Fresh off the Boat – Page 4 – English 1102: Television and Feminism

Season 1, episode 2 of Fresh Off the Boat is very rich thematically. The theme of the episode, however cheesy and overdone it is, is that family is important. This episode is very early on in the series, so it makes sense that the Huang family dynamic would be explored in such an episode. This exposition of the family dynamic may also set the stage for further developments in the series.

This family dynamic is extremely relatable, serving to give the episode some pathos when communicating the theme. The Huang parents each make members of the family do things for their own good, which they don’t want to do. Jessica forces her kids to practice math and reading outside of school, something I know I wouldn’t have liked in the moment, but that I would appreciate now. Louis eventually tells his wife to stay out of his business concerning the restaurant to make it a more inviting environment for customers in the future, improving business. Throughout the episode, the Huangs tell each other “I love you” when they’re hiding something. This in itself isn’t a problem, as everyone has a different means of showing love, but it, too, serves to have the audience identify more with the main characters. In my case at least, this is something I can identify with. I actually texted my mom the other day to tell her I missed her, and she replied with, “What’s wrong?”

The Huangs say “I love you” when they’re hiding things.

In this episode, the Huangs stand up for each other in many ways. Eddie’s parents defend him when the school tries to get him in trouble for fighting another kid after being called a racial slur. Additionally, Jessica deals with customers who dine and dash at Louis’s restaurant and she takes on teaching all of the sons outside of school.

Jessica dealing with customers who dine and dash

The Huang family is repeatedly juxtaposed with that of their neighbor, whose dad is not around. This underscores that despite its dysfunction, the Huang family is always there for one another. This dysfunction manifests itself when Louis gets irritated with his wife at the restaurant. He half-tricks her into staying home and tutoring their sons. However, he eventually has to come clean to her. This reveals an important subtheme of this episode; that openness is important, especially through the lens of family concerns. Your family is meant to be there for you, but they can’t help unless you are open with them.

The episode ends with Louis playing basketball with his kids. This scene serves to drive home the theme, as everything is resolved because the family stuck together. This theme will likely be referenced again when members the Huangs go through hardship. They’ll turn to each other for help. As we’ve already seen, there is going to be a lot of conflict involving their cultural identity in the future, and they’re the only people they know with the same experiences.

Writing of “So Chineez”

By Bruce Qin

In Review Topic 1

After watching the first season of Fresh off the Boat, there were many interesting episodes that touched on a variety of topics, this blog post will be written about episode thirteen: So Chineez. Episode thirteen was written by Nahnatchka Khan and directed by Chris Koch. Director Chris Koch is also known for being the director for shows such as Modern Family, Scrubs, The Neighbors , etc. and Nahnatchka Khan is known for writing and producing episodes for shows such as American Dad!, Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, Always Be My Maybe.

The episode begins with different scenes of the family members in their habitual settings, voiced over by Eddie Huang. Eddie describes: “I became my school’s first black president, dad put the restaurant on the map, my brothers were still nerds, grandma was busy doing her thing, but no one was fitting in better than mom, she was down with “Melrose Place,” Hip-hop music is played in the back, similar to the beginnings of other episodes. It is arguable how Eddie’s voice over helps the show, but it shows that it is from Eddie (one of the main characters)’s perspective. The narration isn’t necessarily consistent; however, most episodes begin and ends with Eddie’s narration and hip-hop music.

In the episode, the dialogues mainly focused on the Huang family, Eddie and his friends at school, and Louis with his new country-club friends. One major use of silence was when Louis called his newly-found business partner Ted an “Ass wipe.” The club members’ smiles disappeared as Louis realized that his joke was “too far.” Louis then apologizes and says he is still learning as the other club members laugh it off and continue to play tennis. This scene shows how Louis is fitting in at the club and learning the “traditions,” similar to how his family is fitting into the new Orlando culture. Even though there was an awkward silence, the club members simply laughed it off when Louis apologized to Ted.

The conversation between Eddie and Trent at the cross-cultural fair showed Jessica that Eddie is proud of his heritage and remembers what she has taught him about Chinese traditions and culture. As Eddie proudly told Trent of his heritage, there was the external reference to The Four Great Inventions, The Great Wall of China, and the 5000 years of Chinese history.

Huang family’s new license plate at the end of season 1

I think this episode was a good way to end the season as it continues to explore racial/cultural identity in a comedic manner. The show began with the Huang family struggling to fit in, and through season one they were able to each find their own place in the community. It ends positively and leaves the audience to wonder what will happen in the next season. It is clear that each character still has a lot of room for development as Louis is looking to open another branch for his restaurant, Jessica is reflecting on “who she is,” and the kids are slowly growing up.

Family is Everything

By Charlotte Harris

In Review Topic 4

Well, I’m six episodes into Fresh Off the Boat, and so far it’s SO GOOD! I realize that’s probably about as subjective as I can get, but I am thoroughly enjoying seeing the world through the eyes of an eleven-year-old boy facing a lot of challenges in a new, unfamiliar environment. I also find the focus on the family element to be extremely refreshing. While many modern dramas highlight family conflict (kids disrespecting their parents, parents tearing each other down, grandparents being portrayed as old-fashioned and therefore irrelevant), Fresh Off the Boat depicts the Huang family as people who love each other and genuinely want the best for one another. That’s not to say that they don’t ever argue, or they live without EVER making each other’s lives miserable every now and then. They’re not perfect, despite what Jessica desperately wants her sister to believe (“Success Perm”). But at the end of the day, they’re all on the same team, which leads me into the first theme I’ve noticed in this show: Family is everything.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. What about the guy who grew up in an abusive home and hasn’t spoken to his parents in decades? Or the little girl with an alcoholic father? Is family everything to those people? And no, that’s not what I mean. As we’ve talked about in class, shows like Murphy Brown and Jane the Virgin present the idea that family isn’t necessarily two parents and two children in a suburban house with a white picket fence. Sometimes, family isn’t even who DNA says family is. Family is all about love, kindness, patience, and support. In some cases, family may be all that you have. In a setting where an immigrant family moves to a new city, everything that was once familiar to them has changed. Everything, that is, except for family. I think Fresh Off the Boat argues that if you have your family around you (no matter what form that “family” may take), everything else will fall into place.

I see this theme clearly displayed in the episode “Home Sweet Home-School,” in which Jessica begins supplementing her sons’ education with some extra assignments at home. Eddie is upset because this new homeschool program means he can’t spend his afternoons playing basketball with his neighbor friend, and even Louis thinks Jessica has taken it a little too far. The episode ends with Jessica lightening up and Louis playing basketball with all three of his sons, and even though Eddie’s friend later joins them, Eddie realizes he’s happy with just his family. His whole world has changed, but his family has his back, no matter how crazy they drive him. The show uses this episode to prove that family love manifests itself in different ways, even if it’s as overbearing as Chinese Learning Center at home. No matter how much his life changes, Eddie always has his family.

C’mon, admit it…deep down, y’all love each other.

Taking a Quick Peek at the Writing Behind Fresh Off the Boat

By Jason Howard

In Review Topic 1

Looking at the pilot of the show, “Fresh Off the Boat” the characters are introduced to an entirely new environment, Orlando, Florida, and must all adapt to the suburban lifestyle all while attempting to blend in with a largely white community. Furthermore, Eddie has to try to fit the expectations set for him despite considering himself the “Black Sheep” of the family. The opening scene opens with Eddie trying on expensive clothes and his mom promptly denying him said clothes. This is when we are introduced to our narrator, the real life Eddie Huang, as he explains his frustration at his mother’s lack of understanding of department stores. Within the first minute of the show, the narrator’s lines already establish one of the key conflicts that recurs throughout the show: Eddie’s understanding and acceptance of American culture vs. his family’s vexation and resistance towards it.

(Eddie tries on some posh clothes that don’t quite fit into his mother’s price range for shopping.)

The next key scene immediately follows as Eddie flashes back to his road trip as he moved from Washington DC to Orlando, Florida. In this scene, the narrator quickly, but blatantly describes the characters in the family and his relationship towards them. He establishes that his father bought into the American dream, that his mother was hard on him, and that both were worried about him, after which, he quickly dismisses the other members of his family. This dismissive words of the narrator helps to reveal Eddie’s sense of separation from his family and his feelings of being an outsider. As the episode progresses, the narration becomes less frequent and the character’s dialogue begins to take more significance in the episode. A key distinction to notice in the episode is the dialogue of the white characters being illogical yet patronizing whereas the dialogue of the Huang family being straightforward and personal. During most scenes with white characters interacting with Eddie the characters will struggle to speak to him due to the fact that they expect him to speak little or no English. Whether it be tourists in DC who slowly as for directions to the “W H I T E H O U S E” or teachers who do not know how to pronounce his name, Eddie establishes the general lack of understanding towards Taiwanese culture in specific, and Asian cultures in general.

The episode wraps up with an epic showdown as Eddie’s parents duke it out with the principal of his middle school. After discovering that Eddie started a fight because a student called him a “chink” Louis Huang berates the principal following with Jessica accusing the principal of ignoring the bullying problem in his school. This scene ultimately reveals Eddie’s parents true feelings towards their son and their understanding of how difficult it is to fit into the whitewashed town of Orlando.

“The Talk” in Fresh Off the Boat

By Matthew Pleskow

On September 10, 2018

In Review Topic 5

Fresh Off the Boat tackles sexual harassment and rape in episode 5 of season 1, albeit in a very surface level manner, so as to include comedy. The main focus of the episode is Eddie (the protagonist) trying to fit in with the other kids at middle school and, to do this, Eddie claims he has a dirty movie to coerce the kids to have a sleep over at his house. In fact, he has no idea what a dirty movie even is, and when the other kids come over to his house, Eddie shows a sexual harassment video that was meant to be shown at his dad’s workplace. The kids sat dumbfounded in front of the TV as they watched what they thought was a dirty movie. This video then spreads around the school, creating an epidemic of kids imitating the video, revealing that none of them know anything about what sex really is. For example, the boys would approach girls, and say something like, “If you select me as your boyfriend, I’ll select you for the promotion,” or “Hey girl, how bout we have one for the road?” Obviously, the kids had no idea what any of this meant.

This leads in all the parents giving “the talk” to their kids. Louis (Eddie’s dad) insisted on giving Eddie his version of the talk, which was very detailed to say the least. After he finished, he went out to talk to Jessica (Eddie’s mom), and she asked, “Did you tell him not to date rape?” When he responded no, she ran into Eddie’s room and assaulted him with a big stuffed animal screaming, “YOU LIKE THAT?!!”

Jessica assaulting Eddie with a stuffed animal

This scene is very comical, but it amazed me that a family show would discuss something like this. Generally, I would not expect a family sitcom to go into the topics of consent and rape. In most family sitcoms, it can be expected that “the talk” may happen, but they would rarely, if ever, even mention something like rape or consent. I feel as if introducing this into more shows, society – and the kids watching the show – would develop their ideas of sex to include consent, rather than what is normally shown on TV.

Of course, the show as a whole still over represents the male gender and includes many gender stereotypes. Particularly in this episode, Jessica, while giving a lecture on sexual harassment to a group of workers, ironically flirts with one of them, reinforcing the idea that women have an urge to be flirty. She also says that all women must cross their legs while sitting. Despite this, I still think that the show, and this episode in particular, is a step in the right direction for pop culture. Although Jessica’s talk wasn’t perfect, it is something that should be commonplace in all households.

Jessica wearing a no means no shirt

Upcoming Asian Rapper: Eddie Huang

By Sanjot Singh

On September 7, 2018

In Review Topic 1

My first review blog is about the first episode of season one of Fresh Off the Boat. I was really impressed by the writing in the pilot and it gave me a great first impression of the show. The entire show is actually based on a book written and based on the life of Eddie Huang. According to IMDb, Eddie Huang was one of the most prominent writers of the show along with Nahnatchka Khan who is also the creator of the show. The show does have voice overs that are done by Eddie Huang himself. The narration is used as a frame for the show and only comes on at the beginning and end of the episode which emphasizes how the episodes are like memories and the narration act as intros and summarizations at the end. This voiceover is significantly different than the one from Jane the Virgin where the narrator gives explanations throughout the episodes. Another interesting aspect of the show is that the episodes are generally flashbacks of the past while the voiceovers are in present time.

The writers kept the script very genuine and included grammar mistakes in the dialogues of the Mom in order to highlight her accent and emphasize her immigrant characteristics. The dialogue acknowledges racism and instead of conforming to it it attempts to undermine it by presenting it from Eddie Huang’s perspective. The repetitive use of colors such as “white” and “black” to describe races continues to make the dialogues seem realistic especially from the perspective of a kid in middle school. Silence is also implemented effectively, both to induce comedy after characters say jokes and to dramatize arguments. The writers used the repetition of Eddie saying “your never on my side” to his mom to reflect how he feels like an outsider even in his own house. However, what stands out most about the writing is the constant references to rap music, which really allows you to relate to Eddie. Overall, the show had very thought out and relatable writing that has me itching to keep watching!

Me running to go watch the next episode

FOTB: Giving a Voice to the Excluded

By Amanda McAuley

On September 6, 2018

In Review Topic 4

A major theme in the first two episodes of Fresh off the Boat is exclusion. It argues that exclusion comes in too many ways to count, especially non-traditional ways. For example, Eddie (11 year old main character) isn’t allowed to sit with some boys at lunch because his Chinese food smells bad to his classmates. While this isn’t “excluding him because of his race”, it actually is because the food is part of his culture, which is part of him and his family. Eddie just wants to belong and therefore is willing to conform to his classmates standards, just to make friends. The show focuses on the minor (and major) ways that minorities are excluded and discriminated against. The Huang family is seemingly the only non-white family in the neighborhood, which makes them feel left out IN THEIR OWN HOME. Especially when the crazy white neighbor tells you “your English is so good” even though you were born in America…

I would eat these noodles over a Lunchable any day

The show makes its argument not only by showing the exclusion that the Huang family faces, but also from the exclusion Eddie faces within his own family. His two younger brothers get to go to the same school and sit on the same bus together, but he has to go alone. He LOVES rap music, but his family likes other music. His mom wants them to go to a CLC, Chinese Learning Center, to academically challenge them, while all the other boys his age get to play outside, make friends, and shoot hoops. Worst of all, his little brothers aren’t upset about doing CLC instead of being normal kids. Their relationships portray that even in a loving family, one can feel like an outsider. I think it’s unique because sometimes television families are just classified as “good” or “bad” and FOTB embraces the grey of family.

While this show is a sitcom that is supposed to be funny, it’s themes attack what is wrong with modern America. It can take a serious theme, like exclusion, and use humor to show how it affects people’s lives and I think that is so powerful. My favorite quote from these episodes comes from a conversation between Eddie and his mom. Eddie wants a Lunchable for his school lunch, instead of his mom’s Chinese food. She responds with “You want it to fit in a box? Why are you so American?”. Honestly this quote just stuck out to me and I felt the need to write it down because of how powerful it is. I love that comedy can become so political by using its following base to show what is wrong with our society. There is so much conformity & exclusion in America right now and it means we are missing out on a lot of unique people & ideas. Modern “entertainment” does wayyy more than entertain and I think Fresh off the Boat is the perfect example of media becoming political and thought provoking.

An AESTHETIC Introduction or, How to get Off the Boat

By James Peavy

Hello all, my name is James Peavy, and I am a first-year Psychology major. (but I am probably going to switch into IE for Financial Systems) I hope to graduate in 2022, but it is very possible that I graduate a year or so later. I really enjoy a genre of music called Vaporwave (specifically its sub-genre ‘Future Funk’), and I advise everyone to try to listen to a bit of it. (it can be some good study music!)

Its just as much about the aesthetics as it is the music.

This isn’t my first English class at Georgia Tech, so I am familiar with the WOVEN modes and how things are structured. I am looking forward to a ‘slower’ English class than my ENGL 1101 class in the summer.

I personally like written communication the best because it lets me fully flesh out an idea before I officially ‘present’ it to someone else. On the flip side, I dislike oral communication because it forces you to quickly speak your mind or convey your opinion, and because you are given little time, your view might not be as fleshed out as you would like. I hope to improve my oral communication skills, and find out how to quickly add to a discussion in a meaningful and worth-while way.

I have little experience with TV and feminism, but I do have some understanding of feminism’s core values and teachings. TV is a thing of the past for me, I used to watch a lot while eating dinner when I was a kid, but after that phase I decided that YouTube contains a great deal of good, easily consumable, media.

I decided to review “Fresh Off the Boat” mostly due to its funny name and my knowledge of the history behind that name. I also enjoy the idea of watching a sitcom with an Asian family as the focus because I can’t recall any other series doing that. (usually its a white family)

Looking forward to seeing this show, glad I have an excuse to watch it!

Meeting JC- But Not Jackie Chan…

By Justin Chow

Hey everybody! My name is Justin Chow. I am a first-year aerospace engineering major who intends to graduate in 2022. Having lived in England for 8 years, I have had plenty encounters of English courses at High school. However, my first English course in Tech, the 1102 “Television and Feminism” provides a unique opportunity to analyse the use of language in modern society beyond the superficial level of literary devices used in prose and poetry.

Poets all along…

In fact, the holistic “WOVEN” approach would allow me to locate my communication weaknesses and I could hone in the skills necessary. I tend to rely on oral communication to express my thoughts not only because you can more easily portray a comprehensive idea through facial and hand expressions, but also it avoids any miscommunication that texts may have. One aspect I hope to improve in this class is working on the concision of my writing. Having learnt the importance of effective communication by reading biographies of my engineer idols, I aspire to improve my writing through practice.

I do not remember a time when I am not waiting for a new episode of a TV show to air! From the fantasy world themed of Game of Thrones and Agents of Shield to the more pragmatic themed of the Good Doctor and Suits, I just love watching shows that have a developed plotline and characters. Even though its true that I also like reading books, I find that I only enjoy reading biographies or philosophical works when I am in a contemplating mood. Thus, in most cases, I prefer to watch TV shows.

Having studied in a widely diverse high school community, I have taken big interest in feminism and other social movements occurring around the globe. Therefore, I am fascinated by the prospect of watching Fresh off the Boat.

Clear example of Cultural Assimilation in Fresh Off the Boat

I would both be able to recognise the contemporary anxieties that Asian-American experience in a country that prefers cultural assimilation, and I would also be able to the feminism movement as this show has a huge female presence in both cast and scriptwriting.

Fresh Off a Netflix Binge

By Bailey Moore

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

On a Personal Note…

By Charlotte Harris

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?

An individual’s English 1102 Introduction

By N

On September 3, 2018

In Intro Post, Review Topic 1

Hello to all passersby, I’m Nelson Jiang. I’m currently a Material Science and Engineering major (subject to be changed with little notice), and I’m expected to be a 2022 Graduate (might be a bit of a stretch).

English 1102 is my first English class at GA Tech as I had taken the standard AP English (AP Lang & AP Lit) pathway in high school and was lucky enough to get the credit for English 1101. As I’ve struggled with languages in my early life, my relationship with English has not been good often being the class I struggle the most in. I enjoy and would like to improve my written and oral communication. However what I most struggle in would be nonverbal and visual communication, those are two communication skills that I still haven’t quite got the hang of yet. Interpretation of nonverbal and visual communication is a bit hard for me, and I’m often unable to understand the meaning that the author had intended. I really hope to get better with the entire spectrum of WOVEN communication.

As with the theme of the course, I haven’t watched television in perhaps four to five years and even then most of what I had watched were kiddie educational cartoons. I did really like Curious George and Martha Speaks as a kid. Most of my viewing screen time goes to YouTube. Most of what I know from television, I’ve picked up from conversations with my friends. As for feminism, I have a habit of wanting to stay in the middle as a moderate and avoid the two divisive sides of politics, so I don’t know much about feminism. Though I do hope to learn more about it, if possible in a nonpolitical sense. My experience with feminism is mostly limited to the Feminist Critique from AP Lit and learning about feminism in history classes.

I’ll be reviewing Fresh Off the Boat for my blog entries. The show is loosely based on Eddie Huang and his book Fresh Off the Boat. It’s about Chinese-Taiwanese family, from Chinatown in Washington,DC, that sets up a restaurant in Orlando, Florida with a dad that loves the American Dream, a mom that struggles to understand the culture, and kids that try to fit in. The family tries to fit into American cultural; whilst struggling to maintain a sense of their own Taiwanese culture. I choose this by looking through the entire list of recommended shows, looking through their synopsis, and watching the first 10 minutes of each show that interested me. I choose Fresh Off the Boat over the other shows on the list as I felt it was the first time I’ve seen a show try to connect with the upbringing of a first-generation Asian-American family. I connect with it as my sibling and me are first generation Asian-Americans with an immigrant family from China.

This was my parents at the end of each term during most of my school career.

The Story of Arvin in Less than 500 Words

By Arvin Poddar

On September 2, 2018

Hi everyone! My name is Arvin Poddar, and I’m a business major (I may switch to CS because of my development background) set to hopefully graduate in 2022. English 1102 is my first English course here at Tech. The last English classes I took were AP Lit and AP Lang, both of which were very similar in the sense that they centered entirely on the analysis of writing selected by the teacher. The reason I’m excited about this course is that unlike the aforementioned ones from high school, we will be focused on a whole new mode of communication, and I get to choose the content I want to analyze.

One thing I distinctly remember having a hard time with in English courses (and I still feel this applies now) is class discussions of the material. For one, I prefer listening to the discussion more than participating in it, which I’ll definitely have to fix. I also feel that the few points I contribute to discussions are not always as insightful as those of my peers. Oral communication in general is not exactly my strong suit, but given that this class will involve lots of discussions, I am looking forward to improving myself. Hopefully, as the class progresses, my ability to analyze will improve so that I can contribute more valuable points. I’ll also have to get used to Twitter, which I’ve never used before. I’m not a frequent social media user (other than Instagram, where I post about twice a year), so tweeting regularly may be a challenge. Other than this, I love to communicate in the other modes, especially through visual mediums (graphics, presentations, art).

However, one thing that won’t be an issue for me in this class is the theme of television: I love TV shows. The first TV show I ever watched start to finish was Breaking Bad, and since then, I’ve finished many more (including Silicon Valley, Scream Queens, Game of Thrones, Narcos, Big Little Lies, Westworld, Modern Family, Black Mirror). For this class, I have chosen to watch “Fresh off the Boat,” a comedy about a young boy’s struggles with the cultural differences between his American peers and his Asian immigrant parents. I chose this show because it felt very relatable. Both of my parents are immigrants from India, and they will likely share a lot of the traditional values that the protagonist’s Chinese parents have. I have been through the challenges of balancing the culture of my family with that of my surroundings. Thus, the show may not be an exact representation of myself, but it is close enough that I will be able to provide personal insight into the plight of the main character.

Me when I came to Georgia Tech (GIF from Fresh off the Boat)

I’m looking forward to watching my show and getting to talk to all of you about what you’re watching!

Adventures of a sOpHoMoRe bY cReDiTs

By Sanjot Singh

On September 2, 2018

Hey guys! Its ya boi Sunny Singh, back at it again with another youtub- I mean blog post. I’m a Mechanical Engineer and I am expected to graduated in 2022 but we all know that’s probably not gonna happen.

This is actually my first English course here at Tech, but I am super grateful that I got such an interesting theme (television and feminism) instead of the history of snails or something. I did take AP English Language and English Literature in high school and those really helped me hone my oral communication skills through the various discussions throughout the years. I feel most adept at communicating verbally because it allows for actual conversations and allows both persons to express their first and most natural thoughts on a subject. However, the element that I struggle with most is written communication. I feel that my ideas get lost in my thoughts before I am able to get them down on paper. This results in my writing being all over the place and simply not flowing. And besides not flowing I feel like writing is also the form of communication that I am most afraid to initiate. I don’t know what it is exactly, but maybe the thought of actual words being written down with pen and paper makes the ideas seem so permanent. I think this psychs me out because I feel like it must be perfect and then I end up not writing anything. So, I definitely hope to work on improving that element of communication this semester but I also want to refine my non-verbal skills because I feel like they can be a major sign of respect or disrespect so it could never hurt to make them better, or well try to at least.

I was a very inconsistent TV fanatic in high school but I will say this last summer before college I did attempt to redeem myself. After dinner me and my brother would watch a few episodes of Gotham before going to bed and some nights those “few episodes” will turn into half a season and a bag of Takis mixed into a bowl of popcorn for the perfect spice-to-butter ratio. I prefer comedy and action TV shows but generally I will start a TV show, binge watch up to the latest season, forget about it, and then start over again with a new series.

I have chosen to review Fresh Off the Boat, which is basically about an immigrant kid trying to fit into American culture. I picked this show because I find the premise of the show to be extremely relatable and I think Randall Park is just hilarious. I’m excited to start watching and can’t wait to see what underlying messages the writers try to poke at through the comedy of the show!

How I feel about getting to watch another TV show for class

WHO AM I

By Frank Ketchum

On September 2, 2018