Hello, English 1102! My name is James Fan, an electrical engineer from the graduating year of 2022 (if everything goes to plan)! While I am going to one of the best tech schools in the country, I’m still looking forward to the opportunity to strengthen my analytical skills by diving into the projects, group work, and discussions this semester in Dr. Wilson’s class!

Getting pumped to watch TV for class

Though this is my first English class at Tech, I’ve still strove to push my writing and language skills to my limits ever since joining the IB program at my high school. Looking back at my experiences in all of my English classes, I can safely say that written communication is still my weakest skill that I hope to continue to improve. However, as challenging as it is for me, it’s still by far the most enjoyable part of communicating because of how concise, fluid, and editable it is.

As a part of my 12th grade IB English class, I examined numerous instances of feminist, racial, and gender themes throughout a cross section of both classic and contemporary literature: novels, poems, essays, news articles, and beyond. Because of this, I definitely have come into contact with a lot of the themes this course plans to cover, but I am still grateful for the chance to tackle these themes with more nuance and attention and to explore the implications of these ideas in television and mass media.

That being said, I’m a little anxious about this class; it’s been years since I’ve watched a TV show, and I’m certainly out of the loop….. But there’s no time like the present to jump back in and analyze them to death!!

The TV show I’ve chosen to review this semester is New Girl, a 20-minute sitcom about a young female elementary school teacher moving into an apartment room with 3 young men. I chose this series because I want a few good laughs (god knows I’ll need it at Tech), and I also chose the show because I believe the more serious themes, i.e. feminism, are often overlooked as a result of the overt humor and jokes.

All in all, I can’t wait to immerse myself into feminist theories and find their applications in modern television!