Project Five

     Ever since I realized I wanted to become a medical professional, I decided that I need to improve my writing skills in order to become an adept student in undergraduate and medical school. All throughout high school, I knew that my analytical skills lacked highly. Reading books and regurgitating information (after all, I am a science student) was my expertise. Yet, English class was one that always that caused me trouble. Yet with Paper Four, I was forced to do research and look for sources relating to urban blight. Additionally, I analyzed all sorts of information, ranging from research articles from New York Times about urban blight to books written by experts on the urban city. I read articles about the Detroit Blight Authority and Motor City Blight Busters, two non-profit organizations that combat blight in the city through using volunteers. They demolish blighted buildings once they get the approval to destroy them. Through the use of volunteers, they destroy and renovate buildings and decrease their expenses. Additionally, for this paper, I read books such as The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-minded America Is Tearing Us Apart by Bill Bishop and Robert Gushing. My research skills have increased as I focused in on using reliable encyclopedias, such as Wayne State’s Library Research Guide website.  This book spoke of the economics surrounding the inner sections of the urban city. Looking at graphs regarding the typology of the urban cities, books about financial situations of citizens in urban cities, articles regarding new razing policies, and personally working with the Motor City Blight Busters organization, I accumulated all the resources I could and integrated all these sources and created a potential solution to this problem. Overall, with this paper, I have improved my researching skills and analytical ability of city information.

     Excerpt from Paper Four, part of the proposed solution:

“The best policy to deal with continuous blight should take into account how to further prevent it in the long run. Blight should not exclusively account for the homes and properties that are unsalvageable, but it should also define the properties that are at risk of falling into the cycle of blight. Recently, the Detroit Land Bank teamed up with the City of Detroit to take the initiative to auction off vacant properties starting in the East English Village to have homebuyers renovate them under restrictive terms to ensure the house would be useful long term. This recent initiative demonstrates the collaboration of both Detroit’s government (Mayor Duggan’s administration) and a local organization; now, what is left is for citizens to purchase these houses and renovate them within 6 months (Christie). In examining this scenario, the limitations of the Motor City Blight Busters, and the inefficiency of governmental blight removal strategies, the most effective policy for dealing with blight implements the collaboration and cooperation of the City of Detroit with the dozens of the successfully operating non-governmental organizations (and redevelopment companies) that target the blight and renewal of Detroit, and the citizens and communities that make up the city. This policy would acknowledge that without the work of any one of these three entities, blight removal and city renewal would eventually reach a roadblock. This is because many of the dozens of policies implemented in the past have fallen short because of the lack of stability of one or more of the employed entities. In this proposed policy, stability would be built on the government working with non-government organizations who work directly with residents in blighted neighborhoods."

PROJECT FOUR - Rough Draft 

Passing Through the Problem

Throughout the history of civilizations, the advancement of society has been correlated to the progress of urban cities. The city has been the symbol for economic advancement and societal progress. Yet, the urban city has become an infamous subject of squalor and despair. It shows the magnificence of human success while demonstrating the misery and decay of this progress. Such disorder that causes citizens to reproachfully leave the sight is called urban blight.

Urban decay has made its mark in urban cities, such as Detroit, Michigan, and made its prominence in several negative ways. Blight negatively affects cities in various ways in the public health, economic, and social spheres. National and city governments have combined efforts to establish blight removal programs and give stimulus money to urban cities to aid in their removal of this seemingly never-ending problem. Although they have succeeded at times, the amount of land yet to be cleaned is greater than what has been finished. Most of the removal procedures conducted have been towards demolishing decaying buildings, but these efforts do not always take full advantage of the new land. The razed land is often left as an empty plot instead of turning the area into something useful to the city. The possible uses for the land include involving businesses in demolitions, using cleaned up properties as farmland, and creating new homes and businesses in that area. In Detroit, Michigan, the city should attempt more diverse ways to combat urban blight, rather than singly demolishing houses, including working with non-profit organizations, large companies, and higher levels of government.

Urban blight is a prevalent problem in the United States, especially in large cities such as New Orleans, New York, Chicago, and Detroit. In these cities, urban decay has grown and remained a problem. Large urban cities have fallen into a state of blight through similar ways: as the suburbs began to gain favor, inhabitants left the city for the suburbs. As a result, a high percentage of lower-income individuals remained in the inner city (Bishop 112). With the displacement of jobs and the population decrease, little tax revenue was going into the city’s system. Because of this reduction in funding, the city experienced circles of economic misfortune.          

The urban cities mentioned above have experienced these events and have become blighted as a result. In Detroit, Michigan, urban blight has become a symbol of the city’s downfall. Cleaning up urban blight has taken extensive efforts, combining national and city governmental, non-profit organizations, and volunteer efforts. Such substantial blight in a city demands bureaucratic action because of the numerous effects blight has on a city. With stimulus money and blight removal authorities created by the government, city officials can consolidate and relocate citizens to other places of the city and proceed to remove severely blighted neighborhoods. Organizations aiming to combat urban blight do not go as far as picking a sight to remove blight in; this is where the government steps in C. The government would be able to succeed in this process in a more efficient way than any single organization (Saulny).

If new laws and organizations combating blight are implemented through the national government, positive changes can be made to eliminate blight. As a result of urban blight, the most important sectors that are affected are public health, safety, and social welfare. Blighted homes serve as hubs for drug trades, violence, and crime. Some of these issues arise from the concentration of poverty in the inner city and lack of sufficient resources for the citizens in blighted areas of urban cities. Apart from government intervention, organizations in Detroit help to combat urban blight, it still remains an issue. One such organization that I personally work with is the Motor City Detroit Blight Busters. As the creator of Blight Busters, John George is the leader of the organization. Blight Busters does have many other groups that they have worked with. Volunteers have been helping since the beginning and they currently estimate the number of people to have offered their time to be around 120,000. Most of them have been from the greater Detroit area, but a significant portion has come from different places in the state for many various reasons. The organization does many things to help our city, but it mostly deals with the demolition or renovation of various decaying buildings. Their goal is to inspire former residents to return to the city, and hopefully welcome new people into the area, by getting rid of decay in Detroit (Motor City).

Their efforts towards demolition and renovation so far have been successful. Since the organization began, Blight Busters has torn down over 300 buildings and built over 144. In Redford, they were able to clear an entire street of the houses that were abandoned and falling apart. Not only have they been able to demolish these buildings, but they are able to do it with less funding than Detroit’s city government. The city needs around 17,000 dollars to be able to take tear down a building, but Blight Busters only use around 12,000 dollars. As for renovation, the organization has been able to restore 176 buildings and they have made housing for over 1,160 people in the city (Motor City).

Blight Busters does many things well. They have proven that they are good at demolishing or renovating buildings to get rid of decay and providing other services to their community. They are also skilled at tearing down these dangerous structures in a more cost efficient way than the city does. The organization has gotten some recognition for their efforts. One of these moments was when John George was featured on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show. An award Blight Busters was given was the Points of Light award. Specifically, former President Bill Clinton gave them the President’s Volunteer Service Award. But not everything works perfectly. While Blight Busters is getting some financial help from the businesses in the Artists Village, they do still need funding. However, the issues are not limited to finances. Having experience working with the Blight Busters, it is safe to say that we have seen some things in their efforts that could use some improvements. During the volunteering periods, there was not much leadership. The four of us, along with other people who also came to work there, often found ourselves not knowing what to do. We all would constantly ask each other what we should be doing, but rarely could anyone give an answer. Volunteers ended up standing in groups talking, not really sure if they should be doing more to figure out what to start on next or simply wait for someone to come give them orders. If Blight Busters had more people that they assigned as leaders for specific projects, it would help them improve the efficiency of the overall work.

From the Motor City Blight Busters, I have learned of techniques that citizens use to tackle blight and the ideas used to replace it. Moreover, I have taken away the fact that undying civic leadership and a prevalent community bond is what strengthens non-governmental organizations in proceeding to their goals. But though their success in demolition and renovation exists throughout Artist Village and portions of Detroit, they are continuously limited by funds, shortage of professional contractors, and their lack of authoritative powers that the local government holds. This small organization alone cannot tackle the blight that is engrossed in the 139 square miles of Detroit that make up dozens and dozens of neighborhoods and districts (Williams).

            Though blighted properties that first and foremost pose an actual threat to the neighbors and neighborhood should be a priority, the best policy to deal with continuous blight should take into account how to further prevent it in the long run. Blight should not exclusively account for the homes and properties that are unsalvageable, but it should also define the properties that are at risk of falling into the cycle of blight. Recently, the Detroit Land Bank teamed up with the City of Detroit to take the initiative to auction off vacant properties starting in the East English Village to have homebuyers renovate them under restrictive terms to ensure the house would be useful long term. This recent initiative demonstrates the collaboration of both the government of Detroit (Mayor Duggan’s administration), a local organization (the Detroit Land Bank), and what is left is for citizens to purchase these houses and renovate them to bring them up to code within 6 months (Christie). Without the citizens and neighbors doing their part in the scheme, the end goal of this policy cannot be reached. In examining this scenario and the limitations of the Motor City Blight Busters, the most effective policy for dealing with blight implements the collaboration and cooperation of the City of Detroit with the dozens of the successfully operating non-governmental organizations (and redevelopment companies) that target the blight and renewal of Detroit, and the citizens and communities that make up the city. This policy would acknowledge that without the work of one of these three entities, blight removal and city renewal would eventually reach a roadblock. This is because of the dozens of policies implemented in the past, many have fallen short because of the lack of stability of one of the employed entities. In this proposed policy, stability would be built on the government working with non-government organizations who work with residents and neighborhoods.

This long term proposed policy would specifically answer the question of what the city and non-governmental organizations could best do for the land after a property has been demolished in order to improve both the economy and environmental stability of the area. In the past, properties have been demolished only to become an empty plot of land that contributes little to the landscaping of the city and this is not necessarily the end solution to the city’s blight.This policy would also integrate past policies that have been successful and policies, which had great potential, but lacked certain insights.

In this proposed policy, these local organizations that deal mainly with planning would be several of commissioned organizations around Detroit whom have worked to target and find strategies to removing blight in the long run. The political barrier for non-governmental organizations though is that they cannot do what government can accomplish in dealing with these properties. The local government is the decision maker to which blighted neighborhoods can ultimately be demolished, but with the data and work done from local agencies and organizations (who work directly with residents and volunteers), the government would be able to get a clearer picture of where to target to speed up the demolition process. In the end, it is up to the city to create a real strategic framework to target all the properties, but the compiled proposals and plans done from these local organizations would be essential to the city.

The municipal powers of Detroit have continuously reached barriers to managing blight. The city itself has political restriction and restriction on funding, so it must rely on federal grants. That is where non-governmental philanthropic organizations come into play. Other solutions and responses to Detroit’s urban blight that have been successful have been led by private sectors and non-profit organizations. Certain tasks for the city, such as cleanup and beautification, had to run through city council first, but now many foundations and organizations have taken the job into their own hands considering the extremity of blight in Detroit. For example, the Kresge Foundation has granted millions to the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy to maintain the riverfront, and the Charles Stewart Mott foundation has funded many urban farm initiatives throughout Detroit. In many instances, privatization will be the response to the lack of funding, efficiency, and speed of the government (Gallagher 146-148). What the city does have control over is overseeing demolition and evicting/fining homeowners that own blighted property. In recent news, the city has begun to target the homeowners of vacant properties in the Marygrove neighborhood. This initiative would target 79 properties over approximately 16 blocks. What the city then plans on doing with homeowners who do not fix up their property within 6 months is handing over the properties to the Detroit Land Bank to be sold and renovated (Guillen). In this proposal policy, the city would transfer over or sell at a reduced price, a number of blighted houses to local organizations that have the capacity to either demolish or renovate them. Non-profit organizations like Motor City Blight Busters and Blight Authority directly deal with demolition and often look for donated properties to either renovate or demolish and resell the land or transform it into parks or community gardens. The organization I worked with especially has found to be successful in demolition by using volunteers, thus lowering the total cost of labor.

Demolition will always be a necessity for removing blight, but the question of what replaces the land mass is still significant. Structures such as low-income housing should be the least favored because of failed projects in the past such as the Brewster-Douglass project, which only attracted poverty and blight. Back when these houses were built (in the 1960’s) they were in demand, but now, since the population has since halved, there is less need to build new housing facilities, especially ones that are built for short term living (Kahn). In this proposal, greening and urban farming to replace blighted areas will be emphasized. Our organization has already started to do urban farming on a small scale to replace the empty lots that became of the seven houses they demolished. Their rationale was that the community garden was both affordable and would be beneficial to the community (specifically Veterans). Urban farming throughout Detroit has been done on a smaller scale, but big time initiatives to lead to a potential farming industry have been scoffed at by city officials. Recovery Park and Hantz Woodlands are two non-profits looking to expand urban farming initiatives to grow another (albeit contradicting) industry for Detroit. Again, volunteers will be emphasized for these projects to get them started up, and the government has to be relied on for planning and zoning the farm area (Gallagher). Not only will urban farming give Detroit an edge on a more sustainable environment and appealing landscape, but it will be beneficial in helping feed the city.

            The long-term emphasis of this policy is to overall use the destruction of blight as a pathway to more realistic opportunities in sustaining the city. A strategic plan is first needed to determine which neighborhoods need demolition, and in determining them, non-governmental groups will have to work with the local government to both target, and obtain these properties. Beyond this, multiple non-profit blight removing groups, such as the two mentioned beforehand, will take charge in demolishing and cleaning blight. Once land is cleared, it has the option to be used for urban farming initiatives. Another major option is use the land in the Greening of Detroit’s Vacant Land Treatment Project, which is aided by the Detroit Future City project. This project emphasizes engaging with residents to determine what to plant or build in empty plots of previously blighted land (DFC Implementation Office FAQs). Ultimately, when tackling the issues that affect a neighborhood and show throughout the city, engagement (preferably direct) with residents, city council members, agents, and institutions, is what gets a project going.

RESPONSE SIX 

          In the article, To Fight Ebola, Create a Health Workforce Reserve Force by Michele Barry and Lawrence Gostin, the authors write about the new emergent Ebola scare in the Western world and the scare that has been present in developing countries for a while. With the Ebola scare being taken out of proportion in the developed world, the authors suggest that there be a group formed, Global Health Workforce Reserve. This proposal prioritizes the solution in that this group is to work in underdeveloped and resource deficient nations. Also, this proposal can be one that is easily agreeable on.

Although the issue does seem to be out of proportion due to the media exposure, people are educated about this issue. The public knows that Ebola is only transmitted through contact with bodily fluids. Yet, the public is scared of Ebola even with the small chance of human interaction. If there is an opportunity to create a concentrated group of doctors trained in working with ill patients in low resource environments, it is obvious that the public will easily vote yes on the proposition.

            A stasis issue that is present in this article is the cause-consequence issue. The authors introduce the creation of this group as a way to propose a solution to the Ebola problem. The authors do a good job in identifying the positive consequences that will occur. For example, they say that this concentrated group of medical staff is one that “bolster scarce medical personnel” and offer a greater coordinated response to larger outbreaks in underdeveloped countries. The most effective strategies the authors used in this article to make their proposal persuasive is the step-by-step explanations and benefits of the group they want to create.

            The authors of this article are aware that there is a problem internationally about medical outbreaks in underdeveloped countries. They propose a way to solve the inefficiency of medical groups in countries with outbreaks and how medical groups can be made more efficient so outbreaks are taken care of in a timely fashion. All of these reasons gives readers reasons to believe that the proposed solution is an effective one. 

PROJECT THREE ROUGH DRAFT

The Genre of TED Talks 

            In 1984, Richard Wurman observed an overlap between three powerful and developing fields: technology, entertainment, and design (in short, TED). Wurman realized that holding conferences on these topics would draw large audiences and increase the attending population’s knowledge. With the initial speaker at TED talk speaking about compact discs and the 3D graphics introduced at the time. This first event resulted in a loss of money and this organization was discontinued for six years. Yet, Harry Marks, the co-creator, tried again after six years. His conference proved to be more successful than the initial conversation and the TED organization became a legal group.  

     So, what is a TED talk exactly? According to their website, a TED talk is one in which a speaker hosts a conversation about a developing global idea, one that is an “idea worth spreading”. In common terms, TED talks are 10-15 talks hosted by a speaker in his or her respective field about an emergent idea. Through genre analysis, I have dissected TED talks. One of the quintessential characteristics enveloping all TED talks is picking a global topic that is under high speculation and is given much thought. These topics are typically in regards to health, economics, religion, etc.

     Another essential quality all TED talks have is a speaker that is an exponent in his or her respective field. This characteristic is one that allows TED talks to be relevant and educational in a variety of situations. In order for these talks to become popular, it is imperative they are applicable to several everyday situations. By being relevant, TED talks gained popularity and bring forth novel creative ideas for other talks.

     Furthermore, a third idiosyncrasy of TED talks is the ability to pass concise messages. The beauty of these talks is that there are various educational, informative, and even comical messages delivered in such a small amount of time. Although the talking time is minimal, the message portrayed has a large impact on the continuation of such talks. Succinct ways of communication, such as those used by TED talks, are necessary for busy audiences in our current society.

     Another characteristic of TED talks is the presentation of scientific data to add strength to the speaker’s arguments. Because of everyday misunderstandings, audiences are often unable to trust information presented by speakers without concrete evidence. People in the audience easily have several clashes in beliefs and are far more educated to simply believe a speaker just through their words. As a result of this, the discourse community of these talks, the audience, needs steadfast evidence in order to believe what the speaker is lecturing on.

     Lastly, a final characteristic of these TED talks is the reflection of the current learning strategies in society they exhibit. Talks are done by speakers using PowerPoints, lectures, pictures, graphs, demonstrations, polls, etc. Our social environment dictates students and learners how to acquire more information. Learning is enhanced through extraneous demonstrations, presentations, and virtual simulations; these talks show the transformations in learning strategies that have occurred over the past years along with the current strategies in learning environments.

      All these five characteristics prove to be quintessential to all TED talks: having these properties aid in carrying out the original beliefs of the TED organization inventors of educating and enlightening audiences of developing ideas in technology, entertainment, and design. Though the aim is to further propagate various ideas and speakers of diversified topics, just like in every other public movement, there are numerous benefits and shortcomings associated with TED talks. Though it is difficult to say whether the advantages or the disadvantages outweigh the other, it is certain that there are both evident.

      The strengths of TED talks are closely associated with the types of ideas that are being spread to the larger global population. With assimilating the larger emergent ideas in the seminars, speakers talk about creativity, body languages, sexual insight; the range of TED topics is quite extensive. One solidifying strength about these talks is how highly informative they are. These speeches are conducted by members whose expertise lies in the topics of these talks, ensuring the audiences that the speakers are highly knowledgeable about their topic.

     Another advantage of these talks is that they are about emerging ideas, those that are ideas worth more analysis and research. With conversations about these ideas, the attending discourse community feels compelled to educate themselves more on these ideas. It allows for more knowledge to be generated about these topics, engendering more future conversations.

An additional strength of these TED talks is the raise of awareness of issues that are often difficult to understand. Some of these talks are done about publically taboo and largely speculative ideas. For example, there have been talks about sexual orgasms, nurture versus nature, and creation versus evolution. These are topics that have been under public and scientific surveillance since the beginning of their respective discussions. Having public conversations on these certain topics, in the midst of global audiences, allow for more discussions on these topics in the future.

     Though the TED organization and the TED talks are those that have plenty of advantages, there are always two sides to the coin. TED talks have several weaknesses also. One of the shortcomings of the widespread TED talks is that in which only elitists are given the opportunity to speak in these events. Professionals that have strong powerful voices, great communication, extensive networking ability, and powerful positions in large organizations are picked to speak at TED events. Although elitists have been picked at the talks since the beginning, this phenomenon discourages rising young stars who would like to host TED talks. This phenomenon further adds to the injustice and imbalance of our current society, one in which elitists rule the board of organizations. This elitist rule phenomenon is present in organizations ranging from the Board of Directors of global business corporations and the Cabinet members of the governmental officers.

     Another weakness of these talks is the time constraint each individual speaker is put under. Most talks are given the time range 10 to 15 minutes and this time constraint is strictly enforced. Within such a small time frame, it is difficult to add the required background needed for common folk to understand. Without the background information given, the audience is often left in the dark, defeating the purpose of enlightening the audience of the topic. This defeats the ultimate purpose of the TED organization, which is to spread ideas through conversation.

     In conclusion, the TED organization consists of five characteristics. All TED talks are hosted by speakers about ideas that are newly emerging. These speakers are individuals who are experts in their field so they are highly educated on their respective topics. Additionally, TED talks pass their messages in such shortly timed conversations. Furthermore, scientific data is presented at TED talks in order to present evidence to the audience. Finally, these speeches, with their incorporation of informative slides, images, and demonstrations, illustrate current learning strategies that are instilled in present day education systems. Having all these characteristics, it is obvious that TED talks should be given their own righteous place in genres. Through the talks communication methods, significance of ideas, and evidence based speeches, it is obvious TED talks consist of their own genre.

4th Response - Why We Crave Horror Movies

http://eng1020wayne.pbworks.com/w/page/88100695/Fourth%20Response%20-%20Why%20We%20Crave%20Horror%20Movies 

PROJECT TWO ROUGH DRAFT

http://eng1020wayne.pbworks.com/w/page/87951343/Project%20Two%20Rough%20Draft%20-%20Lakshmi%20Nerusu

The Genre of Memes - ROUGH DRAFT

      Users of all ages can hardly surf the internet without running into memes at least once.  They have successfully dominated and established their regime on the internet as a main source of entertainment. A couple of the websites in which memes have exhibited their dominance are Reddit and 9Gag. As every meme starts with a single purpose, either to deliver radical statements, satirical jokes, or criticize public figures, they all belong to the genre of Internet memes and their respective subgenres. For this genre analysis project, I have chosen the “Success Kid” meme. From 2008, this meme has spread rapidly as viewers wanted to see more of this meme. In this paper, I will be applying the usage, meaning, and structure of a meme to show that memes have strict guidelines to follow to place themselves in their genre.

     So, what is a meme exactly? According to the Webster Dictionary, a meme is a “humorous image, video, or a piece of text copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users” (Webster). In common terms, most memes are images with writing on them to deliver messages. Through genre analysis, I have dissected memes. One of the characteristics of memes is displaying an image with writing positioned on it. These images are typically of a public figure, such as a celebrity, a character from a television show, etc. Memes have faces of well-known people or fictional characters on them because their facial expressions add emotional substance to the text on the meme.

     Another essential quality all memes have is replicability. This characteristic is one that allows the meme to be relevant, relatable, and comedic is a variety of situations. In order for memes to become popular, it is imperative they are applicable to several everyday situations. By being replicable, memes gain popularity and bring forth novel creative ideas for other memes. Furthermore, a third idiosyncrasy of a meme is the ability to pass concise messages. The beauty of a meme is that there are various celebratory, comical, and even satiric messages delivered through such a little number of words. Although the word count is often small, the message memes send out have a large impact. Succinct ways of entertainment, such as those used by memes, are necessary for busy audiences in our current society.

     For this meme genre analysis project, I have chosen one in the subgenre of youngster memes, specifically the Success Kid meme.This meme consists of a cute toddler with a clenched fist and stern look on his face. Released on the Internet in early 2008, this meme spread like wildfire as viewers enjoyed the satire in this meme. Originally posted on the Internet by a set of parents to show their toddler’s hate for sand, this picture took a 180 degree turn when it gained popularity as a meme. The Success Kid meme coincides with all the characteristics mentioned earlier in this paper, by having words written across the toddler’s picture, being applicable in several situations, and using terse phrases, proving that Success Kid memes are indeed true memes.

       Success Kid memes are a group piled under the subgenre of youngster memes. These memes are those that have images of young kids, mainly toddlers, with a specific set of qualities.

The essential characteristic of this group of memes is having a picture of a little boy with a stern look on his face. The look on this boy’s face has been subject to question because it can be interpreted in two ways: a stern, victorious look or a stern, unrelenting look. Although the exact look written on the face of the boy is unknown, it is certain that this meme would lose its appeal if meme creators and editors turn the little boy’s frown upside down. With a smile, this meme might result in a strong reaction from audiences. The Little African Boy meme serves as another example to this characteristic. In this certain meme, also part of this subgenre, a toddler in Africa has a quizzical look of his face while answering a female’s questions. If editors changed his face into a smile, the meme might not harbor the same amount of response.

     Another imperative quality in this meme that is specific to this subgenre consists of two intertwined components: content and voice. In the Success Kid meme, the content that is written on it is done with a successful, but lightly satiric, voice. The material on this subgenre of memes is illustrated by white block letters above and below the toddler’s head. The statement on the top gives an everyday situation, one that readers can relate to; the bottom statement is an unlikely event, throwing the readers off their guard, furthering adding to the humor of the meme. Besides the Success Kid, the Little African Boy meme has a situation with an improbable result. For example, one such variation of Little African Boy says “So you’re telling me if I cry on camera, I’ll get a new house?” Now, most people know if one cries, they do not get a new house. Thus, this is the satire in this meme.

     Finally, a third characteristic of Success Kid memes is the background specific to this meme. There are four various shades of blue behind the toddler in these memes. The background is imperative for these memes because it accentuates the serious grim of the toddler. Although this meme is mainly light-hearted and meant for laughs, this background gives an appropriate amount of gravity to the meme. Yet another type of meme, the Baby Godfather meme, is part of this subgenre. These memes typically have a concrete background with an uncompromising toddler in a black suit. This light background further underscores the facial expression of the Baby Godfather. In memes, the colors and the images are not the only characteristics specific to them.

     I have created a meme, a slight variation of “The Success Kid”, which explicitly illustrates this subgenre’s characteristics. The meme I created has a picture of the toddler and the words “Went to Class, No Homework was Assigned”. The top line, “Went to Class”, shows a casual situation any student can relate to. “No Homework was Assigned” is written on the bottom; having no homework for any student is an event that rarely happens. One a daily basis, teachers assign homework; thus, the satire comes in the second line of the meme. In my meme, Success Kid is celebrating his success for not having homework, a phenomenon that most students look forward to. My meme carries social ideas of the audience in its messages. Additionally, this meme has the background of blues to highlight the expression of the boy’s face.

            In conclusion, memes should be considered their own genre because of how stable in form and convention they are. They have established themselves as one of the leading ways to provide entertainment for people of all ages and their popularity does not seem to reduce anytime soon. Through memes’ images, usage, and meaning, it has become obvious that they are a part of their own genre. 

Outline:

The Internet Meme as a Genre 
1. First Characteristic - In order for a meme to be considered one, the genre convention is as follows: an idea that carries cultural ideas and beliefs through speech and images.
2. Second Characteristic - Another general characteristic memes must have is replicability. 
3. Third Characteristic - Finally, a third idiosyncrasy of a meme is a way to pass concise and cursory messages. 

Subgenre of a Meme - Success Kid

1. First Characteristic - This memes portray everyday situations that people deal with along with the conclusions of the situations.
2. Second Characteristic - A second characteristic of Success Kid in this subgenre is replicability. For example, success kid has been used for hundreds of situations, ranging from school to work life. 
3. Third Characteristic - Another characteristic of the Success Kid meme is the ability to convey social opinions in a succinct manner. Through only a couple of words, memes are able to deliver messages across easily

My Meme

1. First Characteristic - The Success Kid meme I generated is one that is short and easy to understand. There are simply seven words on this meme to get the point I wanted to make across. 
2. Second Characteristic - My Success Kid meme is also replicable in that I can use the same meme with a different message on it. For instance, I could use Success Kid and portray the message “Went Home for the Weekend, Parents Restocked on Food”. 
3. Third Characteristic - My meme carries social ideas of the audience in its messages. Students enjoy going to class and not being assigned homework.