What makes a hoax

The more detail that one includes in a hoax, the more credibility it has. As in any media form intended to persuade unconvinced viewers into accepting something as true, evidence dictates the weight the idea holds. For example, an argument gains legitimization based on the quality and quantity of supporting details. Barnum understands the ability to persuade using evidence and does it well; conveying of the absurd idea that Joice Heth nursed George Washington relied heavily on minute details about her upbringing that flesh out her character significantly. He gives an intricate biography of her life up to the point in which he slips the notion that she was George Washington’s maid. By giving Joice Heth a developed background, his claim that she served George Washington in addition to all the other things she has done. Barnum begs the observer to ask a skeptic’s question: how could the fact that she worked for George Washington be made up if the rest of her lives details feel so real? Since a hoax is intended to deceive its audience, a hoax succeeds if it convinces people to believe in something untrue.