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Course Outline | Project 1 | Memes
Introduction
Introduction
In this assignment, you'll choose a meme that you personally enjoy, and then you'll discuss how your thoughts compare to three other commenters who've responded to that meme.
Requirements
Requirements
Core Skills
Core Skills
Describing Your Personal Thoughts: For this paper, it's especially important to describe how this meme speaks to you. What does it remind you of? When do you share it with others?
Identifying Outside Perspectives: Here, you want to find people who've reacted to the meme in interested and meaningful ways. Try finding people who have different views on the memes, or comments that illustrate the original source of the meme.
Citations with URLs: To help readers find your sources, you'll link your original sources both from your text and from a Works Cited list. This does not need to be in MLA format.
Word Count and Research Sources
Word Count and Research Sources
400 Words, not counting the source list.
1 Meme: Copy the image into your paper, and then link to the website where you found that meme. This might not be the original author. If your meme is a video, you can use a screenshot.
3 Outside Commenters: Make sure these are three separate people besides yourself.
In-Text Citations with URLs. Embed your hyperlink to the core of the comment. Use the @screennames for your citations — citing real names is not required for this assignment.
List of Sources with URLs. Use the @screennames as authors, give the "Meme Title" in quotation marks, and then copy in the raw URL.
Example: Philosoraptor Meme
Example: Philosoraptor Meme
Here, I've included an example picture of the meme with the link and description underneath, and then below are a couple paragraphs showing how the personal thoughts and external source citations should look for a single source. Remember that you need the meme, 3 outside comments, and 400 words.
In this example, note that the URLs for the image and my quote have been embedded in the text — this makes it easier for someone using a screen reader to follow that URL. In the Works Cited page, the URLs are "bare," as in they have just been copied in directly. This is not ideal for screen readers, but it is currently part of the citation options in MLA. When you write your research papers, please include those URLs so I can easily check your sources.
Philosoraptor: "Is there another word for synonym?" as posted on Smosh (via The Wayback Machine).
My personal favorite meme has to be the Philosoraptor. According to the website Know Your Meme, the Philosoraptor meme "[depicts] the dinosaur as being deeply immersed in metaphysical inquiries or unraveling quirky paradoxes."
I love this for two reasons: one, because I think velociraptors are the best dinosaur ever, and two, because I'm a huge fan of paradoxes. It's the perfect blend: the thoughtful predator with a vicious cognition.
One of the best parts of the meme is how it gets people twisting words into puns. For example, 足球比赛直播_竞彩足球比分直播_足彩即时比分直播网 posted a variation to Pinterest that asks "If time heals all wounds...what happens when you get hit in the head with a clock?" John Samer replies "It'll heal over time." It doesn't actually make much sense, and I'm not even sure why I think that comment's funny, but it makes me chuckle.
On the flip side, some people reply to the Philsoraptor questions with complete seriousness. Like when casshern2501 posted a Philosoraptor that asks "Would Magneto...be able to lift Thor's Hammer?", scottsrobotpho replies with "He can. He did it in the comics, both within the 616 and ultimate universes." I mean, sure, that sounds accurate, but is that really the point? Magneto is supposed to be able to lift anything metal...but only someone who's "worthy" should be able to lift Thor's Hammer. We're supposed to be left puzzling over whether a villain of infinite magnetic power has influence over a piece of metal that only heroes may hoist. I mean, sure, the authors at Marvel might have an official answer to this question in the comics, but the eternal question remains: can resistance to unworthiness actually overcome the magnetic attraction of a supervillain's rage?
Works Cited
足球比赛直播_竞彩足球比分直播_足彩即时比分直播网. Philosoraptor "If time heals..." https://www.pinterest.com/pin/605523112372195107/.
casshern2501. "Would Magneto..." https://9gag.com/gag/aExpKBG.
john_samer_98. Response to Philosoraptor "If time heals..." https://www.pinterest.com/pin/605523112372195107/.
Know Your Meme. "Philosoraptor." https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/philosoraptor.
scottsrobotpho. Response to "Would Magneto..." http://9gag.com/gag/aExpKBG?utm_source=copy_link&utm_medium=comment_share#cs_comment_id=c_152274752510651746.
Smosh. "The 20 Wisest Philosoraptor Quotes" via The Wayback Machine. https://web.archive.org/web/20180504131903/https://www.smosh.com:80/smosh-pit/photos/wisest-philosoraptor-quotes.
Final Advice
Final Advice
For this assignment, I'm not grading you based on how you define a meme. Almost anything can turn into a meme — typically, the two things matter are a recognizable image and unique text applied to a variety of new situations. Some memes are videos, some are photos, and some are cartoons. They're usually short and to-the-point, but they don't have to be.
What I care about are perspectives and citations. As long as you're able to find outside information and then use those URLS to show us how to find it, you're good!
Rubric for Heartland Courses
Rubric for Heartland Courses
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcomes
Accurately represent the perspectives of your commenters.
Document your sources with citations and URL links.
Describe your personal perspectives on the meme and how they relate to what your commenters are saying.
Essential Competencies
Essential Competencies
Problem Solving / Critical Thinking (PS/CT): Can you tell us how this meme affects those who view it? What is it about the meme that draws the attention of our readers?
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