Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Balloon Hoax
I know so of you may be wondering why this story was called "The Balloon Hoax," I know I was until I remembered that the book that I read for my book review had a little blurb about it, so I thought I would share it with you: "Texts become increasingly removed from the form of thier original publication, and these removals affect interpretation. The appearance of the printed page, however, shapes the reader's understanding of the text it contains. "The Balloon Hoax" provides a useful example. In most modern editions of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, its text is uniform with the rest of the pieces in the collection. Each story appears in the same-sized type with identically spaced margins and the work among other short stories removes any doubt about its fictional nature. So does its title. Originally, it was not called "The Balloon Hoax." It only gained that title in the oral culture after its fictional status became known. Containing the word "hoax," the title lets readers know the story is undoubtedly a product of Poe's imagination. The story's first appearance in print was designed to make it closely resemble a factual account. Poe convinced Moses Y. Beach, editor of the New York Sun, to publish it as part of an Extra Sun. In terms of format, the story looked similar to any of the day's newpaper articles. It had a dateline as well as a multi-part headline characteristic of urgent news with bold-faced capitals, bold italics, and exclamation marks. The story was set in multiple columns, and the paper included other items, as any paper would. It also contained a woodcut illustration of the model balloon on which the full-scale one purportedly was based. The woodcut image made the technology Poe described more tangible and added further credence. When it first appeared, the hoax was a success, and many people accepted it as truth until they heard reports to the contrary." So now that you know... why do you think Poe went through so much trouble to make it look so truthful? I think maybe it was to become more noteably recognized as a writer maybe??? Anyways I hope this was all new to you guys!
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5 comments:
We have seen Poe show some distrust towards the press, so maybe this was his way of showing not to believe everything you read. By making it seem so true, and having people believe it, reflects people's tendency to trust what is published in the newspaper. Also, the idea of a balloon being able to cross the Atlantic in three days would've been very exciting at the time. This shows society's excitement about the future of transportation/technology.
I agree with your ideas about society and their expectation of science. I also think that Poe is showing the power of the written word, especially when it comes to science. Like we said last class people are able to determine what is believeable and not believeable these days as opposed to back then when science was on the invention horizon and reserved for only the special people who were engaged in science. Poe also shows the difference of what was news then and what we call new today. This is a very different way to view what makes a story news.
This story reminded me of the third chapter of the book I reviewed by Margaret Alterton. In that chapter, she explains that as Poe learned about law, he learned all of the elements of what was needed to convince the reader that the story he was telling was believable. I enjoyed how he included the newspaper as "proof" that the story was real. Also by including scientific explanations, he lends credibility to the story. Corrine's post concerning the explanation of the "hoax" was very helpful. I agree that Poe is exhibiting the power of words, whether the scenario is believable or not. The aparent "evidence" of science encourages the reader to believe. By discounting the original story and presenting it as false causes the reader to truly believe Poe and his story about sailing over the Atlantic in a balloon simply because it contains science. At the time the story was written, science was becoming a notable discipline that caused curiosity. I have to wonder if Poe is writing to prove that he possesses the power of influence or is Poe just really creative and applying what he has learned through his readings or making a statement to the newspapers about the amount of power they possess and their responsibility to the public?
When your quote said that Poe convinced the editor of the New York Sun to publish his work as if it were a real news report, did Beach know it was fake? Do you think he convinced him it was real or convinced him just to put it in? Because that would be interesting to know whether or not he told anyone that it was fake. I was just curious if your book said anything about that :)
In response to whether or not Poe's editors knew the story was hoax, according to "The Cigar Girl", (sorry to quote from it again)after The Sun felt obligated to print a retraction , the editors "offered a winking declaration that they were inclined to believe that the intelligence is erroneous, but by no means think such a project impossible." I think this is their way of covering their butts. They knew Poe made it up, but went along with it for both sales and giggles. I do not think they realized so many people would believe it as true, but when it sold over 50,000 copies, they had to come clean, but did so in a round-about way- "No it did not really happen, but it very well could have, so its not that big of a deal".
Just my opinion.
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