Jsansing's Blog

The literary meme I chose to explore is the “Don’t Tase me Bro” video.

This is an example of a meme, because it is cultural information that has been passed on by groups of people who have like mindsets. The “Don’t Tase me Bro” article on Wikipedia states that the video has had over 4.3 million views (as of the end of 2009).

What I found interesting in the Wikipedia article, was the fact that they gave background information to supplement the events seen in the video.  It makes me wonder : out of all the people who viewed this video, how many knew the information outside of what why saw…

For some viewers, the video may have been funny, and maybe that is what caused them to pass it on. Just look at this t-shirt inspired by the viral video- certainly, anyone who would purchase this would have to feel that the video was funny.

For other viewers, the video may have been a way to call into question the actions of the police in the situation or what not to do if 7 police officers are trying to escort you out of a building!

Either way, the video was a huge success.

Memes in the classroom can be an interesting thing.  I think it would be very powerful to ask students to critically evaluate the information that they previously were viewing in a different light.  Most memes catch our students attention because they are funny. However, students should also be able to understand the reasons behind their success.  They should also be able to critically evaluate information, and not just accept it for what it seems to be.  There are websites out there, such as Know Your Meme, that evaluate memes for you.  I think this would be a great place for students to get an idea of what they should be thinking about when evaluating memes.

“Advertisers are America’s real pornographers”

Wow, what a statement to make… The first thing that comes to my mind when I read this quote is the connection that is being made to advertising as a scandolous type of buisness.  As the saying goes, “sex sells.” Just look at this add from Burger King:

Aside from the visual image, the words “desire”, “juicy”, “mind-blowing”, and “seven-incher” are all very explicit, and make it apparent that this ad is very sexually charged.  I think this ad is a great example of a sexually-charged ad that is geared towards women, because I think that most people think that ads like this are geared towards men.

In addition, I think that this metaphor implies that advertisers promote a type of product that is out of touch with reality, and unattainable for some.  Just think about it-pornography is a type of escape for those that watch it.  Its not THEIR reality, otherwise they would be doing it themselves, instead of watching it. This

The impact that this has on our culture is very evident.  Racy ads are seen everywhere, and it gives the impression to children that sex can be used as a means of getting what one wants.  In addition, it gives young girls a false sense of reality.  These type of ads portray women as perfect-with the perfect body-and not everyone looks like that.  These types of ads could create a sense of low self-worth if a child imagines that they do not live up to the standards in commercials.

I must say though, America is actually more discreet in what they let air on television.  I found many ads on YouTube that were very sexually explicit. A lot of these ads were “banned” in America, but not in other countries.  Overall, I was just surprised at how far advertisers will push it to achieve the shock-factor and have people talking about their product.

I believe that the metaphor presented makes its point very well.  As Postman says, “metaphors help us see and feel,” and advertisers are definitely using this concept to their advantage.

So, we as teachers should use metaphors to our advantage as well.  In the classroom, there are a variety of benefits that metaphors can bring to our students. By exploring metaphors, we will be building our students’ vocabulary.  A student is more likely to remember the meaning of a word if it is put into a conceptual framework of their own.  Metaphors can also help our students think more creatively, which would be beneficial for their writing skills.  I believe that looking at everyday things from a different aspect is an important skill to teach students.