Iven Ayyar Project 3 RD

 

Third Response

In their recent work, Gore Vidal and Theodore Dalrymple have offered hard critiques on whether or not Marijuana or drugs should be legalized in the United States. Although Vidal does not say so directly, his article assumes that if you do legalize all drugs in the U.S., the U.S. will become a better and possibly safer place. According to Vidal, “If everyone is allowed to take drugs everyone will and the GNP will decrease, the Commies will stop us from making everyone free, and we shall end up a race of Zombies, passively murmuring "groovie" to one another.” In making this comment, he uses an enthymeme. An enthymeme is an informally stated syllogism with an implied premise. The enthymeme Vidal used makes the audience assume that drugs will turn us into zombies and we will begin to use slang with one another. Vidal also uses another enthymeme by saying “Last year when the supply of Mexican marijuana was slightly curtailed by the Feds, the pushers got the kids hooked on heroin and deaths increased dramatically, particularly in New York.” Vidal is falsely assuming again that because the government ceased amounts of Marijuana from Mexican children, it was the government’s fault that they died. We cannot assume that it was the cease of marijuana that caused this. It could have also been that the kids were pressured into trying the new drug and that it was the peer pressure which caused the deaths.

            The author Vidal is also supporting his argument by invoking stasis questions. A stasis question is when a reader would ask certain questions to themselves about the topic in order to arrive to the point at issue in the debate. I believe a categorical stasis question was invoked when he asked, “Is everyone reasonably sane?” to which Vidal answered no. This then creates an argument because people will disagree, or even be offended by saying that not everyone is sane. He does this yet again, at the end of the article, by asking if anything sensible will be done about the issue on whether or not drugs should be legalized. He assumes that, of course, nothing will be done. This is another categorical stasis question because people who believe in what their government does will be offended and argue against it. Vidal is using techniques in his word choice that could possibly instigate anger in his readers.

            Vidal uses the three artistic appeals of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to engage his readers. He evokes feelings of Pathos, or emotion in his readers by possible offensive wording or even siding with certain peoples’ views. He uses the death of children in Mexico to cause an emotional impact within his readers because children always seem vulnerable in the topic of drugs. The Ethos is credible because the article is published on Michigan State University’s website, with whom is a very reliable university in the field of education.

            Therefore, I do believe that Vidal has a very strong argument. A neutral reader to his article such as myself would understand the issue going on, what needs to happen, and the reasons behind it to support his claim. This was an effective article that used multiple forms of rhetorical techniques. Overall, don’t do drugs, and stay in school. 

 

 

 

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

 

Project Two Rough Draft