Intro Post – Page 3 – English 1102: Television and Feminism

Hi, my name is Jay Patel. My major is Industrial Engineering and my anticipated year of graduation is 2022 (hopefully). I have taken many English courses, more like literature, in high school and many of them have been rewarding. These courses required a lot of reading which wasn’t that great, mainly because all the texts were chosen for us, but I definitely learned a lot about the world of literature and how it can vary. English 1102 will be my first English class at #GeorgiaTech, and I am very excited!

Me telling people how classes are vs how they actually are

For modes of communication, my favorite is electronic. Electronic, such as television, movies, social media, YouTube, etc., typically provide suspense and brings joy the viewer in an efficient manner. I personally struggle with the mode of writing. Partially due to my lack of patience in the sense that I like to see results immediately (being a slow reader does not help). The written mode is also the part of communication that I want to improve the most, especially with how important it can be in the real world.

I love our course theme! I surely love watching tv, however I usually try to limit myself to not watching at all because once I get started, it is so hard to stop. When I’m not in school and have nothing to do, I can watch tv shows all day, and now I have an excuse to do that during the year lol. I just came off of the last episode of Quantico and pretty sad that it got cancelled (Priyanka Chopra might have been my favorite part about the show, ngl). In terms of future and current shows, I’m in the process of season two of The Good Place and can’t wait for season three of The Man in the High Castle to be released!

For the blog, I chose to review No Tomorrow and it seems pretty interesting and funny. It’s about this neighborhood girl who meets an attractive guy who thinks the world is going to end with an apocalypse in 8 months. He convinces her to let go of her worldly obligations and to #liveyourbestlife. I feel like as a student at a competitive institute, up until now many of our educational actions in life have had the thought in mind if it will help me get into college: now that we’re here, are we going to keep worrying about the future at all times or are we going to live in the moment? I chose #notomorrow to see how the characters live their lives when they know that tomorrow won’t be a thing for them very soon, and for all we know, it might not be for some of us.

New Semester, New Girl

By Wendy Yao

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.

Who’s That Girl? It’s Zoe!

By Zoe Maisel

Hi! I’m Zoe Maisel. I am an industrial engineering major from Cumming, GA. I am so excited to take on my first English class at Georgia Tech! I enjoy written and electronic communication, so this project is pretty exciting for me. A great combination! I can’t wait to spread my thoughts, opinions, and ideas throughout my own personal cute lil blog. I struggle with nonverbal communication during public speaking, so this is a great way for me to hide behind my computer and avoid working on that… just kidding! kinda. But for real, I truly do hope to improve on my body language, accenting, and tone throughout the semester.

Hashtag excited for all the electronic communication in this class

I chose the television and feminism theme mostly for the feminism side. It is something I am very passionate about and I can’t wait to delve deeper into the history and evolution of it. I want to make sure I am thoroughly and properly informed so that I can spread the knowledge and importance of feminism. And fight for equality!

Be prepared for plenty of feminist rants during class discussions.

However, I am not an expert on the TV side. I have a history of starting shows and never finishing them. I either get bored or can’t find time to continue them. Don’t get me wrong, I have my favorites that I have finished and obsess over (One Tree Hill, How I Met Your Mother, The Office), but TV is just not really my thing.

But this semester, I am determined. It will be my thing. I am going to integrate it into my new college life.

Image result for new girl gif it's perfectly fine to watch tv all day

I will be reminding myself these wise words from Nick Miller

I have chosen New Girl to review, specifically season 6. I was a big fan of seasons 1-5. This is actually a perfect assignment because I had not watched TV in a while, and I did not know that there was a new season of New Girl until I logged in to Netflix to watch The Good Place. It was exciting news! New Girl is about a quirky and fun-loving woman who moves into a loft with 3 very fun and interesting men. They go on many crazy adventures and each of them is hilarious in their own way. I chose this show because I enjoyed the previous seasons and watching them for comedy, and now I get to analyze this new season and discover new information about the show’s characters, writing, gender roles, and so much more.

Me when I realized I get to watch more New Girl AND make a blog about it

Fresh on the Blog

By Grace Harrison

Hi, my name is Grace Harrison! I am currently undecided in the school of engineering but I think that I am going to do Industrial Engineering. Hopefully I will be graduating in 2022 (we’ll see if that actually happens).

This is my first English class at Tech! At my high school our English classes tended to focus on traditional literature and modes of communication. However, the last English class I took was a themed course called “Stories of What if?” that included more sources of information such as movies, books, articles, and podcasts. I hope to improve my nonverbal communication skills this year as I previously was not very good at communicating in ways other than written and verbal.

This course attracted because it involved two themes I loved, Television and Feminism. I frequently binge watch Netflix (maybe to a point that would be considered excessive). I also would consider myself a passionate feminist. I have not had much experience relating the two themes except that one of my friends is very interested in the television industry and taught me some about the progress and lack of progress in the industry. I also did some research during the various scandals that have happened recently relating to Harvey Weinstein and others.

I have chosen to review Fresh Off the Boat! Fresh Off the Boat is about an Asian-American family who moves to the suburbs in Florida, which are predominately White in the 1990s, to pursue the American Dream.

Moving for the American Dream

I chose this show because I have seen one episode of it and really enjoyed it. I also care very much about social issues and wanted to choose a show that included a racial component as well as feminism to make this more intersectional since feminism is about more than just White people. I am a huge fan of Constance Wu (I still need to see Crazy Rich Asians though) and cannot wait to start watching the show!

Constance Wu is the best

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By Sara Nill

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.

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!

So ready to cry at 3am!

My very first blag :)

By Ryan Kretzmer

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.

Netflix and Blogposts

By Rafael Barrientos

Hey y’all! My name is Rafael Barrientos; however, I go by my second name, Ernesto. I am from El Salvador, and a first-year student majoring in Industrial and Systems Engineering. Hopefully, I will be graduating in 2022.

That is a popular destination in my country

I am an international student; however, I have taken English courses throughout all my life. In my school I took English courses like AP Language and Composition. Therefore, I feel pretty comfortable writing and reading in English. I am very excited to further explore the electronic mode of communications, like Twitter, Blog posts, and Netflix. As an international student, I tend to have an accent, which sometimes makes me nervous, and probably affects my oral communication skills. However, I plan to speak plenty of English to feel more comfortable when speaking it. This is my first English class at Georgia Tech, and I am very excited for it. Especially for the aspect of TV and Feminism. Coming from a Latin-American country I can see how women (many times Latino women) are stuck portraying the same types of archetypal roles. Often Latino women are either playing a bombshell or a cleaning lady. Hopefully in the near future, Latino (and overall all) women can expand into more meaningful and powerful roles.

In can proudly say that I am a TV fanatic (of like five series). Mainly I have commitment issues with my series. I am afraid of committing to a forty-minute episode, given that I feel that they take more time to complete. Therefore, I stick to mostly twenty-minute episode series, like: How I Met Your Mother, That 70’s Show, etc. Probably the only long episode series I have binged is Game of Thrones.

“When they tell mw I cannot binge on How I Met Your Mother again”

For this course, I have chosen to review the series Grace and Frankie. I chose this show because it is a sitcom and has short episodes. Furthermore, my sister recommended it to me a long time ago. I have decided to trust her TV show taste. I think this show is about two women who do not get along and now are forced to get along, because their husbands are in a romantic relationship. Sit back, relax, and continue to enjoy the Grace and Frankie blog posts.

“Well this looks awkward”

“Hello World”

By Blair Johnson

Netflix original, Sense8, takes on a very unique form of storytelling

Hello World, my name is Blair Johnson. I am coming to tech as a electrical engineering major, and I intend to graduate in 2022 (although we’ll see how that goes). As with most U.S. students, I have been taking English classes for as long as I can remember. In high school I took IB English Lit as well as AP Lang and Comp. These were both very traditional English classes, centering around rhetoric and literary analysis. English 1102 this semester is going to be a big transition from those classes. I have never really explored different forms of media in an English class (save for when an English teacher tried to make us write Buzzfeed style Listicles). Thus, studying television and sharing my thoughts blog posts and tweets is going to be very different from anything that I have ever done before. I hope to get better at more casual, short-format methods of communication. I always feel awkward writing twitter posts, so I will be interested to see if I come out of this course liking twitter or hating it.

I like TV a lot. Increasingly with the rise of high-budget original content from streaming services like Netflix and Amazon, I find myself more invested in TV shows than I am in most movies. The ability to bring movielike quality to the longer format of television storytelling is revolutionizing the industry, and I am all for it. On the topic of high budget Netflix original shows, I am going to be reviewing Sense8 in my blog posts. Last year a friend and I had tried to watch the whole series together and we only got a few episodes in. This was certainly far enough to get me hooked on the show.

Insert Creative Introductory Blog Title Here

By Adam Lederer

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

By Daniela Larranaga Fajardo

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

I Sense a gr8 TV Show

By Sierra Villarreal

Hello everyone! I’m Sierra Villarreal. I am currently majoring in Biomedical Engineering and hopefully graduating in 2022.

Even though I am an engineering major, English class has always been one of my favorite classes. English 1102 will be my first English class at GT, and I am super excited to see the analytical twists that it has to offer. A large part of most English classes are analyzing different mediums while in this class we focus more on the communication aspect. I see so many exciting applications for this because communication- whether it be written, oral, visual, electronic, or nonverbal- is an incredibly important skill for a successful life. I enjoy written and visual communication the best because those are the two mediums that I practice most frequently. I would love to improve on my nonverbal and oral skills because I believe that conversation is a lost art.

As far as television and feminism goes, I have a newfound appreciation for both. Television is one of the most influential aspects of society since TV shows have the ability to reach people in masses. I love binge watching a good series, but I love even more when a series defies my expectation or leaves me contemplating unanswered questions. My favorite thing to look for in a show is something confusing that will hopefully give me a new perspective or absolutely absurd satirical comedy.

For my TV show that I will be analyzing this semester, I chose Sense8. Sense8 is an American science fiction drama in which 8 people all over the world share a random connection. This connection is a strong emotional, sensual, and intellectual connection. I chose this show because it represents many different types of people all over the world and will hopefully provide me with some interesting perspectives. The show has also been recommended to me several times and now I have an excuse to watch it! Stay tooned to go on this journey with me:)

Netflix Is The New Homework

By Lauren Garrett

Hello! My name is Lauren Garrett, I am planning on double-majoring in business administration and international affairs, and hopefully I can somehow manage to graduate in May of 2022 (we’ll see though).

This is me right now, stressing about how stressed I am going to be.

I love English, and every English class I’ve ever taken has been a personal favorite! I took AP Language and AP Literature in high school, so I didn’t take English 1101, and now I’m here. I also wrote for an online Buzzfeed-type website for about a year, submitting articles weekly that ranged from coffee shop reviews to rants about our modern society. Although I cringe now when I read them, I feel like I am fairly apt at writing, and this is definitely my favorite mode of communication. My least favorite would probably be nonverbal since I tend to be sort of twitchy.

Honestly, I was never raised watching television with my family beyond sports games or the news, so I didn’t ever really get into binging shows. When I watched Netflix, it tended to be mainly for the cultural relatability – aka, I watched only the mainstream shows so I could understand the references and pretend that I knew what people were talking about. I also went for the lower commitment shows, like The Office or Parks and Recreation, where the episodes were fairly short and didn’t require a ton of previous knowledge of other episodes. Even shows that I loved fell into the void of “never to be finished”, so getting into The Good Place was a weirdly exciting event for me. I’m excited to continue to spend evenings in my dorm with my roommate watching shows for this class!

However, I do know a bit about feminism. In high school, I formed a feminist club that was aimed at bridging divides between the missions of feminine empowerment and common misconceptions (such as trying to end the stereotype that “feminists hate men!!1!”), and we experienced enough success for the club to be continued on into this year. We did multiple service projects such as professional clothing drives for a local shelter that helped victims of domestic abuse get back on their feet, and we led discussions in high school English classes that were reading feminist literature on how these themes carried over into modern-day society. I am definitely no expert, though, and I certainly never really thought to consider feminism in the context of mainstream media – this class calls to me!

I have chosen to review Orange Is The New Black this semester, a show about a woman getting through her prison sentence in an all-female prison, mainly because I’ve been wanting to watch it since it first came out and never got around to it. Based on what I know about it, however, I am excited to see how each woman is portrayed through the lenses of not only gender but sexuality and background stories. I believe that this show will make for great analysis and discussion of many of our course themes.

Let’s get watching!!

Philippe Lamarche in 341 Words

By Philippe Lamarche

Hi, and welcome to my first blog post. My name is Philippe Lamarche, and I’m a Quebec-born Biology major projected to graduate in 2022. This is my first experience in an English class at Georgia Tech, and there are a couple reasons as to why I’m looking forward to this course. English classes in the past have taught me important lessons that go far beyond the walls of the classroom, and I believe this will be no exception. They have greatly improved my quality of writing, given me valuable public speaking practice, and pushed me out of my comfort zone with multimedia projects. However, my development as a multimedia content creator is far from over, and my gut tells me that I will be getting plenty of opportunities to improve.

Additionally, this class will introduce me to a variety of television shows that will expand my understanding of the genre. I have never been an avid television viewer, so I feel that this is a media outlet that I can learn from. Clearly, people put lots of passion into television shows they produce, so it’s only natural that they would contain insightful themes or interesting comments on the state of society. I’ve picked the television series Jessica Jones in the hopes that it will contain just that. I’m choosing it based on positive reviews I’ve heard from my friends, as well as an interesting premise that I think will keep me captivated throughout all the episodes. It’s a show about a ex-superheroine with a dark past who becomes a private investigator in NYC dealing with people who have remarkable abilities, like herself. The protagonist is really interesting because she is both clearly flawed and clearly powerful, so seeing how she will handle her obstacles in the show should be very interesting. On top of that, she doesn’t seem like the generic strong female lead that we see in certain blockbusters like the Divergent trilogy.

Below is my Common First-Week Video, if you care to learn more about my expectations for this class.

New Year, New Class, New…Girl?

By James Fan

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!

Image result for new girl gifs

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!

This describes me (hope I English well)

By John Ryu