PB1B: Generators

The SCIgen generator creates random research papers that make no actual sense but nonetheless look impressive.  Their looking impressive stems from the proper use and application of the conventions of a proper research paper.  For starters, the generator included a table of contents that divided the paper into sections that were identified by large, bolded headers (ex. Introduction).  This contributed to the overall professional quality of the paper.  The paper itself was rather long, consisting of mostly text but also a few graphs and diagrams for added effect.  What really makes the paper appear legitimate, however, is the list of references at the end of the paper.  The references are numbered and are cited in the body of the paper according to those numbers.  The sources themselves are no doubt fake or irrelevant (as is most of the information in the generated papers).  However, at a glance the paper appears legitimate because it contains all the key visual components of an actual research paper. 

The comic strip generator was, in my opinion, hilarious.  Like the SCIgen generator, the resulting product usually made little to no sense, but it was nonetheless amusing (I’ve included my favorite generated comic below.)  Also like the SCIgen generator, the comics were convincing at a glance because they applied the conventions of the comic genre.  Firstly, the comics consisted of images of illustrated cartoons that were separated into individual square frames.   Next, the characters in the comic would interact with one another—dialogue was written in a speech bubble, with the tail end facing the speaker (the characters’ mouths would usually be open in conjunction with this, to further indicate which character was speaker.)  Typically, each frame would represent a development in the scene at hand, even if that development made no actual sense.  All of these conventions combined form the foundation for a basic comic.  The fact that, without even having to make sense, these comics can still be recognized as comics demonstrates that the present conventions are those that make up the comic genre.  

Memes are a much more contemporary genre as they’ve only really risen to prominence in the past five or six years.  As a genre whose origins stem solely from the internet, memes are highly unique and possess easily recognizable traits.  From observing and toying with the meme generator, there are some obvious recurring themes and characteristics that can be classified as meme conventions.  Firstly, each meme is a square image accompanied by white bolded text.  Each image has its own recurring joke or pun: for example, the Philosoraptor is a meme consisting of the image of a velociraptor lost in thought, accompanied by philosophical questions about life, the universe, and existence in general.  The image of the Philosoraptor, like many memes, is placed against a color wheel background.  However, there are many memes that are simply a cropped image, with no real editing aside from the inclusion of the white text and the meme generator watermark in the corner.  Unfortunately, memes are also regularly incredibly ignorant and prejudiced, often falling back onto sexist, homophobic, and racist stereotypes and slurs for a punchline.  While not necessarily a convention of memes, it is important to note that a large part of the meme genre is taken up by such ignorance and that it is common enough to be considered at the very least associated with the genre.  The rise of the meme genre is an incredibly fascinating display of how genres begin and develop into functioning, recognizable categories of work.  

These generators are excellent tools for mastering genre.  They demonstrate how, without having to make sense, one can recognize and process the genre that they are encountering.  In order to understand the conventions that make up these genres, one must simply ask how they know that the work they are viewing is what it is.  What makes a meme a meme, or a research paper a research paper, or a comic a comic?  The content can be very important, but these generators prove that a genre’s conventions go beyond content alone and encompass layout, appearance, diction, and tone.