Memes

 It is funny now that when I think about memes, they practically run the internet. When I feel bored or need a laugh, I just start browsing on either Facebook or Instagram to look for memes. Often, I run into the ones that I have seen before and enjoy a laugh once again. But when I run into a new trend of memes, it is hilarious. The most recent ones that I have seen my peers use are along the lines of, "This is (insert name), be smart like (insert name)". These memes typically describe what a person does and states whether or not it is a smart thing to do. 

 Now, these memes may be a way for our current world to express ourselves, especially when the internet has given the power to allow us to be anonymous. These memes surfaced along with the Kermit the Frog memes, Pepe memes & the oh so famous I ain't got time for dat memes. It has been somewhat of the internet sensation and it has allowed people to identify themselves by reading those memes. The memes let people know that they are not alone with the feelings, actions or even thoughts that they are having. That is why we often see people laugh at the memes that they identify with or relate to the most.

 Sometimes, I realize when I have seen enough of a certain wave of memes, there is a new wave that has surfaced and before I know it, the internet and people I know are all over it. It starts to become overrated and the trend starts again with a new wave of memes. It has definitely become a market for us to start creating different ways to entertain our minds and sell products. 

 My final thoughts are, I like memes, memes has become part of our lives. As a student, we often feel lonely and lost in our quest to the goals we want to achieve but memes help us find a part of ourselves and let us know that we are not alone in all this. They let us know that we are not the only one who is feeling broke or struggling in school. It is a good form of laughter and encouragement for us to live just a little longer before we become adults. 

Devitt: Genre Awareness

When I think of genre, it is the typical categorization of a certain topic such as music, books, television show or movies as seen on Netflix. According to Devitt, teaching genre without engagement might ruin the way we think about street smarts vs. school smarts, it emphasizes stereotypes and puts labels on those who aren’t as educated or connected in the subject. At SDSU, the genres that I have encountered the most in my major are research papers, scientific papers/reports, analysis papers/reports. In my life, I have found that I often have to write my emails to various people in both professional and unprofessional tones. I think in today’s society, we also encounter social media type of genre that is a combination of people we know sharing their style of the genre that was taught to them most and it have somewhat stemmed their ideologies and beliefs. The purpose of these genre is allowing me to achieve different things in my life whether it is good grades, a favor from someone or a message that I want communicated with different individuals.

We often thing of genre as a set category but when Devitt speaks about genre awareness, it makes me think about the many different ways we can be looking at genre. Devitt talks about instructions in genre, no matter how detailed, will always be incomplete. This itself will ruin the experience of fully fulfilling a genre writing assignment. I feel this is in most of the classes that I have taken my whole life, where teachers are very strict upon the style in which we write in certain papers because of the “instructions” given for a genre of writing they are assigning to us.  Secondly, Devitt also talks about taking a genre from a typical learning place and put it in another—her example was, “learning business genre in technical writing courses rather than in actual workplaces” (340). I do believe that most of what we are taught is learning in the environment that it is supposed to be, but if we remove the stereotypical place we are learning certain genre from, would that change our views and perspectives? In addition, many teachers choose to teach in their comfort zone and this creates a power structure that channels information the teacher knows into the student and therefor, passing down their ideologies. This I will further explain below.

                “When a writer takes up a genre, they take up that genre’s ideology” (339)

                The genre a teacher decides to teach often will limit the students’ world to many other different genres. When teacher themselves believe in certain ideologies that a genre offers, it often will pass on to the student. Devitt seems to be advising teachers to take a neutral stand when it comes to the genre they choose to teach. I understand where Devitt is coming from but I also think it is important to be taught genres that will actually benefit many of us students in our future careers. I say this because we often have to learn many things on the job and with no help of school, we have to adjust quickly or else someone else will take our spots. Some of the things we learn on the job should be taught in school in order to prepare us better for the real world. So often, teachers try to have us see things from their views, our opportunities to engage and be aware of the subjects and genres learned is hindered.

                When Devitt speaks of “existing power structures and dynamics” (347), I think she is talking about how genre help people identify but also assume. The structure in which genre is taught shows where it came from. One of the example I can think of is during slavery, slaves used to mix some English into their native language to speak to their masters. However, this made them look like they we not educated individuals to the whites but they made their own language and genre. The same can be said about someone who grew up in certain areas and are accustomed to certain traditions but if it is seen as foreign, we often dismiss it or categorize it instead of embracing or engaging with a rhetorical point of view. 

A little about me

Hi guys,
  It is really hard to talk about myself in a blog because I don't think I have done this since the days of Myspace but here goes...

 My name is Tien and I am an economic major here at SDSU. I was born in Vietnam and grew up there for about 10 years then my parents decided to move us to the US. Since I grew up in Vietnam, I did not get to watch a lot of the cartoons and Disney movies that a kid in America would have watched when they are young. Which means that I had to catch up on a lot of good movies and morning cartoon shows when I was in my teen years.

  It took me a while to decide on Economics as a major. Purely because there were so many choices that I was interested in but I guess Economics won my heart. Most of the time, a lot of us feel pressure from our peers and our parents to go a certain routes in order to be cool or make more money. I have tried to take all the chemistry and biology classes that I could but I really hated chemistry. I despised it so much that I think I failed every single test in college and ended up dropping the classes. When I see or hear younger people pursue a career because of the money or the coolness of it, it drives me crazy. I wanted to be a fashion major too but I realized that it did not capture my attention enough to stay involved.

  I am a person that enjoys staying home and watching a show. I like to sleep and play video games when I can. However, I do also enjoy the occasional hike to be able to see the beautiful scenery that is offered by nature. My favorite hike right now has to be Elfin Forest in Escondido; it is a short hike but I get to see the dam and the lake at the top.

  I also like to cook and eat which is very bad at times because I got food poisoning over the weekend. The hardest part for me is trying to figure out what I ate that caused me to be so miserable. It was this really nice seafood restaurant I went to with my friends in Harbor Island that had a wonderful view and I ate some oysters(raw). I ended up at the doctor's yesterday morning and contemplated going to class this morning. I really wish food did not have this bad side because I feel like I should be getting sick more often. I try to stay healthy but I find it hard to have any control when I am always around people who can cook.

  This is my last semester at SDSU and I am hoping that I finish strong because I have barely survived some of my classes. Looking back now, I am surprised I was able to make it this far. It seems like it was just yesterday when I first stepped onto campus as a transfer student. I think most people on campus have the same goals as I do when I comes to going to college to find their passions and to receive a degree they worked so hard for.

Well, that's all for now, until next time. Thanks for reading!