Prove/disprove anything or make an argument.★Politics = Barack Obama was not born in the United States, Sarah Palin’s youngest childwas
actually her daughter’s baby, etc.★Pop culture = Elvis is still alive, Paul McCartney (or Avril Lavigne) died and
was replacedby an imposter, etc.★Science = The moon landing was faked, the Earth is flat, etc.★Current
events = Almost anything related to COVID-19Suggested Talking Points●Background information about your
rumor: What is the rumor? When did it start? Is itstill going? How well-known is/was it? What effects has it had,
if any? This informationshould be in your introduction so your audience understands your topic before youmove
into the explanation in the body paragraphs.●What type of rumor is it? How can it be classified? What is its
purpose or goal?
●What makes it a “good” rumor? (Good as in successful, not as in benevolent orbeneficial for the
world.)●Why/how was it spread? What is it tapping into in the people who believe and spreadit?●How could
this rumor have been combated? Use specific strategies from the articles,don’t make up your
own.RECOMMENDED WRITING PROCESS1.Examine the writing assignment and determine your purpose: to
explain societalbehavior2.Ask questions to identify relationships among the articles we have read3.Choose one
rumor to focus on and apply the sources to it4.Begin drafting, returning to sources for paraphrases, quotations,
and summaries5.Revise and edit (including, but not limited to, the mandatory in-class peer review andrevision
workshops)TIPS AND HINTSDetermine how your sources help us understand the rumor. Let’s imagine that
you areinterested in using Goleman and Knapp to examine the popular rumor that Elvis is still alive.Begin by
asking yourself, what statements about the rumor would each author make? What aresome main ideas and
relevant key terms from each source worthy of paraphrase andquotation? Is any information from Goleman in
direct opposition to the concepts introduced byKnapp? Are there places where Goleman might agree with
Knapp about certain aspects of therumor? Based upon this evidence from your sources, how can we explain
the creation, spread,and goals of this particular rumor?Your purpose is to be informative, NOT PERSUASIVE
OR ARGUMENTATIVE. It is your goal topresent facts with objectivity, so you must avoid opinion. Instead, rely
upon the informationpresented in your readings in order to explain how and why your chosen rumor caught on
withthe public the way it did. Think of it more in terms of a news report than an editorial.Your thesis statement
should be descriptive and non-persuasive. If it helps, think about yourexplanatory synthesis thesis as the most
obvious statement you can make about therelationship between our readings and your chosen rumor. An
example: “The rumor that Elvisis still alive shows how people can interact with and respond to information they
do not know to be true, which is societal behavior that many scholars agree exists but have different ways of explaining.”
Sample Solution
