Yi-Kuan Cheng - Quarter 4, Week 13: “Memory. What is a Memory?”
Yi-Kuan Cheng
Benedetti
AP English P5
23 March 2022
Quarter 4, Week 13: “Memory. What is a Memory?”
Memory is such a fun buzz word to throw around. While identity, America, and power all have a sort of stigma around them. However, memory is such a powerful word yet it is so open to interpretation, it feels almost as if writing about memories is a cliche in itself. And indeed I myself have utilized the cliche of memories to create a work of writing that feels pseudo-deep. Today, I would like to share my script that I used for a promotion video for Yearbook.
Memory. What is a memory? A memory is a story, a legacy, the building blocks of us all. Yet with a tick tick tick... poof. It’s gone. The very nature of a memory, despite its name, is to be forgotten. any memory, no matter how memorable, constantly dangles off a cliff, fighting to avoid falling into the abyss of the buried past. a memory should be a childhood toy, re-discovered, re-lived, re-enjoyed years after. A memory should be treasured, loved, preserved, cherished... immortalized. Join AHS Aerie. immortalize your memories.
As I am sure you can see, this little spiel lacks any real content. Yet, if I do say so myself, it packs a decently feel-good punch. I genuinely have no clue why this is, as this script was one of those “wake up at 3 a.m. and write it down before you forget” things. However, my guess is that because memory is such a generalizable term, you can say nearly anything about a memory and it still sounds applicable to everyone. For example, I could say “memories are like the finest tick marks of a ruler,” and that statement is vague enough to make sense, yet still descriptive enough to draw imagery. Really the point of this post was just to show my enjoyment of how easy it is to manipulate a generalized cliche idea and turn it into something that sounds poetic.
Source: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CaapMuGlM8P/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
(The video we made)
Hi Yi-Kuan!
ReplyDeleteI am super stoked for another quarter of pretentious yet engaging blog posts from my favorite yearbook staff. I agree with the power the word memory has much similar to the words prompting our other topics, but this one has so much more freedom than any other one. I could simply write about anything that came to my mind. Any experience, event, or thought constitutes as a memory to some extent, which is something I am really excited to play with in the coming weeks. Also I love your spiel for yearbook. It meant absolutely nothing but at the same time communicated exactly what you wanted it to. I think the ability to do that is so beautiful because it gives power to the readers to interpret what it means to them. Thanks for sharing:)
Hi Yi-Kuan,
ReplyDeleteYour video is so cool! I hope that when I go into Yearbook next year, I will be able to create memories just as you did with Andrew-san! I must agree, your ability to formulate hollow yet superficially poetic language is certainly admirable; you should write my Instagram captions should I ever post on my main. Good luck on your endeavours as an up and coming videographer; show ‘em how it’s done!
Sincerely,
Sean Wang
I love the word and concept of memory because every moment you live in it and have a chance to change reality. Somehow, my thoughts jump to writing journals—I've made many attempts to force myself to start a diary for the sake of a future surprise. Every time, however, I find myself at a loss for what to remember. As a fifth grader, I wrote about what I ate for lunch and whether my mom had yelled at me. If she did, I'd write about why but come to realize that it really doesn't matter. I felt no inclination to remember nor a need to reflect on the things that I didn't care about. In retrospect, it demonstrated the innocence and care-free lifestyle of a child. There is no consequence to not learning—no consequence to not remembering. But now, it matters, but I'm still too arrogant to write down the things that shape my every day.
ReplyDeleteHi Yi-Kuan,
ReplyDeleteWow, your advertisement for the yearbook class was amazing! I think you should consider becoming a poet if whatever career you hope to pursue doesn't work out.
On a more serious note, however, I agree that it's important to record the happenings of our lives to immortalize their memory. With every day comes precious moments whose importance can only be realized after they are long forgotten.
Sincerely,
Krish
Hi Yi-Kuan,
ReplyDeleteHonestly, it seems like you have a great passion for writing and yearbook as a whole, and I find that really cool. The video was straight to the point but also utilized language in a unique and impressionable way. Just by seeing this, I'm excited to see what the rest of the yearbook will entail when I get my copy at the end of the year!
Hi Yi-Kuan,
ReplyDeleteThe video you made looks amazing! You should really get more into poetry later on. It is true though that memories really should be kept and not forgotten. I do not really remember anything before parts of 5th grade (it is like just random parts of those times), and these forgotten memories can really be important.
Sincerely,
Vivan Waghela
Hey Yi-Kuan, although the whole concept of memory does seem a bit cliche, I still think there's a lot of power in it. As an AP English student, I appreciate your use of rich rhetoric in your script; I bet it inspired many to join yearbook next year. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Yi-Kuan,
ReplyDeleteI agree that your script sounds very deep and the reason why is very mysterious. I believe that the reason why your script sounds so meaningful and important is exactly what you said; it is vague and generalizable. This allows the reader to make their own interpretations and personalize the message so that they can create a deep meaning for themselves that suits them. Yearbook is definitely an underappreciated part of American High School, tirelessly recording the memories we make in high school down on paper in the form of photographs so that the memories are immortalized, although not true immortality. Eventually, time will take its toll and the memory will be forever lost to entropy. Enjoy it while it lasts (likely way past our lifetimes).
Sincerely,
Raymond Yu
Hi Yi-Kuan,
ReplyDeleteBefore I say anything, I'd like to say I called it. I literally made the title of my blog "What is a Memory?" while I was writing it because I knew you had to do something about the yearbook ad video that you and Andrew made. Anyways, I think it is pretty cool that you could say something so vague that it sounds poetic. Even if I think your whole script sounds really funny when put in a different perspective, it does sound very deep in meaning when put together with a nice voice and good videography.