Compositions

BOOK: AMERICAN INSIDE OUT - ADVANCED A

TEXTBOOK - GRAMMAR EXTRA – UNIT 4 – EXERCISE 2

Think of a show, live or on TV, that you have seen recently. Write a very brief review describing the show and your general opinion of it. Use some of the discourse markers in the grammar reference section.

I have recently seen a TV show called “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, a sitcom that finds humor in common situations of everyday life and, therefore, makes ordinary people, namely the audience, relate to it.
The plot follows the life of Larry David, who plays himself or, strictly speaking, a version of himself based on his persona. He is a thriving middle-aged Jewish American screenwriter who worked, for instance, on the sidesplitting and now classic “Seinfeld” series, that similarly dwells on the everyday lives of regular types (including a few eccentric ones) and to which the aforementioned TV show certainly owes its brand of dry humor. In addition, we are introduced to other colourful characters, such as his wife, his agent, his father and, also playing themselves, a stand-up comedian and an acting couple.
Larry is slightly neurotic and has many quirks, too. For example, he chooses his office building’s restroom over his own house’s because his wife insists on the use of environment friendly recycled toilet paper, which he dislikes. Moreover, he is often complaining about his bad luck, like the switch of clothes sent to the laundry service, or situations in which he rubs people the wrong way and then they get even with him later, e.g. when he complained about a woman standing ahead of him in the line of an ice-cream shop who took far too long trying samples of all flavors, and who turned out to be the principal of the school his friend’s daughter was applying for, eventually hampering her chances of being admitted.
Most episodes struck me as being hilarious, in particular those in which he hosted a loud, foul-mouthed African-American family who had their house