Humbug! Hoaxes in Literature and Culture.

Literature and hoaxes both present a story. The difference lies in the motivation of the writer. A hoax is a fabrication, intended to trick to reader into believing a false story is true. Hoaxes draw on core instincts of people: hope, wonder and optimism, and capitalize on these vulnerabilities. People have an innate desire to look for the good in the world, and to believe in the impossible. Hoaxes pull people into stories so sensational that they are almost too good to be true, but with just enough realism to be possible. The success of a hoax rests in its ability to deceive the mass public, often to the advantage of the writer.

While literature can often be based on realistic elements, its purpose is not to convince the reader that the story is true. The creator of a hoax knows he/she has fooled the audience. Therefore, the writer and the reader are not on the same level; only one party is aware of the truth. On the other hand, in literature, the author has no ill intention to deceive the reader. Neither one is under the false premise that the story is meant to be taken as truth. While both literature and hoaxes can contain similar style and content, the intentions of the writer and the beliefs of the reader are what differentiates them.

A hoax is a fraudulent, malicious, or even humorous deception. They are unexplained phenomena that stir a multitude of people into questioning their senses of reality. Many hoaxes take the form of urban legends, drawing public attention and steadfast believers; however, while most hoaxes are proven false by candid reasoning, some persist as unsolved mysteries. One of the most famous hoaxes in lore is the blurry, black and white “Surgeon’s Photograph”, seemingly depicting the “Loch Ness Monster”, which brought horror to believers until the object in the photograph was proven to be a toy submarine, and only a meager three feet long. Nonetheless, the creators of this hoax enjoyed fame but now have their names synonymous with infamy as jokers who gained publicity by pranking society. In stark contrast, literature may convey outlandish events, however, unlike a hoax, the author does not claim his/her content to be honest and unexplainable, but rather fictitious and purposeful: an artful medium to make a claim or further an argument. Whereas a hoax captivates the public through altering one’s sense of reality, literature influences the public through creative hypothetical proposition. While hoaxes may represent malevolent trickery, they serve as a reminder that no one is entirely sure of the world in which he/she lives in.

A hoax is a type of literature that has been “forged.” It is a piece of writing that intentionally misrepresents or makes up events or people with the goal of making others believe that the story is true. Hoaxes may often have a fake author or take the form a false autobiography, memoir, or piece of writing on historical events. The main difference between a hoax and literature, such as fiction, is that a hoax is written to be credible; a hoax attempts to convince the reader that it is true. Despite how ridiculous, (or not), the reality that the hoax presents is, the writer often attempts to gain the trust of the reader and may prey on emotions, such as hope or desire to experience or learn about the unknown, in order to make the story seem plausible. Literature often engages the reader’s imagination, but the goal is not to convince the reader that a false reality actually exists. Both general literature and hoaxes are often at least loosely based off of some real-life experience or event. What ultimately distinguishes them is whether or not they want readers to believe the false parts or not.

Kristi Kwok

ENG 181-000

A hoax is a work of fiction created by the author to purposely deceive others so that the readers will interpret any convincing story as the truth. In order to do so, the author crafts the story to fit the audience’s beliefs and values to draw their attention away from many of illogical facts. One of the most common hoaxes are weight loss and diet programs that offer a quick and easy way to lose weight through a simple pill or a cream. Many of these programs will support their advertising with false scientific research or attractive pictures of successful people. However, in actuality, the programs often do not work and will result in harmful health effects but it appeals to the targeted group of people who are looking to lose weight. In the end, the weight loss company will achieve their agenda to earn more money by successfully deceiving their customers.

On the contrary, literature is the artful expression of an author’s ideas with no hidden intentions to alter the audience’s perception of the world. Authors who write literature merely want to put their ideas into published text with a hope to influence and enlighten their readers. For instance, great works of literature such as A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens included social commentary on the French revolution and class divisions in the eighteenth century, but this differs from a hoax because there was no hidden agenda behind his work. Dickens’ intent for writing the novel was to put his ideas into a fictional story as a form of self-expression and opinion. Although both considered works of fiction, a very clear distinction between hoaxes and literature exists.

A hoax is a fabrication containing misleading information that is purposefully meant to deceive a group of people in order to portray an idea or message. There are many recent hoaxes that have become notorious for their power to persuade individuals into believing false information with no clear sources of evidence; for example, the 2008 Bigfoot hoax in Georgia, which led many to believe in the existence of a perpetual myth. Hoaxes can be very persuasive, containing aspects that people can easily relate to. Literature, in contrast, may contain false information but the reader is informed of the falsehood. Dracula, for example, is a horror novel written by Bram Stoker that contains gruesome characters and scenarios. The story is presented in realistic and believable detail; the reader, however, is aware of the fabrications and is not being misled. One’s motivation is another difference between hoaxes and literature. Many hoaxers have egotistic motivations whereas authors want readers to be informed and entertained. Hoaxes leave an individual in oblivion whereas readers are informed and capable of coming to their own conclusions.

Literally speaking, a hoax is a deception upon the general public in their dispense.  Perhaps it’s the innate “evil” in humans to lie and deceive for the own personal gain, that has made it so that hoaxes have always been around. Not only that, but hoaxes provide a sense of hope, awe, and astonishment with the revelation of something that was once believed to have been nonexistent or impossible. The Greeks knew how dangerous curiosity can be and hoaxes have become our Pandora’s Box that fuels our curiosity and constantly provides hope for our wildest imaginations.

Over the course of years,  different pieces of literature and deception, hoaxes have now established a different connotation, in that they have now become a part of our culture. People are constantly seeking to achieve the impossible and with this day in age the seemingly impossible is being brought into our actual physical world more often. Hoaxes, either seen through literature or media, have established a key role in our lives as the center for popular and every day discussion. Hoaxes have made their way into literature as they are what fascinates readers and has them returning for more.

A hoax is a purposefully fabricated or made up story, presented as though it is factual and true. Hoaxes appear in stories, rumors, cautionary tales, and the media. The etymology of a hoax comes from the philologist Robert Nares, and the word literally means “to cheat”. Hoaxes date back to before the 18th century, though they have probably always been part of society; considering it is human nature to lie, and embellish the truth. Witchcraft and such stories are examples of hoaxes told hundreds of years ago. Today, hoaxes are still very present, and can often be found in the media. In Spokane, Washington, just a few months ago, a women who was caucasian, Rachel Dolezal, was masquerading as a African American women and had risen to the head of her local NAACP. Such a story, shows how prevalent hoaxes are still today, and the extent of peoples willingness to lie for personal gain. People uses hoaxes for entertainment, attention, power, as scare tactics, and more. The power of a hoax comes from the individuals the fabricator tricks into believing that said hoax is true. The story itself is worthless, until given any form of accreditation. Hoaxes range from an entertaining thriller to liars who just need attention. Hoaxes also highlight the importance of not believing everything one hears, and making sure to fact check, to find out the truth.

A hoax is a story that someone or people make up that is believed to be true by a multitude of people. Hoaxes always have aspects to them that make people want to believe. Some aspects include hope, connecting with a social “trend,” and empathy. Hope feeds into our human instinct to want a “happy” ending. Connecting with a social “trend” helps people relate to the story. Empathy ensues compassion, which makes us perceive the story from the creator’s point of view, even if the story sounds false. One distinction between a hoax and literature is the style of writing. Literature has more formal writing, while hoaxes tend to be in prose. Another distinction between the two is their objectives. Literature is used to simply tell a story, while hoaxes want to persuade you into believing something that is false.

A hoax is deception meant to convince an audience of people that a false event or statement is actually true. The difference between this and literature is that literature is meant to be fictitious. It is not to be perceived as falsely real, even if it may have realistic qualities. In many instances, hoaxes are seen as credible because many communities want to believe in the impossible. These audiences of people are convinced that what is being said is true because it’s always more interesting to say that an impossible event occurred than to discredit the event altogether. An example of a hoax is one that recently passed. There was talk going around Facebook and other social media sites that Mars would be visible and nearly as close as the moon on August 27^th, 2015 and wouldn’t be as visible for another 200 years. Because it was such a rare phenomenon, a once in a lifetime experience some would say, many people easily believed it to be true when a photo-shopped picture was posted with “Mars” and the moon side by side in the sky. Had this story been posted in a novel or a similar work of literature, the readers would enjoy the fictitious story, yet would never quite believe it to be true.

A hoax is an idea or belief put out that is false but displayed in a way in order to convince others that it is true. Literature is a piece of written work that’s written to tell a story, inform, or just to entertain. A hoax written can be a piece of literature called “Frankenstein”, written by Mary Shelly. However, a hoax is based on something mostly believed to be just a story or maybe a fairytale, but the author is telling the story as if its real and tries to warn their audience and show them the urgency of the character or topic in the hoax; while non hoax literature isn’t formatted to warn their audience about a supernatural creature, spirit or creation. When reading a hoax, it brings that question to the reader’s mind “what if this is true, what if this actually happened?” While literature doesn’t leave that lingering affect on its reader, it will bring up other questions but not questions on what else exists with them in this world.