Internet memes are often entertaining, but could they be
educational as well? I recently came across a post on social media site tumblr
that indicates that they can be. The post (which can be found here) follows the
format of the “What I Know About X” meme, which is basically a low quality,
mock powerpoint that explains a topic that the author usually knows almost
nothing about.
This post, however, actually
contains useful information on the very basic format of an essay. Most notably,
the post compares textual evidence/examples/quotations to gold and a teacher to
a pirate looking for that “example gold”. It’s even complete with the visual
representation of a screaming and running Captain Jack Sparrow with the caption
“this is your teacher. They’re comin’ for yo examples.” This visual aid references the popular
franchise Pirates of the Caribbean
that is sure to grab students’ attention while relating the important concept
of including textual evidence in their essays.
Although
I feel that this post would be an excellent aid in explaining the basic
components of an essay to students in a way that is meaningful to them, there
is one major issue: language. Despite this post being the “clean version”
compared to the original, the slideshow includes a few choice words that I
would revise before utilizing this presentation in a classroom setting. But
once the language is cleared up a bit more, I think this joke of a powerpoint
has the potential to be a useful guide for promoting references in a way that would
appeal to students.
Using this presentation as a guide,
students could also make their own presentations to teach basic concepts in a
student-friendly manner that demonstrates a fair understanding of the subject. Overall,
what seems like an entertaining internet meme has the potential to be
transformed into an effective learning device.
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