Genre 1: Short story

Like most people in New York, I enjoy playing basketball. However, there are some days that make me just want to stop playing all together. Racism happens all over the world, even on the basketball court.

Ever since the basketball court got done with construction at the City College of New York, I have tried to go there during my breaks. Both to stay in shape and hopefully make new friends. One day I went with someone from my class and two of his friends. The one from my class addresses me “Asian”, even though I told him my name was Tenzin. At first, I was fine with it, mainly due to my desperation for friends.

Once we all started to play some pick-up games, my classmates’ friend and I ended up on the same team. Due to the “nickname” my acquaintance gave me, I believe his friend thought I was fine with all racist jokes and remarks they had. So, the name he gave me for all the games we played was “Chinese”. At one point her asked for my name and I told him, yet he still continued addressing me by “Chinese”.

Now this may just sound like excuses but, those comments really affected my mentality, I was actually really offended by the “nickname” that he gave me. My country Tibet was invaded by China, and my ancestors were forced to refuge in India. All in all, I am a proud Tibetan and want to be recognized as one.

Genre 2: Meme

Rationale:

My purpose for this writing the short story and making the meme was to raise awareness that Tibetans are not just another piece of China and we want to be known for who we are. Many people are unaware of the event that occurred in the month of October in the year of 1950. China believed that they have a right to own Tibet and that it was strategically perfect when it came to doing business with surrounding countries like Bhutan and India. In 1999, multiple deposits of many minerals like copper and iron were found in an area that was enormous. Additionally, Tibet has the third largest repository of fresh water in the world, China had been extremely low on fresh water. Since China is so big, you would assume that It would be in abundance of natural resource. But in reality, most of China is dessert, particularly in the north.

Since most children at this point in time dislike reading but enjoy looking at memes, and most adults just don’t understand memes but enjoy reading, the audience I wanted to direct both of my genres to would be the teenagers of this age because there’s a good majority that both love looking at(and making) memes and enjoy reading short stories. During the time period when you reach high school, you’re at that age where your mind absorbs the most information. However, there are no classes that actually talk about China invading Tibet. I wish to spread awareness with my work, so teens can help with their creativity and ability to socialize. There is a non-profit organization called “Free Tibet” and the goal they strive to achieve for is “a free Tibet in which Tibetans are able to determine their own future and the human rights of all are respected.” With more supporters of this movement, then just maybe Tibet can once again be “free”, and its people can be recognized for who they truly are. Many people would agree with the idea that “teenagers are the future”. Not only are they the future, they are also the next set of role-models for the incoming generation.

Reflection (Genre 1):

Genre: The genre for my first genre was a short story because they’re great reads for when you want a good read, but you don’t want to go through the hassle of going through a whole book.

Stance: The stance that my short story takes is that it’s against racism

Author: Tenzin Norbu

Audience: Teens

Purpose: Increase awareness of Tibet’s situation

Tone: Informative tone/story telling

Language: Casual language

Rhetorical Situation: A college student going to play basketball but had to deal with a racist situation.

Reflection (Genre 2):

Genre: For my second genre I made a meme because during this age everyone, but “older” adults enjoy looking at memes.

Author: Tenzin Norbu

Audience: Teens

Purpose: Increase awareness of Tibet’s situation in a comedic way

Tone: Comedic

Language: Casual language

Rhetorical Situation: A conversation between a Tibetan and a person ignorant to the situation Tibet is in.