Writing 50: Writing and the Research Process
Urban Legends, Conspiracy Theories and Hoaxes
N. Douglas Bradley
University of California, Santa Barbara
Welcome to Doug Bradley's fall quarter 2017 Writing 50 course at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This ten-week course is designed as an introduction to research writing and meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00–12:50 pm in Girvetz 2108. The links on this website access the course syllabus, schedule, and various links to helpful websites, and other help for your writing.
Please be certain to periodically check the course schedule for any last-minute changes. If you have any questions about anything, contact the instructors at your convenience.
Contacting the Instructor
Doug Bradley
Phone: (805) 680-2333 [cell]
Email: doug@dougbradley.net
Office hours: South Hall 1523, Wednesdays 12:00–3:00 and by appointment
Announcements and Bulletins
Fri., 06 NOV 2017
Welcome to Cabrillo High School!
Writing 50 welcomes Cabrillo High School! Below are a few links to give you practice with conducting rigorous research using the C.R.A.P. test. "C.R.A.P." stands for currency, reliability, authority, and purpose; here is a one-page description of the C.R.A.P. test to guide you.
"Finding 'Good Information' About Your Topic"—read this section from Terra Incognita: Researching the Weird if you need help applying the C.R.A.P. test to sources you are examining; the section begins on the bottom of page 6.
Snopes.com archive—Snopes offers a rich archive of urban legends, conspiracy narratives, and hoaxes; most of these are well known and have circulated for years. They are organized into categories to make searching easier. Click on "Archive" (left margin index) and scroll down to select a story or claim that you can investigate.
Now it's time to apply the C.R.A.P. test! Search for 2–3 websites that make claims about the urban legend, conspiracy narrative, hoax, rumor, etc. you selected from Snopes, then apply the C.R.A.P. test (see above). Searching should not be too difficult; there are thousands of 'believer' websites and online articles devoted to these topics. Simply enter your topic into a search engine search bar, then filter out the results. For example, you can use Google or Yahoo to search for websites about "bigfoot" or "Roswell."
Jot down a few notes for each of the websites or articles you are critically analyzing, using currency, reliability, authority, and purpose as your categories. This will require some additional research—what Stanford University's Stanford History Education Group calls "reading laterally." It's never enough to read a claimant's article or website and then simply make up your own mind; you need to fact check! Speaking of which...
Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning— This is the executive summary of Stanford University's research on how students like you use the internet to form opinions. For discussion after you've C.R.A.P.-analyzed a few articles and websites, read the "Overview" on page 10 regarding students' abilities to tell the difference between articles and advertisements on Slate.com. Then try it yourself on USA Today. How many ads can you spot that masquerade as 'articles?' Why do you think news outlets use this approach to advertisement?
Thurs., 28 OCT 2017
Drop Deadline is Wed., October 4
The drop deadline for Writing 50 is Wednesday, October 4. If you intend to drop Writing 50, please do so as soon as possible, as our waitlist is long and other students want to enroll.
Wed., 27 OCT 2017
Course text A Writer's Reference ready for pick up
The course reference text, A Writer's Reference, is ready for pick up at the UCSB Bookstore (in the UCen). You may use an older, used version to save money. For pricing and availability, call (805) 968-1055.