WANT TO BET? A STUDY OF CON ARTISTS
Why look at con artists, you may ask. Well, con artists create fiction every time they pull their 'mark' (victim) into their scam. Both the con and the victim are part of creating a fiction - the con by providing an outline of a story and the victim by filling in the blanks.
There are a few central questions about character that also arise with this theme:
what is the character of a con artist? of a victim? Is the success of a scam due to the irresistible nature of the con artists, or is it the gullibility of the victim and the hope for an easy win?
if we know that there are scams out there, why do we continue to get fooled? Does our hope for an easy solution or our desire to gamble trump reason?
Let's explore and find out.
There are a few central questions about character that also arise with this theme:
what is the character of a con artist? of a victim? Is the success of a scam due to the irresistible nature of the con artists, or is it the gullibility of the victim and the hope for an easy win?
if we know that there are scams out there, why do we continue to get fooled? Does our hope for an easy solution or our desire to gamble trump reason?
Let's explore and find out.
Creating the Fiction: Buying into the Lottery System
Assignments One and Two: Collecting Information from Articles
assignment_for_why_we_buy_lottery_tickets.doc | |
File Size: | 32 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Articles for Assignments One and Two
Assignment Three: Paragraph Writing |
|
paragraph_assigmment_on_lottery.pdf | |
File Size: | 38 kb |
File Type: |
Some Famous Con Artists From the Past
There have been cons and con artists for as long as history itself. Let's get acquainted with a few to learn a little about what con artists do and how they are able to pull off the cons that they do.
Assignment One: Famous Female Con Artists
The assignment is to first note down the names and deeds of these female con artists, then write down what skills you think that would have needed to be successful con artists.
|
|
Assignment Two: 'Doctor' Brinkley
Read the article on 'Doctor' Brinkley and complete the chart, recording his different schemes and the skills he would have required to pull them off and make the millions of dollars that he did.
con_artist_chart.pdf | |
File Size: | 33 kb |
File Type: |
the_story_of_john_r._brinkley.pdf | |
File Size: | 128 kb |
File Type: |
the_best_darn_story_of_the_whole_20th_century.pdf | |
File Size: | 230 kb |
File Type: |
What are some standard cons?
the_12_best_con_artist_schemes_ever | amy_reading.pdf | |
File Size: | 427 kb |
File Type: |
The Language of Con Artists
con_jargon.pdf | |
File Size: | 47 kb |
File Type: |
Looking More Closely at the Con Artist
What is a con artist? We will look at three articles that give us more insight into what makes a con artist tick and why they are so successful at what they do.
The assignment can be found below, along with the articles.
The assignment can be found below, along with the articles.
con_artist_articles_questions.pdf | |
File Size: | 73 kb |
File Type: |
bbc_-_future_-_how_con_artists_trick_your_mind.pdf | |
File Size: | 1719 kb |
File Type: |
con_artists_–_sociopaths_-_narcissists.pdf | |
File Size: | 449 kb |
File Type: |
how_con_artists_work_-_howstuffworks.pdf | |
File Size: | 255 kb |
File Type: |
Putting It All Together: Con Artist Creative Assignment
As the culminating assignment for the con artist unit, this project puts all the work that we have been doing together to create an original work about con artists in action.
con_artist_creative_assignment.doc | |
File Size: | 32 kb |
File Type: | doc |
screenplay_handout.pdf | |
File Size: | 3575 kb |
File Type: |