English 1102: Television and Feminism

Dr. Casey Alane Wilson • Georgia Institute of Technology

Tag: #firstblogpost (Page 1 of 2)

New Girl moving into her New apartment with New roommates!

I have finished watching the first two seasons of New Girl and there were numerous episodes that I could write about for my blog entries. Among those, I am focusing on the writing of the “Pilot”, the first episode of season 1 of New Girl for my first Blog Entry.

It was written by Elizabeth Meriwether. She wrote the plays Heddatron (2006), The Mistakes Madeline Made (2006) and Oliver Parker! (2010) and the romantic comedy film No Strings Attached (2011).

Elizabeth Meriwether, the writer of New Girl

The dialogue in New Girl is structured in conversations between the characters as the story-line is revealed. The dialogue here is very informal as it is the conversation between friends. The characters make jokes and use slang. All of the conversations are direct and there is no voice-over. This matters because it indicates that the show is emphasizing more on the conversations between the characters rather than the self talk. This means that they focus more on the relationship rather than individual characters.

Silence is used to move from one scene to another. This clearly indicates transition between scenes and therefore it is easy to follow the flow of the plot.

At the start of this show, there is a literary allusion. Jess referred her boyfriend cheating on her to the typical horror movies. Since it is the first episode of the show, there are also multiple recollection scenes. These throwback scenes allow us to know what different characters went through in the past. It helps us to understand the personalities of the characters and to predict the reaction of the characters in certain situations.

Jess finding out her boyfriend is cheating on her

I believe this episode stands out because it was a good way to start this show as it showed the background of each character. This helped the viewers to predict how the plot of this show is going to be. It also builds up the relationship between Jess and her three roommates and leaves the audience to look forward to different kinds of incidents this relationship might lead to.

All In One Take

After watching the first season of Broad City, the episode that stands out the most for me in terms of its visual design is the eighth episode of season 1, titled “Destination: Wedding.” Right from the beginning, the episode opens with a long sequence of Abbi, Ilana, and some friends frantically running in formal wear down a New York street, late for Abbi’s friend’s wedding in Bridgeport, CT. The opening scene continues in one uninterrupted take, and the camera frames Abbi’s and Ilana’s exhausted faces with the skyscrapers of the city. Broad City usually employs long scenes in each episode because the scene flows more naturally, so the opening scene naturally sets the storyline, and we are drawn in with curiosity to see if the group will reach their destination. It is like we as the viewers are running alongside Abbi and Ilana, making the situation more personal even if we are not physically with them.

Opening scene of “Destination: Wedding”

Another example of these natural long takes occurs within the same episode when Abbi and Ilana board a sketchy bus to Bridgeport. Although Abbi is initially relieved to be on the bus, her relief fades as she observes sick passengers, live animals on the loose, and a tank of frozen fish. The camera takes the place of Abbi’s eyes as the viewer sees the monstrosities on the bus. This perspective camera movement is used in this episode because it elevates the comedy of Abbi’s disbelief without the necessity for dialogue. Instead of hearing Abbi bicker, we as viewers can see what she sees, and subsequently understand her disgust for being on the bus. Therefore, the inclusion of long takes in Broad City, especially in episode 8, helps to make a more natural, flowing, and comfortable scene where the viewers can easily recognize the humor and emotions of Abbi’s and Ilana’s characters.

While Broad City utilizes long, uninterrupted scenes to elevate its humor, the show also uses light to solidify the realistic nature of their situation. In episode 8, the opening scene and the bus scene are normally lit with daylight, implying a passage of time as well as a tone of familiarity with the situation. Abbi and Ilana are late to a friend’s wedding, a very relatable situation to most young people. Also, the color scheme of the show does not pop with certain colors to signify a certain mood. The colors of each scene are relatively neutral, even Abbi’s and Ilana’s dresses in episode 8, because the show is trying to make the lives of these women mimic reality, along with added humor and craziness.

Overall, Broad City has a visual design that plays into the understated yet wacky comedic situations of its two protagonists, Abbi Abrams and Ilana Wexler. Whether they are late for a wedding or having a seriously improvised conversation, the cinematography and direction of each scene exude the natural, realistic atmosphere of these two women’s lives. 

Broad City title card

It Takes an Army to Create a World

The first episode is often the dealbreaker for many show viewers, and thus, it is critical to make good first impressions. Needless to say, this episode did just that. The pilot introduced us to the wild West that is Westworld, enthralled us with a complex musical score, and left aspects shrouded in mystery so that we would be compelled for answers. I was intrigued.

Creating a TV show is no easy matter, however. It requires creative minds and effective writers. In this case, those two minds were Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. Lisa Joy is credited with being a writer for the shows Burn Notice and Pushing Daisies. Jonathan Nolan, brother of the well-known Christopher Nolan, has writing for The Dark Knight trilogy, Memento, and more under his belt.

We hear a dialogue only in the beginning of the episode. This voiceover is later revealed to be that of one of the creators of these droids, talking to a droid in a sort of interrogation. We have yet to discover if this will be a permanent feature of this show, or if it was just for effect in the first episode. Nevertheless, it was an addition which granted mystery and then revelation to the viewers.

The writing incorporates many strategies to keep us intrigued and wanting more. Most of the time, music, dialogue, or background noise covers up silence in this show. However, instances where silence is used are often for dramatic effect, including after a death or dramatic dialogue. We see the writers reference Shakespeare and common idioms throughout the episode, and while we never see the world outside of Westworld, references to it are made. It keeps us shrouded in mystery and compelled to watch more of the show to gain closure.

This series will clearly be complex to write. The writers have to incorporate the lives of robots, humans, and a western world which is otherwise long gone into one show. The script does this well, all the while still leaving the origins of this place, its characters, and the outside world a mystery. Many times, it’s hard to know who’s real and who’s fake. And it can’t help but leave me thinking who the bad guy really is.

Some people are thirsty for some more Westworld

 

Works Cited:

“Full Cast & Crew – Westworld.” IMDb, IMDb, www.imdb.com/title/tt0475784/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ql_1.

Switched at Birth? Maybe not. Switched for this class? Oh Yeah.

Hey! My name is Matthew So, I am a Computer Science major, and I plan on graduating in 2022, assuming all goes well. Although for most of my life, I have lived in the U.S., for my earliest years, I was raised in Hong Kong, so there’s that.

Although I have, of course, taken English classes in the past, including AP English Language in high school, this is my first English class at Georgia Tech. However, as you may know, this class certainly diverges from most other English classes; for most, I remained unconvinced in my abilities to write, which led me to treat such classes begrudgingly, as only busy work to finish. As such, for me, I most enjoy non-verbal communication, since unlike most types, it remains hidden yet enhances other, more visible, communication modes; even the raising of an eyebrow can completely alter the connotations of a sentence. However, I still struggle with verbal and oral communication; it’s just that every word matters, and because of that, it’s difficult to balance both clarity and emotiveness, meaning that half the time, I act far too formally, causing me to speak nearly condescendingly or incomprehensibly, while in the other half, I become so informal that it outright becomes inappropriate (hopefully, this blog will address that). With this class, however, and the fact that this class involves significant interpretation of verbal and oral communication, since the class requires analyzing television, I’m confident that I’ll be able to become more aware of visual implications. Speaking of television, for me, I never really engaged with current TV, simply because I either couldn’t allow myself enough time or because none of the TV shows available on major networks at the time interested me. However, with many of the current TV shows that this class has introduced me to, such as Jane the Virgin and The Good Place, I believe that I might re-enter the realm of TV, especially with the wide variety available today (after all, this is supposedly “peak TV”).

My face after realizing that I get to watch TV for a grade

As for the TV show to review, I have chosen Switched At Birth primarily due to its handling of not only class distinctions but also deaf/hearing distinctions as a television show from a national broadcaster in prime-time. The plot centers around two girls, Bay, and Daphne, the former of which was raised in a wealthy suburb and the latter of which was raised in an impoverished neighborhood and became deaf after contracting meningitis, which were, like the namesake, switched at birth. Overall, though, I’m excited for this TV show, especially considering the high representation of deaf or hard-of-hearing actors and actresses in this program.

 

Not Ruining a Space Opera with Boorish Behavior +1.3

Hi everyone! My name is Schuler Kleinfelter, and I’m a Music Technology major. I expect to graduate in 2022, but a victory lap isn’t entirely out of the question. Previously I’ve taken pretty standard English courses. I really enjoyed the analytical nature of AP Lang, and I despised the often-subjective and muddled nature of AP Lit. My favorite part of communication is phrasing and presenting my verbal or written communications in funny ways. I tend to struggle with nonverbal communication, mostly because I overthink it. I’ll spend so much time thinking about how to communicate what I want to nonverbally that I’ll miss my opportunity to actually do so. Hopefully I’ll be able to improve that this semester, although it will probably just take practice over time.

I never had cable TV as a kid, so I pretty much only watched PBS Kids and Sunday cartoons on The CW. I got Netflix a few years ago, and I’ve definitely spent more time watching it than I should have, but I don’t think I’ve ever gone to ridiculous levels with bingewatching. Almost all the shows that I’ve watched have been funny shows, but they haven’t been comedies first-and-foremost. I’ve watched procedural crime shows like Psych and Bones; space operas like Firefly and Dark Matter; fantasy adventure shows such as Doctor Who and The Magicians; fun science shows such as Mythbusters and The White Rabbit Project; and DC shows like Young Justice and Supergirl. I have very little experience with shows in which the main focus of the show is the relationships between characters or with shows in which the comedy is the main focus, because I tend to prefer shows where the comedy and drama are grounded by a central plot (as opposed to shows where the plot is secondary to the drama or comedy). So shows such as Jane The Virgin — where it’s easier to count the characters that haven’t diddled each other than the ones who have — will be new to me.

I have chosen to review Killjoys because it’s a space opera, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the other space operas that I’ve watched.

Killjoys Poster Art (click here for original image URL)

For anyone wondering, a space opera is a scifi show set largely in space (who would have guessed?) including elements such as daring adventure, interplanetary battles, advanced weaponry, chivalry, and characters with special abilities. The most famous of which is Star Wars.

Killjoys is about three bounty hunters called Killjoys who chase down warrants throughout an area of space called the Quad which is on the brink of a class war.

Fun Fact: before I decided on Killjoys I was considering sense8, and my title for this blog post would have been “A Sense8tional Introduction.”

First Time I’ve ever been excited for an English Class… ever

Hey everyone! I’m Tanishq Sandhu from Dacula, GA. I’m here at Georgia Tech as a Computer Engineering major hoping to graduate by 2022. This is my first English course at Georgia Tech and I’m beyond excited for this semester. Yes, watching Netflix may be one reason I am so excited butthe main reason is that this English course is more aligned with incorporating modern ways of communicating such as tweeting, blogging, etc. This makes the class seem more relevant and thus makes it more engaging as compared to the typical high school English courses that stress writing essays repetitively. Even in this class I came in with a fear, because that is the impression I have from high school- writing until your hands can barely function any longer. I enjoy electronic and verbal communication with friends (talking, texting, and meeting up), but I struggle slightly with verbal communication with strangers such as giving speeches or striking up a conversation with someone I do not know and so this semester I want to practice this skill around campus by talking to new faces. Not only this, but I also hope to look for a leadership position where I get lots of practice working with new faces and talking in front larger groups. I honestly haven’t watch TV on a consistent basis since before high school started. With the increase in work, and decrease in free time, watching a television show became a rare commodity for me. I have chosen Grey’s Anatomy, a drama show about the relationships of a group of doctors at a Seattle hospital, simply because many of my friends in high school had recommended it and it is on the list of shows for this assignment. Now, I’ll have an excuse to watch it without feeling guilty about wasting time. Wow, I really love this class.

 

Grey’s Anatomy is known for its plot twists; many characters who are come to be favored by the viewers unexpectedly pass away.

Wanna know about the New Girl?

Hi guys, I’m Inhee Baek. I am a sophomore majoring in chemical engineering. My anticipated year of graduation is 2021 but I plan to do co-op, so hopefully, I graduate by 2022.

I was not a big fan of English in high school. This made me worry when I decided to take ENGL 1101 at Georgia Tech but it went pretty well because the topic was interesting.

I enjoy the oral mode of communication. I am a person who likes to talk and listen to others. I can clearly express my opinion and understand what others are trying to convey.

Me being confident about the Oral mode of communication

However, I struggle with the written mode of communication as I mentioned in my First-Week Video. Since we have many assignments associated with written mode of communication such as blog posts and twitter, I hope I can improve upon my writing skills in this semester.

 

I have not watched a TV show since I came to Tech a year ago. Before I came to Tech used to be a TV fanatic. If I am into a show, I binge Netflix at 3am even if It is a weekday and I have an 8AM class the day after. I know that this will make the life at Tech hard because they make it hard to manage my time efficiently. That is why I intentionally stayed away from TV shows. But now I can binge-watch and say it is my English assignment!

Me telling myself it’s fine to watch TV all day because it was an English assignment

I have chosen to review the New Girl. This show is about a girl, Jess, who moved into an apartment with 3 guys and the events that occurred between them. I have already seen the first few episodes and became a big fan of this show. It has an interesting theme and the chemistry between the characters is strong. After I finish this Introductory Blog Entry, I am going to start binging!

On a Personal Note…

All GT freshmen at this point. Especially me.

Greetings!  My name is Charlotte Harris.  I grew up in Fayetteville, Georgia: a quiet little town nestled thirty miles south of Atlanta.  I hope to graduate with a business administration degree in May of 2022, although this is Georgia Tech, and both majors and graduation dates are quite subject to change!

Like most American eighteen-year-olds, I began learning about reading, writing, and grammar before I even started kindergarten, and ever since, that has comprised the bulk of my English education.  All of my language arts classes over the last thirteen years focused heavily on writing, and as a result, I subconsciously associate writing with English class.  I grew accustomed to the AP style of writing while in high school, and in my junior year, I was the best argumentative writer in the state of Georgia.  Of course, that’s only according to the judges at the GISA Class AAA state literary meet… but that’s beside the point.  After twelve years of writing, that was the experience that finally made me comfortable with putting words on paper.  That being said, writing is the element of a typical English class which comes most naturally to me.  And, since I believe writing is the best way to learn how to compose one’s thoughts and learn how to effectively convey them, speaking is the next easiest.  I will be the first to admit, however, that anything requiring creativity challenges me.  Although I am a visual learner, I am not visionary by any means.  So, this semester, I truly hope to improve my skills when it comes to creative presentation.

To be completely honest, “Television and Feminism” is a class theme that scares me a little bit.  I would not consider myself a feminist, and I don’t watch a lot of TV.  On the rare occasion that I do binge TV, I am typically bored out of my mind, procrastinating a major assignment, or racing a coworker to see who can finish a series faster.  That’s it!  I’m not opposed to TV by any means; I simply don’t have as much spare time as I would like, and when I do have it, I would rather spend it asleep or with my family than in front of a screen.  So, I am excited to broaden my horizons a bit in this class!

I have chosen Fresh Off the Boat as my show to independently watch and review in this class.  To me, it seems to be a completely different pace than any show I’ve watched before, and I’m excited about this new theme.  The show is about immigrants and their lives as Americans, and I can’t wait to delve into that this week.  So with that, here goes a new style of English class, differences and challenges and all. But honestly, if I get to watch TV, how could I possibly complain at all?

Intro to Alexandra Jungreis

Hi, I’m Alexandra Sarah Jungreis, an 18 year old Chemical Engineering major from Anchorage Alaska (I know. It was 10 hours by plane). I expect to graduate in spring 2022, and I’m expecting to take summer classes in order to accomplish that. So far, my only English experience has been with standard high school classes, which I must say I loved. I greatly enjoy reading and talking about books with complex themes and characters. In terms of communication, I love talking and having oral conversations with others, and writing, though not as much of a favorite as talking, has also been an easy form of communication for me. Where I struggle is non verbal communication. It’s not that I’m unexpressive, rather that I express the wrong emotions. I hope to be able to improve on that skill this semester and diversify my communication skills. In terms of television, I can’t say that I’m an utter fanatic, but I have watched quite a bit. The main reason behind that is that my family often uses television and movies as a way to spend time together. Though it’s not very active, we experience the show together, and then have much to talk about after watching. Other than with my family, I really don’t watch much television. I did used to watch a few shows on my own, but that’s tapered off and reading has become my main form of media consumption. For my show, I have chosen Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, a story about a mentally ill woman who drops everything in her life to follow a man she had a crush on 10 years ago to California. Despite the seemingly retrogressive premise, I chose this show because of its reputation of accurate portrayal of mental illness, as well as the fact that the main character is very unapologetically Jewish. I often find that most Jewish television characters are Jewish in a way that is palatable to Gentile audiences: Most references to their Judaism are framed as jokes, or in the form of common stereotypes that push at but don’t quite cross the line (references to bagels, bar/bat mitzvah parties, curly hair, Jewish mothers, etc.). I’m tired of watching Jewish characters that are meant for Gentiles to laugh at; I’m excited and ready to see a Jewish character that was meant for me to identify with.

happy oh my god GIF


Me about to watch a Jewish BAMF rule the screen

Introducing Me

My name is Aaqila Faizer. I am currently a neuroscience major who will hopefully graduate by 2022. Over the summer semester, I took ENGL 1101 at Georgia Tech as well as LMC 2400, Intro to Media Studies, two courses which I hope will be helpful in this ENGL 1102 course on Television and Feminism. In terms of WOVEN modes, I have found that I enjoy utilizing my visual and electronic communication skills. These modes help me be a better communicator when my written and oral communication skills fail to do the job. I hope to farther strengthen my written and oral skills in ENGL 1102 through practice. While I have had experience with feminism and literature in high school, I would love to enhance my knowledge about the relationship between television and feminism. I would not consider myself a “TV fanatic” since I rarely binge watch anything or finish a series. Rather I tend to gravitate towards movies, and I have recently become interested in the field of cinematography. However, I have been obsessed with certain shows, such as BBC’s Sherlock and I am trying to catch up on watching classic series such as Grey’s Anatomy. For my blog, I have chosen to review The Bold Type, a show that revolves around the lives of three young women that work for a fashion magazine company in New York City. At first, the premise of the show sounded highly cliché and was quite different from content I usually watch, however after one episode I realized the show is less about the typical romance in New York City, and more about ambitious women navigating their careers and their personal lives. The show promises to showcase strong, yet complex, female relationships as well as empowering messages. Plus, I love emotional montages, which I heard will show up quite a lot in The Bold Type.  

 

The cast of The Bold Type

 

 

New Semester, New Girl

Hi, my name is Wendy Yao!  I’m a first year majoring in chemical engineering, and like most other freshmen, I hope to graduate by 2022 … but we’ll see.

Me in 2022 when I’m supposed to graduate

English has always been one of my favorite classes, though they’ve generally been “traditional” English classes filled with reading quizzes and poetry discussions.  My high school English classes were generally chill because strict memorization was less important than synthesizing creative arguments or debating the virtues of Shakespeare’s antagonists, though there were still assessments to worry about.

Out of all the categories for communication in WOVEN, my most favorite would be written, and my least favorite would be oral.  After all these years of practicing my writing skills, I’d like to believe that they’re at least semi-decent.  I enjoy using written communication because of its permanence and because of the time I’m given to compose and collect my scattered ideas.  Even when writing this blog post, I’ve been jumping around, writing some sentences first before going back to fill the gap.  As a result, my issue with oral communication is that I like having time to gather my thoughts, whether it’s presenting a coherent response to “How may I help you today?” or contributing thoughtfully to a group discussion.

English 1102 is my first and last English class at GT, so it’ll definitely be memorable, especially because of the course theme.  I grew up watching some TV in the form of PBS Kids and CW4Kids shows, such as Clifford the Big Red Dog and Yu-Gi-Oh.  At some point in my childhood, TV just kind of faded away to a distant past.  One constant in my life, though, has been Chinese dramas.  Wuxia dramas were integral in my upbringing, and I still manage to find the time to fit in each remake that happens every few years to bask in the nostalgia, unless, of course, the remake is terrible, in which case I just binge my favorite version, all 60 45-minute episodes.   Now, besides c-dramas, I’ve also added Korean dramas to the mix, which tend to average at about an hour long for each episode, so procrastination occurs whenever I’m sucked into the productivity-eating vortex that is Asian dramas.

When you think you have enough time to finish your homework after binging a drama

I’ve chosen to review New Girl, which is a sitcom that finished airing on Fox this year about a zany teacher named Jess in Los Angeles who suddenly moves in with three guys because of a break-up.  I chose this show because the premise and the first episode seemed cheerful and quirky, and I’m interested in learning more about how the relationships among the main characters will play out.  Once I get into a TV series, I can’t stop, so the 20-minute episodes and the definite ending to the show are going to be a blessing.

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Heya! My name is Sara Nill. I’m a second year mechanical engineering major from Wexford, Pennsylvania. Hopefully I’ll graduate in 2022!

I’ve taken many English classes in high school, including both AP English classes, but I’ve taken none at Tech. In high school, I was also a member of the speech and debate team, which allowed me to overcome anxiety about speaking in public. I’m still awful at talking to people, don’t get me wrong, but I can talk at people and make some pretty boring things sound interesting. In my four years competing and speaking, I learned how to better communicate orally and use gestures, facial expressions, tone, and more to convince people to believe me. I’ve had decent practice in most forms of communication, but my visual communication can use some work. I’m an artist, but I’ve always been very literal and was never good at interpreting artwork or images.

Image result for speech and debate meme

It was a good, good time.

I didn’t watch much TV as a child ( school is love, school is life ) but in high school and college, my bingeing began. I’ve watched many shows on Netflix and HBO, and now I can be found bingeing shows at 1am. Some of my favorites are Game of Thrones, Black Mirror, and Grey’s Anatomy. I enjoy sci-fi, action, fantasy, comedy, and documentaries, and if these genres can be combined, that’s even better. I also love movies, especially those of the sci-fi and fantasy genre.

For this class, I’ll be reviewing Grey’s Anatomy. I started watching it during the summer, but I didn’t get as far in as I wanted to. Hopefully this will give me a chance to watch farther into the show! Grey’s Anatomy follows Meredith Grey, a new intern at Seattle Grace Hospital and daughter of an esteemed surgeon, as she competes against her fellow interns and deals with her personal life. Through treating patients, performing surgery, and learning, the doctors and residents become closer and develop friendships and relationships. I’m excited to rewatch the first few seasons and really get into it!

Image result for grey's anatomy meme

So ready to cry at 3am!

My very first blag :)

Hi, My name is Ryan Kretzmer. I am currently majoring in chemistry, but I think I want to switch to ChemE because it offers a more career based education. Of course, I hope to graduate in four years, in 2022, but that is always open to change. I have taken English 1101 here at Tech during the summer. It was a Serve Learn Sustain affiliated course which means it had a lot to do with sustainability. I really enjoyed the electronic forms of communication used in that class, for example the first week video and our poster assignment. I particularly enjoyed the poster because it forced me to combine all the modes of communication into one project. The poster was also a hassle because my writing tends to ramble on and lose focus. My first draft of the poster was essentially an essay on a wall, and it looked terrible. Fortunately, I was able to edit it down to be more concise. This semester, I hope to learn to skills to be concise on the fist try. I am also hoping to make my writing more focused on the topic at hand instead of going off on tangents.

Melanie Scrofano as Wyonna Earp

I have very little experience with television. The only shows I have watched recently are the two standards: The Office and Parks and Rec. Other than that I have seen Star Trek and Warehouse 13, both because my dad loves science fiction. I would call myself a TV-newbie, so I am looking forward to the new experience this class will be.

I have chosen to review Wyonna Earp, a show on the SYFY channel. Wyonna Earp follows the story of the ancestor of the famous Wyatt Earp as she battles creatures from hell called the revenants and other super natural creatures. I chose this show because I love science fiction and horror. I have seen a few episodes of Stranger Things, and I really enjoyed them. I think this show is in a similar vein, so I am looking forward to seeing it.

Insert Creative Introductory Blog Title Here

Hello world! My name is Adam Lederer and this is my first time blogging so please bear with me. I am currently a class of 2022 Public Policy major here at Georgia Tech and am planning to minor in Law, Science and Technology. My goal is to go to law school and pursue a career in either law or politics. Whatever I end up doing, I want to make a positive impact on the lives of others, which is one of the reasons I was so excited to take this course.

Aside from me being a pretty avid consumer of television, the feminist aspect of this course really appealed to me when I was deciding which ENGL 1102 section I wanted to take. I feel that gender issues are some of the most pressing of our time, and examining the modern TV landscape through a feminist lens seemed like an invaluable way to delve into these issues.

Yay for equality!

For years I have watched TV shows that infuriated me with their portrayal of women as mere objects to be chased after by men, lack of intelligent female characters, and insertion of “toxic masculinity” into common dialogue between characters. I am looking forward to this class because I will now have a space to voice my concerns with a group of open-minded people who are also interested in studying television.

In past English classes, I have had mixed experiences. I took both AP Lit and Lang in high school, and thus was exempted from ENGL 1101 at tech. I always enjoyed some aspects of English classes like the class discussions and thought-provoking pieces we read, but constantly wished the subject matter was more consistently interesting. As someone who enjoys discussions, I feel that oral communication is a mode of communication I particularly enjoy. However, I am aiming to better my written communication this semester, as I often struggle to communicate messages in a concise manner through writing.

The TV show I have chosen to review through this blog is Portlandia. This show was created by Carrie Brownstein, who also stars as one of the main characters alongside SNL alum Fred Armisen. The series takes a satirical view of life in Portland, Oregon; each episode explores a different aspect of life in the city and takes ideas to their logical extremes, thereby exposing their absurdity. I was especially excited to review this show because it is one that I have heard a lot about but have never had the chance to watch. It also provides an interesting cultural commentary through satire – a style of comedy that I am quite fond of. Lastly, the show is easily available to watch on Netflix, which makes it a great choice for me. I cannot wait to begin watching this hilarious show and sharing my experiences through this blog. Thanks for your time in reading this and good luck to the rest of y’all! Get blogging!

My Life: Grey’s Anatomy, that’s all you need to know

Hello #1102TVFem my name is Daniela Larranaga, I’m an international student majoring in Industrial Engineering and hope to be graduating by 2022 (fingers crossed!).

Regarding my past experiences with English courses, I can say it’s ironic that I’ve always tend to like and do better in my English classes than in my Spanish (native language) studies :) I went through the English IB diploma class, in which we mainly focused on “the power of language”. In general, through the 2 year International Baccalaureate course, I had the opportunity of analyzing in depth the way in which  language has been used as a utensil to propagate and expand power. With this course, I can be certain that my writing and critical reading skills highly improved, however, as any other international student would fear, I’m a bit uncertain of my oral capacities (something I look forward to improving in Dr.Wilson’s class), as the message I want to transmit tends to be distorted due to a bad use of verbs, vocabulary, or simple fluency.

“When someone doesn’t understand my accent”

Just until last year, binge watching Netflix had never been a hobby of mine (with the exception of Grey’s Anatomy- best show in the world!), however, I recently started to realize that TV series like The Handmaid’s Tale or Reign have a real significance and impact regarding the role of women through history; highlighting both struggling and empowering attitude, which has become a small passion of mine.

The TV show I’m going to review is (of course) Grey’s Anatomy, which bases on the development of a group of doctors who are starting their careers. I think this show connects very good with our class topic because its main character, Meredith Grey, is a thriving women that has to overcome the pressure of her legendary mother, the comments of her stereotypical male co-workers, and the general image that women can’t handle so much work, through a series of actions. I would like to investigate more about the role that vocabulary, tone, timing, and place, play in positioning this female individual (or character in this case) as “important” and “successful”.

We should all have a bit of Cristina                                Yang in us

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