This discussion about trying to find genres and their conventions can sure be confusing. That is why it is great to have these random generators so i don’t really have to think about what i’m doing. On the comic generator Pandyland, I realized that a lot of the the pictures for me were just recurring over and over again. Some of the conventions that I think about when I think about these comic strips is that they have to be relatable. Sometimes, you just get these three very random pictures, and you just do not know what to do with them. I think that a convention for these randomly generated pictures, is that it has to make sense. Also, it has to be funny, because what is the point of just a random comic you feel me!! Another convention of these comics is that I guess it has to be very crude sometimes. These comics also have to be relatable for it to be funny. For example, after clicking the generate button for the longest time I finally found a comic that I thought was funny and relatable. This is comic#1, I think it follows convention because it is relatable to many people. For starters, who doesn’t hate Mondays. Also, everyone always knows that one person who is just really excited for the day. I know we all hate that person, and just want to do what this guy did in the comic. We just want to punch them in the throat.
The next generator that I used was this SCIgen generator. If I had known about this in highschool with my science teacher, dang, I would have gotten an A+ no problem! Even though whatever is written down here is complete bullshit. My paper that I randomly generated had to do with robots, and I had no idea what the title meant whatsoever. The title was Robots using extensible communication. Then I actually started reading it to see if any of it would help me make sense of it, but it didn’t. Some of the conventions that were apparent were that it had a clear concise order for a research paper. It had its own table of contents and introduction. The paper also has the research that you need. I don’t know what kind of research it really is, but if it was on topic it would be pretty cool.
The next generator was a meme generator. Meme’s are actually pretty cool as their own genre. They are usually used to make a joke, show people new things, or just to highlight certain aspects of life that everyone does and just talk about them. Meme’s are usually short and witty. They have to have a relevant topic that many people can relate too. Also, they have to be easily understood. For example, the “bad luck Brian” picture is usually used to explain the worst thing that could possibly happen in a situation. This picture is used that way because when he was first posted someone just connected his face with the face of a person who just gets everything wrong. That is why memes are so popular today, because they are funny and everyone can relate to them.
Now I found one more generator online. (For the extra point!) It’s called a superhero name generator. It chooses a random superhero name for you and explains your powers and how you got them. Then it tells you what you do with that power and who your arch nemesis is. Pretty cool huh!! My name was Shining Boy and I harnessed the power of the great egyptian god Ra to blind people and control light. my arch nemesis was the evil Domino Bones! Anyway, the conventions that I thought made it its own genre was that it gave me a name, and also how I got my powers. It also provided a town that I live in that I protect. And finally, it gave me a villain to fight. These are very important to a superhero because what would be the point of just the plain superhero name. http://superhero.namegeneratorfun.com/
What happens in these generators, can help a person better understand genre because it provides written examples that can be used to show how relevant genres can be. A student who doesn’t understand genre can easily understand that a comic strip is characterized by picture’s, and memes are used to explain a point or tell a joke somehow. That is how these genres can help someone who doesn’t understand. Because it gives them concrete examples that are relevant to them in today's society.
Awesome post! You wrote good introduction that can grab the attention from readers. I like that you included photo examples to help readers to understand better about the topic. You also clearly explained the conventions that each generator has. Your post is also well organized so I was did not get lost while reading. I agree with you that those genre generators provide written examples, which help people to have better understanding of a genre. I was not sure about how these genre generators can help someone to have better understanding of genre but now I know. Great post with good explanations and examples!
ReplyDeleteI really liked how thorough your post was. I think that the way you explained the conventions of each generator was very thorough, and I even enjoyed your own additional superhero name generator. I think that you should have mentioned more of constraints and more of structure, but the elements that you mentioned for these websites were very accurate to their genre. I, too, began to read the computer science generator to see if any of the written work actually made sense, and I'm glad that you mentioned that. Your post was very concise and had a very stronger ending. Good job.
ReplyDeleteLuke,
ReplyDeleteI like how you called college a “fresh start.” That’s a liberating way to think about it, and I think you’re spot-on.
It seems to me that you’ve got a stronger hold on genres/conventions than you did during Week 1, so I hope you’re able to look back on Thlog #1 to see how far you’ve come in such short time. I also admire your willingess to admit that you didn’t quite grasp something the first time—I doubt that everybody is willing to do that, so I appreciate that.
Re: PB1A, great stuff. Graphic novels have a whole lot to them, and you’ve pinpointed a lot of conventions and themes. Suspense. Younger audiences. Dudes like the guy in the Simpsons. Good vs evil. BOOM!, ZAP!, etc. But, as you mentioned, these conventions—including the audience and the purpose—can also change. Think about our first reading from Understanding Rhetoric—that’s more of a graphic textbook instead of a novel, but it was designed (and it’s being used) for educational purposes.
Re: PB1B, this was a good start to pinpointing the conventions of these different genre generators. The best way to analyze genres is to get as specific as you possibly can. Why? What value does this have? Well, as you continue through college and beyond, if you’re able to specifically pinpoint the convnetions of various genres, you’ll be able to (1) more effectively evaluate individual pieces for their “goodness” and (2) much more likely adopt/adapt some of these conventions in your own writing. That’s huge.
With memes, for instance, the white capitalized font is outlined in black. Why would that be? Well, this way, the language can be displayed on any kind of background without getting drowned out. Also consider: what’s the purpose of creating/viewing a meme, and who is its likely audience? What’s the content of pictures that are typically used? (Usually pop culture references, although some grainy “homemade” pictures are typically used too.) These are the sorts of angles and questions that I want us to develop an eye for.
All told, keep working hard, Luke, and make sure that you’re looking at genre from all the angles you possibly can. That “Genre Analysis” handout in our course reader is a suuuuuuuuuper useful resource.
Z