Daniel Briskman, Period 1, 9/24/21

Literacy & Learning

Write about your thoughts regarding any of the fiction or non-fiction covered in class.

Today in class, we read a profound piece of nonfiction—a poem written by Ms. Fusaro herself—called “2020.” The poem begins by listing some of the well-known tragedies we all experienced during 2020, such as the upsetting deaths of basketball player Kobe Bryant and his daughter, the devastation that the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked upon the world, and the stress inflicted on students and teachers alike as they struggled with remote learning. The poem even mentions the short-lived threat of murder hornets—the slightly humorous reference to which made me hesitant regarding the direction of the rest of the poem. In reality, the poem takes a direction I did not imagine. It becomes less about worldwide or nationwide experiences and more about the heartbreak and suffering that the author personally went through herself. And it shook me to my core. One important rhetorical device used by the author was the repetition of the phrase “Day into night, night into day” at the end of each stanza. It took on several meanings. For one, it conveyed that time didn’t stop each time the author mourned or struggled. Instead, time kept “marching on,” as a classmate put it, leaving more suffering in its wake. A second possible meaning was that the chain of hardships was endless. The last meaning, which was the one that resonated the most with me, was that each day blended into the next, as if days and weeks became insignificant because the pain was constant. 

Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception.

While I initially thought that the value of the poem lied in its grueling depiction of our common hatred towards the year 2020, I gained a deeper understanding of the poem during our class discussion. Just as the poem described events known to the world and events known only to the author’s immediate circle, we all shared universal experiences during 2020, but we also individually went through experiences and trauma that almost nobody else knows about. Even close friends or family members. We, as a class, realized that each of us has our own unique story to tell even if we all shared some things in common. Yet even though the poem talked about what the author personally struggled with, we were all able to relate to the poem and empathize with it. It even seemed as if the poem was purposely written in an anonymous-sounding voice so that it could be about anyone. Despite the differences in each of our experiences, sharing even some of that trauma was enough for us to envision ourselves as the person in the poem.

How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?

On a lighter note, another topic we discussed today was popular memes. Many of the ones that students in our class brought up were certain trends on TikTok. After identifying various popular memes, we had to think of possible reasons for their popularity, and we thought of a few reasons. For example, some TikToks are funny because they reference, add onto, or put a spin on others. Then, Ms. Fusaro posed a question: “Will you still find these memes funny in 10 years from now?”, and a classmate brought up an interesting point: at first, the memes would not seem funny, but as your nostalgia kicks in and you remember the context they might seem funny again. That’s when an idea hit me. Maybe it is not just the meme itself that makes it popular, but the positive feelings involved with being a part of something greater than yourself. Understanding and witnessing these kinds of trends makes you feel like you’re included in something—like you’re in on a joke. An example I thought of was a trend of people posting chair () emojis in Instagram comment sections. What prompted this curious behavior, you might ask? Someone made an Instagram reel (the Instagram equivalent of a TikTok) telling everyone to post chair emojis in Instagram comments whenever they found a post funny. Just a few days after I saw and forgot about that reel, I started seeing chair emojis all over Instagram comment sections. I only found it funny because I saw the reel. Unaware people would simply be confused, which adds to the humor. In this way, our interactions on the internet really are about forming communities. Different memes circulate in different parts of the internet, and part of the appeal of memes is sharing them with others. Thinking about it in that sense reinforced the idea that every tacky meme we publish contributes to the culture, or folklore, of our own internet communities. Thinking about the internet this way makes me feel more grateful for how connected we all are in this day and age. It makes me want to contribute positively to not only internet culture but cultures and communities in the real world, as well.

ReplyForward