Starting in Spring Quarter of 2015, this undergraduate anthology collects the most complicated analyses produced in the Writing 39 course at the University of California, Irvine. Hard copies are distributed at Alakazam Comics in Irvine.
Issue 1—Spring, 2015 - download full volume here
Note about the cover: Baltimore protest over the police murder of Freddie Gray
The Politics of Efficiency in the Anime Psycho-Pass
Siddhartha Desai email: siddhakd@uci.edu
The Politics of Sensationalism and Race in the Crime Thriller Nightcrawler
Vivian Nguyen email: vmnguye2@uci.edu
The Victimization of Kobe Bryant
Senjie Wang email: senjiew@uci.edu
Gender and Class Differences in Kuchh is Tara
Payal Shah email: payalrs@uci.edu
Paranormal Activity: Haunted Demon as Mirror of Society
Meng Say email: saym@uci.edu
The Politics of Gender and Victimization in the Mystery-Thriller Pretty Little Liars
Brandon Nguyen email: brandn3@uci.edu
The Politics of Representations of Trauma, Gender Roles, and Minorities in Mad Men
Anh Nguyen email: anhtn8@uci.edu
The Politics of Representation of Blackness in Empire
Anne Osuji email: aosuji@uci.edu
Issue 2—Summer, 2015 - download full volume here
Note about the cover: Athens protest over International Monetary Fund austerity measures.
Otherness and Adaptation in The Walking Dead
Travis Lam email: travisnl@uci.edu
The Power Jordan Brand Has on Society and Culture
Jonathan Truong email: jvtruon1@uci.edu
Working Through the Otherness in the Horror Manga Tokyo Ghoul
Nguyen Dinh email: ndinh1@uci.edu
Politics of Sexuality and Nation in the Melodrama Love Rain
Yoo Song email: songyj1@uci.edu
The Politics of Race and Gender in The Lord of the Rings
Humzah Iqbal email: haiqbal@uci.edu
Issue 3—Fall, 2015 - download full volume here
Note about the cover: Cape Town protest over university tuition. Photo by Imraan Christian.
The Political Inequalities of the Game of Golf
Darreon Attema email: dattema@uci.edu
Complexities in the Sitcom How I Met Your Mother
Pooja Vasudevan email: poojav@uci.edu
Ethnicity and Ethics in the Quasi-Documentary Comedy Borat
Sybil Huang email: qianyuh@uci.edu
Representations of Discrimination in Medical Drama Grey’s Anatomy
Mattie Cranick email: mcranick@uci.edu
Working-Through the Trauma and Representation of Ghouls in Anime Tokyo Ghoul
Yihang Xin email: yihangx@uci.edu
Issue 4—Winter, 2016 - download full volume here
Note about the cover: Dehli police and anti-nationalism protesters at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
The Complex Politics in The Legend of Zhen Huan (or Empresses in the Palace)
Mingrui Li email: mingruil@uci.edu
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood: The Transitional Effect of a Philosopher’s Stone
Raymond Huang email: raymonh3@uci.edu
Miyazaki Hayao’s Spirited Away: The Mitigation of Childhood Ascension Through Two Worlds
Yinghui Yang email: yinghuiy@uci.edu
The Intricacies of Time and Its Psychological Manifestations in the Film Boyhood
Ashley Truong email: antruon2@uci.edu
N.W.A.’s “Fuck tha Police” Versus the Criminal Justice System
Sayra Valdez Gutiérrez email: svaldezg@uci.edu
Issue 5—Spring, 2016 - download full volume here
Note about the cover: Democracy Spring protest in front of US Capitol building.
Women’s Detective Fiction and Representations of Drug Use in Pretty Little Liars
Jessica Ann Greenwood email: jagreenw@uci.edu
Psychoanalysis of Haters in Tablo’s Educational Background Controversy
Hana Rim email: rimh@uci.edu
The Rebirth of Stephon Marbury in China
Yu Bai email: yub3@uci.edu
Korean Singer Psy and Emasculation of Asian Men in America
Sangho Shin email: sanghos1@uci.edu
Nostalgia, Escapism, and Realism in Downton Abbey
Yue Xu email: yuex6@uci.edu
Realism in the Background: The Empress Wu Episode of Lecture Room
Xiaoxin Yu email: xiaoxy1@uci.edu
Issue 6—Fall, 2016 - download full volume here
Note about the cover: Dakota Access Pipeline protest at Standing Rock.
The Representational Politics of Time, Race, and Gender in Disney’s Frozen
Jordene Ngo email: ypngo@uci.edu
Melodrama, Horror, and Politics in Train to Busan
Tam Thi Minh Nguyen email: minhtamn@uci.edu
Rudyard Kipling's Nonsense and the Racially Political Injustices of The Jungle Book
Andrew Kusnohadi email: kusnohaa@uci.edu
Perverse Political Correctness in South Park Season 19
Ye Lin email: yel21@uci.edu
Issue 7—Winter, 2017 - download full volume here
Note about the cover: Protest against Executive Order 13769 at LAX (left) and Women's March in San Fransisco (right)
Faith and Guilt in Twenty Øne Piløts’ “Holding on to You”
Lindsay Sprague email: lsprague@uci.edu
Music as a Transitional Object and Tchaikovsky
Misa Akiyama email: akiyamam@uci.edu
Kobe Bryant’s Nike Tour in China
Darian Hatcher email: dhatcher@uci.edu
The Hatsune Miku Nendoroid: Manipulation and Cuteness
Brandon Vu email: brandohv@uci.edu
Pro-authority vs. Anti-authority in One Piece
Min Sung Cha email: mscha1@uci.edu
Issue 8—Spring, 2017 - download full volume here
Note about the cover: May Day protests over worker rights in Turin, Italy (top); Manila, Philippines (core); and Istanbul, Turkey (base).
Mukbang Phenomenon and Its Features of Voyeurism as Surplus Culture
Crystal Kim email: sujeonk1@uci.edu
A Historical Chinese Gambling: Mahjong’s Therapeutic Effects and Political Importance
Jiani Hu email: jianih2@uci.edu
The Motivations and Gender Identity of Recreational Running
Alexandra Medina email: atmedina@uci.edu
Intertextuality and Mary Sue Fanfiction in Dragon Ball Z: New Warrior & New Life
Chen Wei email: cwei8@uci.edu
Reply 1988’s Transmedia and Emotional Intimacy
Yingxi Huang email: yingxih@uci.edu
The Post-Human Definition of Identity in Ghost in the Shell
Alexander Adams email: ahadams@uci.edu
The World Was Wide Enough in Hamilton: An American Musical
Timothy Afable email: tafable@uci.edu
Issue 9—Fall, 2017 - download full volume here
Note about the cover: Catalan firefighters protect Catalan separatists from Spanish riot police during independence referendum.
Queerbaiting and Gender Equity in the Rom-Com Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon
Elaine Ta email: tae1@uci.edu
The Public’s Perception of Drug Dealers and the Desire to Join Criminal Organizations
Anonymous—forwarding service: contact editor, simmonsm@uci.edu
Basketball Statistics and the Lie of Objectivity
Brian Go email: gob@uci.edu
Consumer and Producer Behavior in Fast Fashion
Lily Pham email: lilyp3@uci.edu
The Creativity of Traveling
Zhipeng Chen email: zhipec1@uci.edu
Social-Behavioral Aspects of League of Legends Players
Andrew Sang Lee and Sean Matthew Wang email: andresl4@uci.edu + wangsm1@uci.edu
Issue 10—Winter, 2018 - download full volume here
Note about the cover: Sacramento protest over the police murder of Stephon Clark
Doomed to Repeat: Fallout and Historical Contingency
Nathan Abebayehu email: nabebaye@uci.edu
Disneyland: Venturing into a World of Fantasy
Jenna Theveny email: jtheveny@uci.edu
Nike's Profitable Inclusiveness
Raymond Carrillo Ceja email: carrilr3@uci.edu
Mission to Mars: Publicity and Practicality
Connor Van Allen email: cvanelle@uci.edu
SHINee's Jonghyun's Suicide and South Korea's High Suicide Rates
Lizette Reyes email: reyesl3@uci.edu
Cultural Reflection through BTS’ Performance and Global Success
Yailyn Peña email: penay@uci.edu
Latinadad Representation and Nontraditional Families in Jane the Virgin
Phoebe Chen email: phoebec4@uci.edu
The Queer in BBC's Sherlock
Jyeshna Rajan email: rajanj@uci.edu
Issue 11—Spring, 2018 - download full volume here
Note about the cover: Tape, paper, and cat hair; waste produced by cutting and binding the EWJ hard copies in my apartment.
Open-Endedness, Sociality, and Self-Deprecation in Seinfeld
Ethan Johnson email: ethanrj1@uci.edu
White Collar as an Escape from Reality
Insiya F. Gunja and Janak R. Babaria emails: igunja@uci.edu + jbabaria@uci.edu
High School Musical: A Therapeutic Escape for Fans
Katia Necoechea Madriz and Van Vo email: knecoech@uci.edu + vankv@uci.edu
The Defiance of Virgil Abloh in the Fashion Industry
Justin Stere email: jstere@uci.edu
The Yin and Yang of Howl’s Moving Castle
Rochelle Yeh Naing email: rnaing@uci.edu
Stranger Things: Elements of the Past
Ryan Zhen email: rzhen2@uci.du
Sailor Moon: Fighting Evil by Moonlight, Empowering Audiences by Daylight
Vivian Ta email: vta2@uci.edu
The Nature of Destruction: Akira’s Explosive Impact to the Outside World
Tiffany Jose email: tajose@uci.edu
The Jordan Brand: From Failure, Its Impact, to Success
Namit Patel and Ricardo Rojas email: ntpatel@uci.edu + rojassar@uci.edu
Decomposing Analysis in the Process of Hatsune Miku
Zelin Wang email: zelinw3@uci.edu
The Connection to Reality in Friends
Liya Yu email: liyay2@uci.edu
Issue 12—Winter, 2019 - download full volume here
Note about the cover: Last issue, EWJ tombstone.
Romance and Typological Realism in When Calls the Heart
Asma Khan email: asmak1@uci.edu
Global Success of BTS
Heeyoon Cho email: heeyoolc@uci.edu
Therapeutic Escapism in World of Warcraft
Filip Kestner email: fkestner@uci.edu
Politics of Representation of No Face in Spirited Away
Alisa Atkins email: aeatkins@uci.edu
The Complexity of Men in Hunter x Hunter
Nate Yeo email: yeon@uci.edu
Disney Princesses’ Feminist and Postfeminist Gender Norms
Leanne Change email: leannc1@uci.edu
Transnationalism, Class, and Changing Gender Norms in Boys Over Flowers
Bao Nguyen email: baonn3@uci.edu
Adult Themes and Worldbuilding in a Kids’ Show: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Melanie Ung email: ungmk@uci.edu
Sociological Astronomy: The Effect of the Extraterrestrial on Our Earthbound Society
Alexander Mulligan email: mulligaa@uci.edu
Anthology of the UCI Irvine Semiology Collective—Fall, 2019 - download full issue here
An Avant-Garde Experience: The Juice from Emotional Oranges
Vina Nguyen on p.1
Instagram Influencers' Self-Branding and Authenticity
Madeline Lee on p.11
The Complexity of Frank Ocean and His Rise to Fame
Shreya Cho on p.17
Genre, Death, and History: Interpretations and Effects on the Story of Giselle
Stephanie Wang on p.27
Semioclasm and the Death Drive in A Silent Voice
Nicholas Han on p.34
Adventure of Venture Philanthropy
Yonghyun Jin o p.41
The Effects of Skincare Advertisements Targeted Towards Insecurities
Chloe Larkin on p.47
Representations of Society and Culture in Teen Drama Élite
Jessica Murillo on p.59
The Influence of Carpisma on Turkey
Dana Albakri on p.65
Diving Deep into the Myth of Walt Disney's Frozen Head
Naomi Lee on p.78
Editor information:
Dr. Michael Simmons
simmonsm@uci.edu