PB3

I did not know that the Project Builder was meant to be on the blog, so here it is!

John Costello

Ms. Williams

Writing 2

19 November 2019

Meme to Scene

The primary text I will be translating is very unconventional and not necessarily a text, but rather a phrase. I plan on translating a meme, but more specifically the “Ok boomer” meme. This is a relatively new meme and the definition of this meme according to KnowYourMeme.com is “a dismissive retort often used to disregard or mock Baby Boomers and those who are perceived as old-fashioned and being out-of-touch” (KnowYourMeme.com). This is obviously in the meme genre, and the audience of this genre are mainly young people who frequently browse the internet. However, this meme in particular is aimed towards the baby boomer generation, so this meme also fits into that audience. The purpose of this meme is to poke fun at baby boomers and to mock them for not being in touch with the younger generations and the problems they face. Another main use for this meme is to mock baby boomers for not caring enough about the environment, and it is used as a tool to retort any attacks the baby boomers have made on the younger generations. Although this phrase may seem rude and could be viewed as an attack, it is used in good fun and no harm is meant when it is used. The divide between generations is already very wide, and this joke-phrase is not tearing apart that gap any further. 

I plan to translate this meme into a scene from a play. A scene from a play has multiple conventions. Firstly, there is a header that tells the reader which act and scene he or she is reading. There is a block of italicized text at the beginning of the scene that tells the reader the setting and identifies any set pieces or characters onstage. One of the main conventions of a scene is the dialogue. The entirety of the scene is composed of lines that actors say to one another, as if they were speaking. This is different than a novel, for example, that has paragraphs that usually include a lot of description of situations occurring. The only way to get information from a scene is through the lines the characters in that scene are saying. There are also stage directions that are in parentheses and italicized. These tell the actor playing the character what to do onstage before, during, or after the line is spoken. The purpose of a scene is mainly to entertain the audience, which is usually very broad and can be nearly anyone. A scene can entertain the audience in many different forms, whether it be comedy, romance, suspense, or music. A scene also has a clear beginning, middle, and end that informs the audience about something new happening in the play as a whole, or if the scene is standalone, it sends a message to the reader or viewer.

I have chosen to do this translation because it is unique and both genres are something I enjoy and feel like I would have fun writing about. I’ve also always loved playwriting, so I think I will have an easy time translating the meme into a scene. I hope to reveal that although genres are very different from one another, they can always be translated into other genres and still be understandable to the genre’s audience. I hope to reveal my primary text is only poking fun at baby boomers through my scene, and I hope to reveal that anyone can understand anything to an extent; it all depends on what genre that person is trying to understand it through.

Works Cited

“OK Boomer.” Know Your Meme, 18 Nov. 2019, https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ok-boomer.