Project One Intro Rough Draft

     Memes date back to the late 1970's when Richard Dawkins coined the idea in his novel "The Selfish Gene". However, it wasn't until just recently that memes have grown tremendously in internet culture and have gained instantaneous popularity.  Memes, like novels and other works of literature, can be placed into certain categories based upon their genre. Social media has marked a new rise of popularity for internet memes. For example, many memes are snow-clone, in other words, they are immediately recognized and used in various different contexts. One of the most famous internet snow-clone memes is the "One does not simply" meme. Many different means of social media such as Twitter, Instagram, and even Facebook have used this meme. It has been thrown into several different contexts such as humor, academics, fitness, and other more serious matters. 

Project One Essay Rough Draft

One Does Not Simply

     Memes date back to the late 1970's when Richard Dawkins coined the idea in his novel "The Selfish Gene". However, it wasn't until just recently that memes have grown tremendously in internet culture and have gained instantaneous popularity.  Memes, like novels and other works of literature, can be placed into certain categories based upon their genre. Social media has marked a new rise of popularity for internet memes. For example, many memes are snow-clone, in other words, they are immediately recognized and used in various different contexts. Many different means of social media such as Twitter, Instagram, and even Facebook have used memes. Memes also effect the longevity of the person. A very general characteristic of what memes are, are being square pictures with white bolded writing on tops and bottoms of it. Memes have been thrown into several different contexts such as humor, academics, fitness, and other more serious matters.

     One of the more famous memes are the “One Does Not Simply” memes. This meme is a picture of Boromir from The Lord of the Rings where Boromir says “One does not simply walk into Mordor”. One of the main characteristics of this meme, along with the standard square picture and white text, is that it is found on all types of social media! Not only have I found “One Does Not Simply” memes on social media, but I found it in multiple magazines. It also is understandable because it has and shows the connection between the real character shown in meme and the reader who has probably seen the actual scene from The Lord of the Rings. The two people that this meme connect are weight lifters and people who have seen The Lord of the Rings. This involves weight lifters because the bottom text describes the feeling after training legs. It involves the people who have seen The Lord of the Rings because that is where the picture originated from. One last type of characteristic for a meme is the longevity it has on its reader. This means how long the reader’s brain is going to retain the information and how often they will think of this meme when encountering either The Lord of the Rings or when they train their legs. If the meme has a greater longevity and influence, the reader is more likely to show it or tell friends about this meme.

     One of the ways they spread the popularity of this meme and show it to their friends are  by posting it on the different types of social media. That is what gave me the idea on creating the meme of Boromir saying “One does not simply…workout & not tweet it”. My meme demonstrates the absolute original characteristic of being a box shaped picture of Boromir and containing the white text on the top and bottom. My meme also fulfills the other characteristic of being all over social media. The reason it fulfills this characteristic is because I personally have posted my meme on Twitter and Instagram. Next thing you know, my followers have either retweeted or even reposted my meme which has now created the Domino effect. This will then have an effect on the longevity and being influential on its viewers. The longevity will increase because the more people who re-post my meme, the more they will think of it whenever they see someone post about the gym or  when they see a one does not simply meme. Lastly the characteristic of having a connection with the meme is also viewed in a sarcastic tone in my meme. It is shown because when people always post that they are going to the gym, it may get irritating to others.

     Although you may think memes are irritating, humorous, or offensive, we don’t know how long they will last on being the new trend. Another trend may come after “memes” and may be even more irritating. If you can’t avoid seeing memes, start making some! If you can’t beat them, join them! Have fun by building your own memes and express your own opinions through a meme. Just don’t forget to make them square and with white text! Maybe you can even change the trend little by little. Make the picture an oval with black text, or make it a motion picture with white text! All you have to do is be creative!

Project One Essay Final

One Does Not Simply

            Memes date back to the late 1970's when Richard Dawkins coined the idea in his novel "The Selfish Gene". However, it wasn't until just recently that memes have

grown tremendously in internet culture and have gained instantaneous popularity.  Memes, like novels and other works of literature, can be placed into certain categories

based upon their genre. Social media has marked a new rise of popularity for internet memes. For example, many memes are snow-clone, in other words, they are

immediately recognized and used in various different contexts. Many different means of social media such as Twitter, Instagram, and even Facebook have used memes.

Memes also affect the longevity of the person. Memes have been thrown into several different contexts such as humor, academics, fitness, and other more serious matters.

            Technically a meme is defined as “an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic

memes, especially imitation. The word meme originates a Greek word and an English Word. From the Greeks, we used the word Mimema (that which is imitated). From the

English, we have used the word gene. Together, they have created the word meme in the 1970s. A very general characteristic of what memes are, are being square pictures

with white bolded writing on tops and bottoms of it. Another characteristic of a meme is being on multiple different types of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, iFunny,

etc. One of the keys to a successful meme is having a good longevity characteristic. This is how long a person is going to retain the information. For example, the “One Does

Not Simply” meme has a high longevity on its viewers.

            One of the more famous memes are the “One Does Not Simply” memes. This meme is a picture of Boromir from The Lord of the Rings where Boromir says “One

does not simply walk into Mordor”. One of the main characteristics of this meme, along with the standard square picture and white text, is that it is found on all types of

social media! Not only have I found “One Does Not Simply” memes on social media, but I found it in multiple magazines. It also is understandable because it has and shows

the connection between the real character shown in meme and the reader who has probably seen the actual scene from The Lord of the Rings. The two people that this meme

connect are weight lifters and people who have seen The Lord of the Rings. This involves weight lifters because the bottom text describes the feeling after training legs. It

involves the people who have seen The Lord of the Rings because that is where the picture originated from. One last type of characteristic for a meme is the longevity it has

on its reader. This means how long the reader’s brain is going to retain the information and how often they will think of this meme when encountering either The Lord of the

Rings or when they train their legs. An example of another type of meme that demonstrates longevity is the “But that’s none of my business”. This meme has a picture of

Kermit sipping a cup of tea minding his own business. This has a great longevity because this is what people tend to say and imitate when they gossip about other people but

then say “But that’s none of my business”. If the meme has a greater longevity and influence, the reader is more likely to show it or tell friends about this meme.

            One of the ways they spread the popularity of this meme and show it to their friends are  by posting it on the different types of social media. That is

what gave me the idea on creating the meme of Boromir saying “One does not simply…workout & not tweet it”. My meme demonstrates the absolute

original characteristic of being a box shaped picture of Boromir and containing the white text on the top and bottom. My meme also fulfills the other

characteristic of being all over social media. The reason it fulfills this characteristic is because I personally have posted my meme on Twitter and Instagram.

Next thing you know, my followers have either retweeted or even reposted my meme which has now created the Domino Effect. This will then have an effect

on the longevity and being influential on its viewers. The longevity will increase because the more people who re-post my meme, the more they will think of

it whenever they see someone post about the gym or  when they see a one does not simply meme. Lastly the characteristic of having a connection with the

meme is also viewed in a sarcastic tone in my meme. It is shown because when people constantly post that they are going to the gym, it may become

irritating to others.

            Although you may think memes are irritating, humorous, or even offensive, we don’t know how long they will last on being the new trend. Another trend may come

after “memes” and may be even more irritating. If you can’t avoid seeing memes, start making some! If you can’t beat them, join them! Have fun by building your own

memes and express your own opinions through a meme. Just don’t forget to make them square and with white text! Maybe you can even change the trend little by little.

Make the picture an oval with black text, or make it a motion picture with white text! All you have to do is be creative!

My Meme is....

One Does Not Simply

Workout & Not Tweet It