intro – English 1102: Television and Feminism

Fresh off to 1102

On September 4, 2018

Hi everyone, my name is Bruce Qin. I am a freshman at Tech (Class of 2022); I am currently majoring in computer engineering but planning to switch to electrical engineering.

In highschool, I took AP Capstone AP English Language and Composition. These courses exposed to research writing and a wide variety of readings. ENGL 1102 is my first english class at Tech and I’m very excited to learn about Television and Feminism. Over the past years, I’ve been trying to improve my oral communication skills as well as broaden the types of books I read. We had annual public speaking events and I was able to try different types of presentations such as persuasive speech, TED talks, and interpretive reading. Being able to experience these different types of public speaking helped me become a better speaker and learn how to integrate the various components of WOVEN. This semester and in the near future, I hope to read both fiction and non-fiction literatures on different topics so I can gain more knowledge in distinct fields.

I never watch cable but I would often catch up on shows when they are released on Netflix. I have seen shows such as The Good Place, Sense8, Orange is the New Black, etc. However, when I rewatched The Good Place for ENGL 1102 and tried to understand the show rather than simply watching for the plot, it was a different experience. I was able to better understand how aspect such as color and music affected the atmosphere and the deeper meanings behind the comical commentaries. I’m excited to discuss about the TV shows we will be watching for class rather than simply binging through them on the weekend.

Fresh Off the Boat, TV show I will be writing about in blog post.

Similar comedy show about Asian-American family.

I have chosen to watch Fresh off the Boat to watch for my blog entries. It focuses on an Asian-American family trying to adapt to the American culture during the 1990s. I have seen a trailer of the show before and I’ve wanted to watch it but never had a chance yet. I have also seen another comedy show that had a similar plot of an Asian-American family making their way in the US and really enjoyed it. I’ll try to understand the show from different perspectives and think about what the director has done to develop the show.

WHO AM I

By Frank Ketchum

On September 2, 2018

In Intro Post

Hey! I’m Frank Ketchum, a BME major here at tech. I’m looking at graduating in 2021 if I keep up the current pace.

I took English 1101 here last spring because I made the mistake of skipping out on AP Lang/Lit in high school. In the past, English courses have been like pulling teeth for me, which was a big part of my reasoning behind this choice. I’m in the STEM field for a reason- I don’t do well with digging into deeper meaning behind works of writing (just tell me what you mean!). I have to say I didn’t hate English 1, which was unexpected considering how much I usually dislike English classes. It forced me back to the roots of the composition process and allowed me to be a lot more free and involved in composition than English classes in the past, which I appreciated. I also enjoy how English classes here break away from the mold of traditional classes and focus on new things.

Me in high school English classes >:(

When it comes to communication, I’m pretty lacking. I especially struggle with written communication. Sometimes I can’t even bring myself to read over what I’ve already written because I hate it so much. However, this semester, I’m looking forward to improving all of my communication skills. Specifically, I want to improve on my oral communication. I enjoy speaking and talking with people, but I also feel like my oral communication skills could use some work. A proficiency in oral communication is very impressive in my opinion, and it would help me out a lot in the future.

Having an English class on television is going to be interesting, to say the least. I used to watch a lot of TV when I was younger, but more recently it’s lost its effect and television just hasn’t been doing it for me. I can’t find a series that keeps my attention for more than a couple episodes. I think this has to do with the fragmentation of the television industry and the move away from larger, higher-budget channels to more smaller networks, like Netflix. I’m also pretty new to feminism- I get the general idea and I’m down for it, but it just goes so much deeper than I initially expected. There are so many things to consider through the lens of feminism that I had never thought of.

I’ve chosen to review Fresh Off the Boat for my blogs this semester. It’s been on my list of things to watch for a while now, so this is the perfect opportunity to force myself to go ahead and watch it. It seems like a pretty funny and entertaining show, and I think it’ll also provide me some insight on how my experiences have differed from others’ based on my upbringing.

The Will Marchant Story: Abridged and Stuff

By William Marchant

On August 30, 2018

In Intro Post

I’m Will Marchant, and I am a public policy major that will graduate in 2022. English courses tended to be my favorite classes in high school, and this is my first and sadly last English class at Georgia Tech. I imagine my ideal minor would be english or screenwriting related. My favorite form of communication is that of the individual or small group conversation. Currently, I am paid to speak with voters about a political candidate, and a good conversation with a voter makes my day. Similarly, making a few people laugh will do the same. When the group is larger however, I become nervous, especially when I am directly addressing a crowd or class. That is something I must improve with.
I imagine I have watched more TV than most of the class. This is not bragging. Trust me. This is not bragging. Atlanta, Ballers, Master of None, Opposite Sex, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Fleabag, House Hunters, Chopped, House of Cards, The West Wing, Veep, Silicon Valley, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Queer Eye, Ugly Delicious, F is for Family, Bojack Horseman, The Good Place, Big Mouth, Ozark, Last Chance U, Unbreakable with Kimmy Schmidt, The Office, Parks and Rec, Arrested Development, Workaholics, The IT Crowd, Mad Men, Luther, and anything with Anthony Bourdain all come to mind as shows I love. I notice some trends in what I have watched. Serious shows, unless they are really good, tend to not hold me in. There is no way I am going to watch another crime show, but I loved Luther. I love funny TV shows with smart writing, and I also like Stand Up which is on TV sometimes and meets the funny and smart writing criteria. I also do not know many people who have seen many of those, so if anyone wants to talk after class about any of them, I’d love digging up my thoughts on all of those shows. I also watched shows like 30 Rock and Red Dwarf when I was young, and those shows might have been the ones that turned me onto valuing funny people and funny shows as much as I do. I cannot laugh at plays or musicals, and I feel like enjoying such pure comedy so early could be blamed.
I have chosen to review Broad City because I have seen a few episodes, but I know it is meant to be better watched in order because of its clever writing. It stars some of the funniest people in TV as they play regular dysfunctional friends in NYC, which does not sound original but somehow is.

See the source image

This is Abbi Jacobson and Llana Glazer from the show Broad City.

English 1102: Television and Feminism

Dr. Casey Alane Wilson • Georgia Institute of Technology

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Fresh off to 1102

WHO AM I

The Will Marchant Story: Abridged and Stuff

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