Madison Kraemer
Dr. Adam Johns
English Composition 0200
19 November 2014
Final Project
Proposal
Sources:
1.
http://firsttoknow.com/911-conspiracy-theories/:
I decided to use this source because it has many different videos that
theorists have constructed. I do not plan on incorporating all eight theories in
my paper but I do want to include the ones that are the most logical and
believable.
2.
Abbey, Edward. Desert Solitaire; a Season in the Wilderness. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1968. Print. Obviously, I must incorporate Abbey’s Desert Solitaire in my paper and I will
most likely be focusing on the chapter “Polemic: Industrial Tourism and the
National Parks” since it has many direct references to Abbey’s personal
feelings on the government. But my overall goal is to try and incorporate as
much information throughout the entire book by using specific quotes to support
the conspiracy theories.
3.
http://newsone.com/742485/the-11-most-compelling-911-conspiracy-theories/:
Again, this is another website that contains a wide variety of conspiracy
theories on 9/11. It also includes many videos of possible explanations to these
theories but again I will only be choosing the ones that are the most logical
and believable in my paper.
4.
Wood,
Michael J., and Karen M. Douglas. "“What about Building 7?” A Social
Psychological Study of Online Discussion of 9/11 Conspiracy Theories." Front
Psychol. 2013 4.409 (2013): n. pag. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. This is a scholarly journal found on the
library database that basically describes the reason why there are conspiracy
theories and the effects of conspiracy theories on the public. I plan to make
this my first body paragraph so it sets up the importance of my argument and my
paper.
5.
Knight,
Peter. "Outrageous Conspiracy Theories: Popular and Official Responses to
9/11 in Germany and the United States." New German Critique 104
(2008): 1+. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. This is another scholarly journal article found on the library database.
This journal article is about the effects the 9/11 conspiracy theories have on
not only Americans but also the Germans. It lists multiple statistics that
state the percentage of people who believe the government is behind the 9/11
attacks and their views on the conspiracy theories. I plan on using this
journal article in the majority of my paper and using specific statistics to
support the conspiracy theories.
Argument: As citizens, we need to believe in these conspiracy theorist and their views because each year the government gains more power and control over us citizens which gives them the power to sensor all information released to the people.
Counter Arguments:
1.
9/11 was not “planned” and it was a terrorist attack
2.
US government it out to protect us not destroy us, so why would they make something up
3.
Why would a country kill their own people on purpose and
destroy massive/important buildings that would cost millions even billions to
repair or rebuild?
Meaning: The whole
purpose of my paper is to show the corruption in the government by using the
event on 9/11 as one example. I want to show that everything we “see” my not be
what it really is. The government is very powerful and has the capability to
sensor all information released to the media. For example, the government
resembles the way North Korea runs their country (not as extreme) because they
control all information we citizens obtain. I chose this type of approach because we all know that conspiracy theories exist but what we don't know is why they matter and why we even have them. People think conspiracy theorists are "crazy" and irrational and not the "norm" because they think differently. But my question is, what if these conspiracy theories are actually true and the reason we think they are "crazy" or not the "norm" is because we are so corrupted by our government that we do not know any other answer than what we have been told.
Outline:
Introduction:
September 11, 2001 was a tragic
day that Americans will never forget. On this day, it is believed that terrorist
attacked the United States and killed thousands of people in order to make a
statement. My question is, did terrorist attack the United States or did our
own government stage the attack? “Theorists believe that the World Trade Center buildings were demolished by bombs, phone
calls from the planes were made up, and the former President George W. Bush secretly
profited from the attacks,”(NewsOne). Abbey is an
anarchist that believes the government has too much control and has the
capability to do anything they desire. Abbey’s beliefs match up quite well with
a conspiracy theorist which leads me to believe he would have the same views on
the attack on 9/11. As citizens, we need to believe in these conspiracy theorist and their views because each year the government gains more power and control over us citizens which gives them the power to sensor all information released to the people.
Body Paragraph 1:
·
Wood,
Michael J., and Karen M. Douglas. "“What about Building 7?” A Social
Psychological Study of Online Discussion of 9/11 Conspiracy Theories." Front
Psychol. 2013 4.409 (2013): n. pag. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
·
Reason
for conspiracy theories
·
Effects
of conspiracy theories on society
·
Why
conspiracy theories matter
Body Paragraph 2:
·
World Trade Center was a controlled demolition
o
Bombs is what brought the towers down, not planes
§ Reason for
the stack collapse
o
The infrastructure of the towers would not make it not
fall the way it did
§ Metal
structure of the towers would not make it fall straight down
·
Falling collapse
o
Aluminum planes can’t penetrate steel structure of
World Trade Center
§
Commercial airplanes’ frames are constructed with a very light aluminum
material in order to make it easier to fly.
·
Theorists maintain that there is no possible way an airplane can do as much
damage as it did to the Twin Towers as it did.
·
Theorists believe that missiles or explosives were used to ensure the
buildings collapsed.
Body Paragraph 3:
·
Cell phone calls made from plane are fake
o
Cell phones cannot receive reception from
that altitude
§ No way the calls could have been made
§ How could
there have been calls made?
o
Planes back then did not have “airplane mode”
§ Didn’t have
the capability to make calls/texts
o
Even today, you cannot call from a cell phone while
flying
§ Technology
today is far more advanced than 2001
Body Paragraph 4:
·
The Pentagon attack scientifically doesn’t
hold up
o
Impact in the pentagon were smaller than
airplane
§ How can this be
o
Plane was not shot down
§ No planes can fly close to white house or pentagon
o
Crash occurred in a vacant area of pentagon
§ Coincidence?
*My goal for each body paragraph is for it to be broken
up into two, maybe three paragraph so I they are not so dense and lengthy
*I will be explaining the true meaning of each conspiracy theory in each paragraph and describe why each one MATTERS
*I will be explaining the true meaning of each conspiracy theory in each paragraph and describe why each one MATTERS
*I will be incorporating Abbey in almost every paragraph
by using a quote or summary of his views
*I will also be including the 5th source in
almost every paragraph because it includes vast amounts of information that is
beneficial to all aspects of my paper
Comments first by initial numbers.
ReplyDelete1. Are the most logical conspiracy theories the ones most worth studying? That isn’t obvious to me, at least.
2. What is the value of reading Abbey through conspiracy theories, or of reading conspiracy theories through Abbey? I agree that it’s useful, but what value do you see in it? For my part, I see it as a way of understanding Abbey’s politics, and how they have things in common with both the far left and the far right, but you may have other ideas.
4. Do you agree with what their analysis? If so, is your work going to be rooted in a particular theory of conspiracy theories?
As we discussed before, the big question isn’t whether you can explain the views of conspiracy theorists, but what you are trying to get out of them. My impression so far is that even if you don’t exactly agree with the 9/11 conspiracy theories, you *do* agree with how these theorists view the US government - which begs the question: what do we do about it? Presumably this is where Abbey and anarchism come in.
My understanding so far is that this is - or at least should be - an explicitly political essay, which is making a particular attack on the US government and maybe imagines a solution (an Abbey-esque solution)?
Maybe that’s not the only possible approach - a more scholarly essay on the significance of a particular conspiracy theory would also be fair game. But the crucial question here is - what do you have to say about the conspiracy theories that interest you? Why do they matter?