communication – English 1102: Television and Feminism

Tag: communication

Not Too Broad, Not Too Specific

On September 4, 2018

Hey, everyone! My name is Faisal Chaudry, and I am a Civil Engineering student from Marietta, Georgia. I anticipate graduating with the class of 2022, but you never know what might come up along the way.

I have taken advanced English courses in high school, like AP Language and AP Literature. ENGL 1102 is the only English course that I will be taking at university, and frankly, I am quite relieved. Although I do relatively well in English classes, I always find them to be my least favorite course. I can read and write well, but having required books to read is so demotivating for me. Also, writing essays has always been a constant annoyance of mine, especially timed writings.

looking at you, AP Lit teacher

Despite my general frustration with English, I am excited for ENGL 1102. Rather than writing long, worthless essays and reading extensive novels, I get to watch TV shows for homework!

when your hw is to binge s1 of The Good Place

I enjoy using visual and electronic communication because I express myself more through showing others how I feel or what I believe rather than just telling or writing about it. I struggle the most with oral communication because I am not a sociable person, so speaking confidently is not my strong suit. However, I hope to build my oral skills so that I can interact with my peers throughout this semester.

I am aware of the role television has in perpetuating feminism in the mainstream. I have three sisters who are TV fanatics, so I tend to know a great deal about female-driven TV shows and storylines because they will unsolicitedly tell me everything about what is happening. Therefore, I am somewhat familiar with shows like Jane the Virgin, The Bold Type, and New Girl (not saying I ever watched them).

As for me, I consider myself an aficionado of television. I do not frequently start new shows all the time, but when I do, I will binge it. No question about it. Shameless is one of my top shows right now, and I binged all eight seasons within a month. I also enjoy BBC miniseries, like Sherlock, Luther, and Peaky Blinders, because they have captivating characters and suspenseful story arcs that keep me hooked.

me when Season 9 of Shameless premieres on Sunday

I am choosing to review Broad City for these blog posts because it is a show that I would never typically watch. It seems like the quintessential millennial comedy- a dynamic duo of female twenty-somethings in New York City who get into wacky yet hilarious situations, usually to meet new people or get more money. I have heard countless rave reviews about this show, and I know that it has a uniquely quirky sense of humor that I believe is a refreshing step away from the conventional sitcom. I cannot wait to see what this series has in store for my late-night TV bingeing.

Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, creators of Broad City

Fresh Off a Netflix Binge

By Bailey Moore

On September 4, 2018

In Intro Post

Hey, y’all! My name is Bailey Moore and I’m from Norcross, GA. I’m a first- year BME student here at GT with a Spanish minor and an anticipated graduation date of 2022 (probably, hopefully, maybe in December #relatable ).

me, still shook that we get to call enjoying TV homework

I was in the IB Diploma Programme in high school which meant a LOT of writing and speeches and more writing. This is my first English course at Tech, so I’m enjoying a little bit of a twist to the old monotonous English classes I dreaded in high school. Can you tell I’m a STEM major? I do, however, enjoy making infographics and doing oral presentations, especially creative ones rather than the long literary analysis speeches I’m used to because I feel interested and engaged myself when I use those methods of communication and I feel that the comfort and confidence of the communicator has a large effect on how the message is communicated. I struggle with nonverbal communication mainly because I haven’t practiced it or really looked into its significance. I am hoping to improve my nonverbal and electronic communication this semester, especially with infographics, body language, and voice tone, because I feel that they could contribute to making me appear more put- together and knowledgeable than I may be.

In reference to the course theme, I have a ton of experience with both TV and Feminism. I watch Netflix more than I’d like to admit and I even have a tattoo on my wrist of the equal sign which I got after the Women’s March here in ATL, but I haven’t previously combined these two passions, so I’m excited to see what the course has to offer. I also tend to watch the same types of shows when I watch. For leisure, I watch laid- back adult comedies like Modern Family, Bob’s Burgers, and The Big Bang Theory, and for Netflix binges, I go for thrilling dramas like Bloodline, Sherlock, and Stranger Things. I hope that this course will show me new types of shows and let me expand my thinking about TV and how it can reflect our culture as an art form.

I guess you could say I’m kinda an expert. heh. (10 points if you understand why I chose Emma Watson for this)

For this semester, I have chosen to review Fresh Off the Boat because I like that it shines a light on immigrants in America and I want to widen my scope of TV viewing to include a wider range of characters. It is about a first- generation Asian- American teenager who is uprooted from Chinatown DC to suburban Orlando with his family as his father chases the American Dream. Although the show is humorous, I also think that immigration is a huge topic in our political climate right now and I’m interested to see what opinion this show will argue. With that said, let’s get binging!!

me, in the car, constantly irritating my friends by singing loudly and not well

Intro to Alexandra Jungreis

By Alexandra Jungreis

On September 4, 2018

In Intro Post

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.

Me about to watch a Jewish BAMF rule the screen

A Piece of my Life

By Justin Lau

On September 2, 2018

In Intro Post

Hey guys! My name is Justin Lau and I grew up in a small city called Ellicott City in Maryland. It’s serene, suburban, and about 20 minutes from Baltimore. My declared major for Tech is Computer Engineering and my anticipated year of graduation is 2022.

In general, English has always not been my subject. Throughout high school, I disliked every moment of English because it was so boring: all we did was read required novels I never cared about, learn grammar/writing skills, and discuss nonchalant daily topics. Long story short, I was never particularly good at English, and I never really enjoyed it. However, I was a summer freshman this past semester at Tech and I took English 1101. It was the first English class I actually didn’t mind taking. Professor Tobias-Bates taught the class and I genuinely enjoyed it because there wasn’t overwhelming work, the projects were fun to do, and the topics we discussed in class were easy to talk about. I struggled mainly with argumentative writing and forming clear points in my essays. I often get too caught up in incorporating advanced vocabulary and making my writing sound more “sophisticated” that it can sometimes result in confusion with the flow of the sentence. Despite this, forms of communication I enjoy are utilizing social media to share life moments and my thoughts and talking to people in person, which represent the electronic and oral nodes of communication.

On the other hand, I am a total TV fanatic; I love binge watching Netflix shows and eating unhealthy junk foods that I know are bad for me. However, that was during high school, I have not had much time to keep up with shows and watch in college, but I hope to return to my old ways in this class. The last show I binge-watched was Friends, a true classic.

The TV show I have chosen to review is Fresh Off The Boat because this show seems extremely hilarious, not to mention the main characters of the show are Asians and will face struggles that I can relate to personally because of my parents’ first generation background. I am excited to dive into the lives of Eddie, his parents, and his two brothers, and I can’t wait to update you guys!

A picture of the family that is mainly explored in the show.

HELLO and WELCOME

By Amanda McAuley

On August 31, 2018

In Intro Post

Hey I’m Amanda McAuley and welcome to my blog!! I’m a Chemical Engineering major on track to (hopefully) graduate in 2022! Here is a picture of me considering this is an introduction blog post!

This is me #reppin’ #gatech

This is my first English class at Tech (well it is also my first semester), but last year I took AP Lit and LOVED dissecting books and making arguments. Over the years I have become better at communicating verbally and emotionally. I can make a point and provide evidence, but I can also read people’s emotions to ensure that those are considerations in how I’m communicating. On the opposite side of communication, I’m a terrible listener. I love to talk and inject my opinion, but this year I need to focus on thinking about the things my peers say instead of focusing on what I want add. If I can learn how to listen to others, then I can further develop my ideas and consider more options.

As far as my experience with the course topic, I have plenty. I’ve had my fair share of binging sessions like everybody else, but more importantly I was brought up in a family that valued Feminism. My dad is the biggest feminist I know, which in my opinion is super cool. He has always exposed me and my sisters to ideas of female empowerment and encouraged me to be aware of discrimination so that I can avoid just standing and watching it happen. I’m super excited to further shape my beliefs and ideals from what we read and discuss in class about Feminism and Television.

For my blog, I have chosen to watch Fresh off the Boat! It is a series that focuses on an immigrant family in America during the 1990s and their struggles to adapt to a new lifestyle (with humor of course). This sitcom is about embracing the new and retaining the old and I think that I will really enjoy it! I’ve also had multiple people recommend it to me, but I haven’t had time to watch it yet, so I’m planning on killing two birds with one stone! I also really love shows and movies that are based off books/memoirs, so this show also appealed to me from that angle also !!

This makes me super excited to start watching the show because who doesn’t love an American Gothic spin off

A Bit About Me including Sweeping Metaphors, Elevated Vocabulary, and Ample Alliteration

By Jadah Peters

On August 30, 2018

In Intro Post

My name is Jadah Peters, and I am majoring in chemical engineering. With finger crossed, I anticipate to graduate the year of 2022. This class is my first and last English class at Tech. In high school English classes, I did well, but I found them boring. In terms of the WOVEN forms of communication, I’m best at written and visual. The main benefit of writing is that I have significant control what voice I use. Most of the time for formal essays, I write in a completely different voice that is sort of pompous and dramatic. That voice has actually served me very well in several language arts writings. I find it humorous to write papers on thematic elements of literature because it’s my style to use sweeping metaphors, elevated vocabulary, and ample alliteration that would be utterly ridiculous to communicate in that way face to face. Another writing benefit is that I can edit it to make it as perfect as possible. With oral communication, when the words are spoken they can’t be erased. Another thing that is not easily erased, but is sometimes editable is visual communication. I took photography through high school; it became my main mode of expression. Every picture I created was a part of me. With other visual methods like posters and infographics, I have a god eye for color combinations and am very meticulous placement and details. On the other hand, I need to improve my oral and electronic communication. I’m very self-conscious when speaking in front of most people. I’m always afraid of saying something stupid, mispronouncing words, and being misinterpreted. However, I am fairly good at speeches because I have adequate time to prepare for them. Though, with day to day conversations or even interviews where I am unsure of what might be asked, I tend to fail to say what I want to. With writing that almost never happens. The mirror side of writing is reading which is what I tend to do instead of watching TV. Since I must watch TV for this class, I have chosen to review The Bold Type for pretty superficial reasons: it was one of the only series that I had heard of before, it didn’t have too many episodes, and it seems like the characters will probably be relatable. Because I wanted my opinions and analyses to be my own, I didn’t want to read too much about the show before watching it. Instead, I watched a portion of the pilot and it seems like the show will be a basic story about three best friends starting off their careers, attempting to adult, and following their dreams or something. From just 10 minutes of the pilot, I can already tell that the show will be very feminist forward and liberal leaning in its coverage of issues. I am looking forward to analyzing this show, and I may even be able to incorporate some sweeping metaphors, elevated vocabulary and ample alliteration.

This is a picture I took of myself for my photography class. I put my DSLR camera on tripod and then set a timer.

English 1102: Television and Feminism

Dr. Casey Alane Wilson • Georgia Institute of Technology

Tag: communication

Not Too Broad, Not Too Specific

Fresh Off a Netflix Binge

Intro to Alexandra Jungreis

A Piece of my Life

HELLO and WELCOME

A Bit About Me including Sweeping Metaphors, Elevated Vocabulary, and Ample Alliteration

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