‘Check One, Check Other’. The Portrayal of Identity in Ginny’s Poem (Ginny & Georgia, Season 1, Episode 8) via Conceptual Metaphors

Leonie Wagner

• Publisher: GRIN Verlag
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9783389166444
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: English Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

Seminar paper from the year 2025 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, , course: Literature and Intersectionality, language: English, abstract: Exploring the complexity of identity is becoming increasingly important in a globalized world that allows for discussions of diversity and the international success of media that offer these discussions a platform. Streaming services like Prime Video, Paramount+, and Netflix make topics such as these accessible to the general public whilst also being entertaining, provided that one is willing to regularly pay for them. In the episode "Check One, Check Other" (s1e08) of the Netflix series Ginny & Georgia (2021), the titular protagonist Virginia 'Ginny' Miller delves into these themes of identity in the poem that she performs in front of her classmates. The primary objective of this paper is the examination of the portrayal of identity through the conceptual metaphors in Ginny's poem. As a secondary focus, the performative aspects accompanying these metaphors will be accounted for since the poem is considered to be an example of slam poetry. This will be done by first establishing the necessary theoretical framework in chapter 2, namely an introduction into the concept of identity and its connection to the show's protagonist Ginny Miller. Furthermore, the genre of slam poetry and its relation to the research question will be covered, followed by a description of the conceptual metaphor. After that, the details concerning the primary source, specifically the context of Ginny's poem and the transcript that was created for the purpose of analyzing it will be dealt with in chapter 3. In the fourth chapter, an analysis of the conceptual metaphors that are relevant for the expression of identity and their presentation by Ginny will be conducted. Finally, chapter 5 ties in with the original research question, summarizes the results from the previous chapter, and offers an outlook into other research approaches.