The ghost of Richard Hofstadter’s bow tie has invited you to contribute a section to an expanded version of Hofstadter’s “The Paranoid Style in American Politics.” (The tie has assured you that you’ll be credited as a co-author.)
You decide that the Reptoid Hypothesis is the way to go. “What’s the reptoid hypothesis,” you ask? Check out the bottom of this assignment to find out.
You task breaks down into two parts:
1) First, devote your introduction to describing the reptoid hypothesis as a conspiracy theory. Include a thesis statement naming the specific reasons why the reptoid hypothesis fits the three main qualities Hofstadter attributes to the paranoid style: “heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy” (77).
2) Second, compose your addition of the reptoid hypothesis to Hofstadter’s article. To do that, observe what sorts of things Hofstadter points out about other conspiracy theories and how he talks about them. How might he write about the reptoid hypothesis?
(Let Hofstadter inspire your content, but keep your writing style your own. You have enough to do in this assignment. Don’t try to sound like Hofstadter; just sound like you.)
Here is the Google-Maps-inspired directions sheet from class: google-maps-style_paper_directions.pdf Download google-maps-style_paper_directions.pdf. That sheet should prove helpful when both evaluating Hofstadter and preparing your response for this assignment. I’ve provided another prewriting aid geared toward thinking about reptoid hypothesis in Hofstadter’s terms.
Your submitted essay should follow MLA formatting conventions and come in at about 1250 words. Upload it here, on Canvas, by 11:59 pm on 9/29.
Oh, yeah, the reptoid hypothesis!
A few excerpts from a scholarly article about David Icke’s hypothesis: Reptoid_Hypothesis_Background.pdf Download Reptoid_Hypothesis_Background.pdf
Here is the excerpt for David Icke’s The Robot’s Rebellion. Use it especially for part two, when you are discussing Icke’s rhetoric: Icke Robot Rebellion Excerpt.pdf Download Icke Robot Rebellion Excerpt.pdf
Some more background and words from Icke:
(YouTube’s full transcript of the video, if you’d like it: David Icke Reptile Illuminati Video 1.pdf Download David Icke Reptile Illuminati Video 1.pdf)
Part 2 is age restricted because of a clip around the 3:50 mark from Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut that contains nudity. I’ve provided a transcript of what the video says during the part with nudity if you don’t want to watch.
The transcript:
And what he [Stanley Kubrik] filmed is a mild, mild version of what goes on. Because he knew. And you had the colors. You have mose people in the ritual in Eyes Wide Shut in black. The main guy was in red. Here we go again. You had the orgies going onm, and you had the people being killed, the lady being killed. But that was such a mild version. I don’t know what was in the twenty-five minutes they took out, mind [you]. The real version is that there’s blood very-bloody-where.