Items

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  2020-05-17

  Funny corona beer meme

  HIST30060 - submitted as part of a history assignment. This meme uses symbolism in order to compare the pandemic to disastrous world events. The background depicts an atomic bomb exploding into a mushroom cloud and is overlaid with photographs of an empty toilet roll (alluding to the rush on toilet paper that occurred early in 2020), a bottle of Corona beer (a company unfortunate enough to share a name with the virus), empty shelves (from where people had panicked bought), graphics of the virus and the muppet Elmo wearing a mask, looking into the middle distance. The combination of these graphics suggests that in the future, ‘corona’ will be inextricably linked to the virus and that just saying its name will induce traumatic flashbacks. This suggests that the collective experience of wider society this year could be deemed a sort of shared trauma. It is noteworthy that the vast majority these memes, this one included, do not make light of personal hardships faced by people in order to be malicious and the events alluded to (such as the food hoarding) are not “serious” (like, for example, the economic crisis or the coronavirus death toll) but more trivial inconveniences.
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  2020-05-31

  The history book of 2020

  HIST30060 - submitted as part of an assessment for a history subject. A significant number of the memes I found commented on the incredible number of ‘disasters’ or disruptions that have had a global impact this year (suggesting that this number is far more than anything to occur in the last decade). The disasters referenced in these memes concern a range of instances including the Australian Bushfires, the “threat of World War III” (with the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani by drone strike), the Covid-19 pandemic, the American Murder Hornets, the explosion in Beirut and the American bushfires. The ‘disasters’ or global events that feature in the memes span almost every continent and every sphere from environmental (e.g. the bushfires), the social (e.g. the American race riots), the economic, the political (e.g. the explosion in Beirut and subsequent investigation into corruption) and health (e.g. the pandemic). This particular meme suggests that the study of this year will be an arduous task for history students of the future.
• 2020-10-08

  Fear of the Unknown

  Although I have been fortunate enough to say that no one in my family has contracted the virus thus far, that's not to say that it hasn't had an impact. Since the discovery of the virus, there has been an abundance of mixed information, terrifying rumors, and confusing data. There have been times when one could think there was nothing to worry about, and other times when one could feel uncomfortable leaving his/her home. Overall, the most terrifying part for me is all the things we don't know about what's going on. Along with that, is not knowing when you or a family member might have it. I'm sure we have all had our scares during this crisis, but one in particular really frightened me. My dad has been in and out of hospitals for over 5 years now, and it has been a rollercoaster of emotions for me and my twin sister. The most recent time he was in the hospital, he was transferred from my small hometown to a hospital here in Phoenix. In his condition, and after everything he has lived through, we knew that he would not survive if he contracted the virus. It sounds pessimistic, but if I were to go in-depth about his medical history, anyone would agree. With that being said, we were terrified about him being in a major phoenix hospital at the peak of the pandemic. Not to mention the medical facilities he would have to regularly go to after the fact. So far, he has not contracted the virus, but the stress remains present even more so than it has been in the past. Sometimes the stress and concern that these types of disaster causes are just as impactful as the disaster itself, and COVID-19 has proved that to be true.
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  2020-05-25

  2020 is What 2000 Thought She Was Gonna Be

  When 1999 was to turn into 2000, there were all kinds of dire warnings and predictions circulating. Experts were wondering if the computers could make the roll over into a new millennium. Forecasts of the world's computers shutting down were everywhere. But that didn't happen Until now. The world is shut down.
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  2020-04-17

  2020 Disaster Prediction Meme

  The meme was created and posted on a Facebook group during April, and was part of a trend of memes predicting what terrible event will happen in the next month for 2020. The meme is comprised of two images taken from the show Avatar the Last Airbender, and contains a quote which has been changed to fit the memes theme. It shows the community online dealing with the pandemic through memes, but also highlights how tired people becoming because continued disasters throughout 2020. HUM402
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  2020-03-29

  Speaker Pelosi on President Trump's Inadequate Response to Coronavirus

  This CNN interview with Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicates the concern with President Trump's downplaying of the coronavirus crisis; he signed the stimulus bill after a twenty-day window where cases escalated.