/
"The Exopolitics Institute is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit educational organization dedicated to the study, promotion and support of exopolitics. Exopolitics is defined as an interdisciplinary scientific field, with its roots in the political sciences, that focuses on research, education and public policy with regard to the actors, institutions and processes, associated with extraterrestrial life, as well as the wide range of implications this entails through public advocacy and newly emerging paradigms."
Galactic-Server
http://www.galactic-server.net/
"The intension [sic] for this server is to give information about spacepeople related material who are mainly based on channeling and personal experience. The information focus is primary on galactic affairs and spiritual interdimensional topics."
The Living Moon [John Lear]
http://www.thelivingmoon.com/
Mutual UFO Network
http://www.mufon.com/
"Our Mission: 'The Scientific Study of UFOs for the Benefit of Humanity'"
Presidential UFO.com
http://www.presidentialufo.com/
"In the pages of this Web site you will hopefully be led on a journey that will show you the entire known history of how the most powerful man in the world has dealt with the most highly classified secret of the last century. In short, this is the story of how the President and the White House have dealt with the mystery of UFOs."
Semjase
http://www.semjase.net/indexsemjase3.html
United States of America National Archives— USAF Project Bluebook
http://www.archives.gov/foia/ufos.html
"The United States Air Force retired to the custody of the National Archives its records on Project BLUE BOOK relating to the investigations of unidentified flying objects. Project BLUE BOOK has been declassified and the records are available for examination in our research room. The project closed in 1969 and we have no information on sightings after that date."
Veritas Radio.com
http://www.veritasradio.com/