Memes

              The concept of a meme can be traced back to Richard Dawkins. He referred to memes as an “evolutionary model of cultural development and change that was grounded in the replication of ideas, knowledge, and other cultural information through imitation and transfer.” There are three factors that he points out that are responsible for a meme’s success: fidelity, fecundity, and longevity. Fidelity refers to a meme’s ability to be copied and passed from one mind to another while maintaining the same idea. Fecundity refers to the speed at which an idea is copied and passed on. Lastly, longevity is how long a meme survives. Memes that become popular all share these same qualities.

Figure 1

              One meme that I am sure everyone knows of is the little boy and his fist bump who has been coined as “Success Kid.” This meme of the little boy is probably one of the most replicated memes because of how simple it is. In fact, the meme became so popular that the kid in the memes became famous and even earned some advertisements (He became the face of Vitamin Water and was used by Virgin Media for a marketing campaign in 2012). Words that are usually attached to this meme are usually what people consider “accomplishments” or even just random luck.

For example, the meme in Figure 1 describes ordering fries at a Burger King and then finding an onion ring with the fries. Although it is such a simple matter, it is entertaining because it is so relatable. Who doesn’t love receiving extra stuff when they order fast food? 

Figure 2

Figure 2 is another very simple meme that many people can relate to as well. I know several people who have a habit of texting/calling people when they are drunk and regret what they did the next day. Most of the time, they are calling their ex-girlfriend/boyfriend or texting something extremely embarrassing. The thing that probably made Success Kid so popular is its relatability. Many people are able to relate to what is described in the memes. It is also very easy to create your own version of Success Kid because there are just so many things in life that make people happy. Success Kid has all the qualities that Dawkin mentions a successful meme has. 

I think Figure 3 is something that all students can relate to. It is the best feeling in the world when you’re taking a test and don’t know the answer to a question, but then find the answer to it within another question. I remember when my teacher realized the mistake he made during the test and I was just thinking “Yes!! Thank you!” Teachers obviously cannot relate to the meme so it is not as funny to them as it is to students. However, all students can relate to it because we pretty much earned an extra point without trying very hard. 

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 4 is another meme that most people can relate to. Anyone who has had to bring groceries inside the house understands how annoying it is to have to make several trips back and forth. That is why people often try to hold as many bags as possible during one trip to shorten the amount of times you have to go back and forth. Being able to carry everything in one trip brings forth a sense of accomplishment and happiness.

Success Kid was so popular at one point because the idea behind it is so easily copied and passed from one mind to another. Although the meme in Figure 3 is not something that is relatable to teachers, they too can easily make one that does apply to them since the concept behind the Success Kid is applicable to everyone. Everyone has the ability to interpret the meme in a way that applies to them.  

Amy Devitt's Genres

Within Amy Devitt’s academic research article titled "Teaching Critical Genre Awareness,” she discusses about genres and its ideology. By “genre,” Devitt is referring to the writing style and how they differ according to occasion. For instance, some of the genres we use at school are essays, and research papers. The former consists of a very strict guideline to follow, with a thesis, intro, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The writing is very formal and has little room for creativity. Meanwhile, research papers are formal, and require that the writer incorporate credible text from an expert to support his/her idea. This is the way we have been taught to write for academic papers ever since we were young and it is what we are used to.  

This topic reminded me of when I was a writer intern for an online company, in which I published news for various different websites. I wrote articles for the beauty website, electronics, and K-pop to name a few. Depending on which website I was writing an article for, I took on a different type of personality in my writing style. For K-Pop, I was more enthusiastic and excited. For electronics, I wrote in a more intellectual and formal writing style. Meanwhile, for the beauty website, I used a more girly tone of writing. I did not realize I did it then, but am aware of it now that we are discussing writing genres.  

The fact that we use different writing genres doesn’t only apply to writing products like an essay, but is also true when we are communicating with someone online. Our writing style changes online depending on who we’re talking to, and even what website or social media platform we’re using. To friends who we are close to, we write to them in an informal and casual style. To those we aren’t close to, our writing might be short and formal. We also write differently when we’re writing a Facebook update compared to when we respond to a comment on YouTube.

Devitt believes genre awareness is important because if students can understand the various writing styles, it can help students improve and become better writers. Being aware of different genres makes it more comfortable to write different genres and when we’re more comfortable, we naturally write better. This is especially important for our future careers where we may be asked to write various genres on a daily basis. It makes it less of a hassle if we are prepared and comfortable to write the specific genre.

When Devitt states, “When writers take up a genre, they take up that genre's ideology,” she means that writers take up the characteristics of the genre they are writing. For example, when we write a research paper, we know it must be informational and include supportive evidence from credible sources to back up our opinions. It does not contain any emotions or personal stories. Likewise, an essay has its own characteristics as mentioned previously. This is usually the five paragraph paper with an intro, thesis, body paragraphs, and conclusion. It is entirely different from a research paper. All genres have unique ideologies that makes it easy to differentiate itself from one another. Just like music genres.

Lastly, Devitt means that genres have so much power and structure because they direct us to write in a certain way. This is most likely because we have been taught to write in such a way already, so we continue to write in the same way. As mentioned before, the way we write an essay is something we know by heart now because we were taught to do it the same way growing up. We all know the same structure of an essay. Or a research paper. Or a resume. The structures of different genres is common to all of us and in that way, genres have so much power because it directs our writing.  

Introductory Post

Hello! My name is Ngoc Nguyen. So a quick story about my name. I was born in Vietnam and moved to the United States when I was six years old. My uncle was the one that filled out the paperwork, but when he filled out my name, he miswrote my middle name as my first name and vice versa. So legally, my name was Nhu Nguyen and that is the name I had to use while going to school. It also happens to be my older sister’s name (whose name was also filled out incorrectly…) so that caused a bit of confusion when we got mail. I recently became a citizen so I was able to change my legal name back to my birth name, but I haven’t had the chance to change it in the SDSU system so that is why I am still enrolled as “Nhu Nguyen” in all my classes. However, I would appreciate it if you could all refer to me as Ngoc (pronounced as “knock”)!

I am 21 years old, and turning 22 on February 11. I love eating. It is the motivation that gets me up in the mornings, knowing that breakfast awaits me.  Some of my favorite types of food are Thai, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese. I pretty much love most Asian food, although I do prefer a burger once in a while. I highly recommend going to Bahn Thai for Thai food, Sushi Diner for good sushi, and Manna/Kogi BBQ for amazing Korean barbeque. If you’re ever craving Asian food and need a recommendation, I’m your girl. As for drinks, I absolutely love boba drinks. One of my favorite things to do is getting together with my friends to drink boba and play board games.

Big Sur, California

I also enjoy travelling, more specifically, going on road trips. I always try to go on at least one road trip every single break. A few of the places I’ve drove to include Yosemite, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Grand Canyon, and Zion National Park. Most of these places are outdoors because I love going on hikes and exploring new places. I have plans to travel to Asia this summer with my family. Some of the places I am dying to visit include South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, and my birth country, Vietnam. Although I probably won’t be able to visit all of them this summer, I hope to cross most of those countries off my bucket list!

Fossil Creek, Arizona

Horseshoe Bend, Arizona

I am currently a marketing major with a minor in management. I am not sure if this is the senior fever or something, but as my graduation date gets closer, I get more nervous about going into the real world as an adult. Over the past few months, I have become more anxious and nervous about my future. Questions like, “Can I become successful?” and “Will I even be able to get a job with my major?” have often popped into my head. While looking for marketing internships, I started regretting not majoring in a field that is more stable such as accounting. Due to the high standards I set for myself, I have become less confident in my ability to find a job in the marketing field that will satisfy those standards and make my parents proud. This past summer, my family went through the toughest time in our lives. The situation has made it all the more important that I find a job that pays well so I can help my parents.

Rather than talk about more depressing subjects, let’s move on to something more positive! I currently live with both of my parents and have two older sisters who have moved away. My oldest sister is a navy wife so she is constantly moving every few years. She was in Japan for the last two years and I am still upset I couldn’t visit her because I didn’t have a passport and a visa was too complicated. My middle sister is a flight attendant and she is the reason why I will be able to fly to Asia this summer without breaking my bank. As a perk for being her family, we all get free flights to most places around the world (Thanks sis!). I am shy and do not express my feelings in person as often as I would like, but I love my family.

              That’s it for now. I look forward to learning about all of you this semester!