In Patrick Davison’s essay “The Language of internet memes”, he describes his definition of an internet meme through the anyasis of Richard Dawkins article “The Selfish Gene”. Davison describes an internet meme as “a piece of culture, typically a joke, which gains influence through online transmission”. Davison states that not all internet memes are jokes but the speed they are shared makes them unique, as opposed to jokes that are shared written or verbally. Davison states that memes abstain from attribution, the identification of an author of a piece of media because anonymity allows for creative freedom. I agree with Davison’s claim that memes are jokes that are widely distributed. However, I do not completely agree with his claim that
“The Onion’s” mock press release on the MagnaSoles satirical article effectively attacks the rhetorical devices, ethos and logos, used by companies to demonstrate how far advertisers will go to convince people to buy their products. It does this by using manipulative, “scientific-sounding" terminology, comparisons, fabrication, and hyperboles.
In this passage from the novel Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates utilizes meaningful, vivid imagery to not only stress the chasm between two dissonant American realities, but to also bolster his clarion for the American people to abolish the slavery of institutional or personal bias against any background. For example, Coates introduces his audience to the idea that the United States is a galaxy, and that the extremes of the "black" and "white" lifestyles in this galaxy are so severe that they can only know of each other through dispatch (Coates 20-21). Although Coates's language is straightforward, it nevertheless challenges his audience to reconsider a status quo that has maintained social division in an unwitting yet ignorant fashion.
The political cartoon displays an aerial view of a man explaining to a woman that the United States Capitol building has been working with a split down its center before the earthquake occurred. In the center of the image, Uncle Sam is hanging onto an edge with one hand as he is going to fall in the large crevice through the ground in front of the Congress building. The author exemplifies how the bias of Congress cannot understand the citizens’ interests; he attempts to describe that excessive favoritism harms Congress which makes it difficult to complete anything when neither one of the political parties agree to a compromise. The meaning of the picture is that Congress has recently been divided into two parts, and an earthquake was not the
Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century. By Kasson, John F. (New York: Hill & Wang, 2002. Acknowledgements, contents, tables and figures, introduction, notes, bibliography, index. $17.00 paperback)
In the two selections, “ Could You Become a Mean Meme” and “Are You Being Watched?” written by Kristen Lewis and reporting by Jane Porter, social media was presented with advantages and disadvantages. In “Could You Become a Mean Meme” Ashley VanPevenage was represented as a meme. For example, “ Each image was followed by cruel comments about her skin” (Lewis 12). This shows us that as Ashley might as thought something would happen her way, the opposite thing occurred. This is a disadvantage which caused Ashley to get all the hate. She never knew she would wake up and see all of this happen. Ashley was shown as oblivious. However, “ Are You Being Watched” showed the advantages of social media. Companies may not be allowed to gather specific information about kids under the age of 13. As said by the
In Gladstone’s view, “ The echo chambers give rise to cyber cascades, when a fact sent by one person spreads in a geometric progression to others until millions of people around the world potentially believe it” (332). Gladstone’s point is that instead of thought or ideas or traveling by word of mouth, the internet is able to spread the truth or lie to millions of people and the easiest way to do this is with the people are like-minded. This refers back to birds of a feather flock together.
“The Facebook Sonnet” and “Icicles,” are two poems that have two different forms of poetry structure incorporated into them. With each different style of poetry comes an equal amount of ways of interpreting the purpose and the meaning of the poem. Each poem is directed to its own type of audience, the types of audiences that are being demonstrated in “The Facebook Sonnet” is determined by thinking outside the box and think about what happens when somebody takes a website that is mostly used by adults who use it sometimes just to communicate with each other and the second type of audience that is being demonstrated is the connection between a father and son spending time together comparing Icicles to any real life objects that they can think
Rhetorical Analysis: “Is Google Making Us Stupid” In composing “Is Google Making Us More Stupid” Nicholas Carr wants his audience to be feared by the internet while at the same time he wants his work to seem more credible. Nicholas Carr uses many different types of evidence to show us that we should be scared and feared, as well as his credibility. Carr’s audience is people who think like him, who find themselves getting lost on the internet while reading something, someone who is educated and uses the internet to look up the answers to questions or to read an article or book. From the beginning of Carr’s article, he explains that the internet itself is making “us” more stupid. Carr talks about how his mind has changed over the years because of reading and looking things up on the internet.
The high development of languages around the world is arguably humanity’s most remarkable feat. Without it, we would be not much better off than monkeys or gorillas. Whether seeking to persuade, to inform, to express emotions, to question, to transmit ideas, or even to deliver masterpieces in verse or prosaic, people use language in order to communicate effectively in ways that are simply too arduous to quantify. Language, furthermore, is also not limited to just writing or word of mouth, for it also is used in other fashions, such as codes. Smoke signals, body language, computer programs, as well as Morse and flag are just some examples. Since a person’s language, is essentially inherited, based on their birthplace, due to society’s standards, it is, at times, taken for
In “Cyberspace and Cyberculture” Ken Hillis describes cyberspace as “imaginary and metaphorical” (Hillis 324) and cyberculture as “the cultural practices which occur in cyberspace” (Hillis 324). To which he claims that cyberspace and cyberculture are must exist as a pair. Because cyberculture must happen in a space, this space is by definition, virtual, and so it must have no physical dimensions (Hillis 324-325). Nevertheless, cyberspace is still space: A place where people can gather and share ideas. This is particularly true in reference to the Internet. Environments such as facebook.com, the fading Myspace.com, and specialty sites such as Last.fm, which cater to music enthusiasts, all operate in an effort to lubricate human interaction, and depend on those interactions to stay active. Their business depends on it. For example, Facebook.com is worth an estimated 300 million US dollars a year (Forbes).
As capitalism runs its course and develops new technologies, society is left to pick up the pieces and figure out where these new technologies will lead them. Ever since I learned to use the Internet as a child, I have become accustomed to seeing more and more fascinating technology developments that have changed the way I communicated as the years went by. Now that the Internet has infiltrated more aspects of human life, it has become necessary to reflect on how this critical juncture will continue to affect our society. In Digital Disconnect, Robert McChesney provides an analysis of the arguments that the celebrants and skeptics used to express their views of the Internet. McChesney then moves past these arguments to explain how the PEC plays a key role in determining the direction that the Internet is heading towards. By assessing McChesney’s views, I hope to develop my own interpretation of the Internet’s impact on society.
Wilde begins his article with an analogy comparing internet memes to pizza. He says, “And that pizza is internet humor. No matter how much we enjoy them at first, all jokes mold, but damned if they don’t stick around anyway.” (Wilde, Tyler. "Let’s Stop Calling Ourselves the “PC Master Race”) He then goes on to explain how the term originally was an insult that PC gamer took on as their title. Wilde then goes on to claim that the PC community should not identify itself with a meme that makes people uncomfortable. He then iterates that this is not a plea for political correctness and that he just wants a title that fits the brand of PC gaming better. He recognizes that those that use the term don’t mean to be offensive; however, he still thinks it is inappropriate. He concludes with a call for the PC gaming community to adopt a new
The “Facebook Sonnet” is a poem written by Sherman Alexie. It explores the idea that people can have a fascination with social media. He gives his opinions about how Facebook seems to shape and change social networking and the people who use it. It’s a reminder on how people can forget the difference between reality and what is not. The Facebook website has become a place for some to become something they are not, a place to vent, become known, and share personal information. He seems to point out how some of the members of Facebook are so concerned with what people think of us. It’s like a need for validation from others. It makes you question your everyday habits when being online.
Humor is not only to entertain, but “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly” as argued by Alain de Botton, a Swiss philosopher, writer, and television presenter. Humorists sometimes use their platform in order to send their arguments and/or messages across. Because they say things in a joking matter, they are able to touch upon a topic, which at times can be inappropriate or politically incorrect, and give their opinions and comments while they come out of the argument and the fight with minor scratches. Many subjects such as, sexual orientation and race, are just a few of the topics humorists talk about, which make them a vital function in society.
Today everyone is on social media and there are a lot of things on social media that is fake news. Why people would put fake news on social media, no one knows. Maybe it’s just to get attention, but the author makes several arguments as to reasons why people pass along fake news stories and posts. The author convincingly reminds people that not everything one sees in the media is true.