Soap Operas Essay Example for Free

Soap Operas Essay Soap operas use issues from everyday lives to attract an audience. In this study I will be researching the issues and topics from which soap operas create storylines, for example marriage, divorce, death and teen pregnancy. I will look at the way different soaps look at these issues from various perspectives because the hypothesis is that the soap Coronation street will tackle issues in a more older perspective but the soap Hollyoaks will tackle issues in a younger view. Audiences have many reasons why they watch soap operas. Escapism is a big reason; people choose to watch soaps to look lives other than their own. It helps viewers to see that their lives may not be as bad as the characters on television. In addition, sometimes people need to fantasise about the good things in life, and it gives them hope that it might happen to them. Soap operas also make audiences feel happy and enjoy the storylines, they get involved in whats happening, so they watch more and more. Every soap opera needs an audience: without an audience there would be no need for soap operas, so their job is to make sure they keep their audience interested. Soap Operas have to keep them interested by writing storylines on everyday issues, similar to those which audiences have to deal with in their own lives. These issues help people to consider what to do if they need to deal with them. Soaps look at these issues differently, in different ways, in different environments, and with different ages, in order to react to reach their target audience. Looking at Coronation Street and Hollyoaks, both have completely different settings and characters. Coronation Streets is the longest running television soap opera. The first episode was released in 1965, 40 years ago. It is set in Manchester, Weatherfield in fictional industrial town, it has a middle and lower class setting for that particular audience. It is aimed at middle and lower class people because that is the biggest population in that area, as upper class are just a minority group. The programme is broadcast at either 19. 30 or 20. 30, 5 times a week. This is when families get home from work and sit down and relax in front of the television together. But the target audience are more late teens to old pensioners. So with this type of audience issues need to cover different ages, to interest different generations; children, teenagers, parents, and grandparents, but also both genders and Coronation Street try to cover this. On the other hand Hollyoaks is set in Chester; it was first begun in 1995. It is broadcast at 18. 30 5 days a week and with an omnibus on Sunday at 9. 15. This is called the Hangover Zone, the morning after a Saturday night, most people that occur in this zone tend to be 18- 30 years old so again the issues need to cover for this range of audience. The Omnibus is significant because teenagers and older people may miss the episodes in the week as it is at 6. 30 when people are still at work. The soap is at 18. 30, this is a time when older people are still at work or travelling home so the soap needs to tackle issues very differently because it looks at young teens young adults rather than the older generation. However some people do not consider the show to be a serious drama when compared with the bigger soaps such as Eastenders and Coronation Street, partly due to its reputation for hiring numerous attractive, blonde, ratings-grabbing actresses. The settings of both soaps are very different too. Coronation Street is set in a traditional street with a corner shop, a pub, a very local neighbourly place where everyone knows everyone and their business this is where all the conflict comes in, and the audience become familiar with the characters. Whereas Hollyoaks, Chester is a bigger setting of a village not just a street. It includes a pub, a shop, a nightclub, a school and most important a university. The characters are mostly young and beautiful, so there is many two faced people, where most of the conflict happens. Looking at different characters from both soaps, you see how different some characters are and some similarities there are. Two characters a have been looking at are coronation streets Sally Webster and Hollyoaks new character Kathy Barnes. Both characters are mothers of two teenage girls, and push their girls into doing things that they want, not what their daughters want. Sally Webster is a very pushy person who always wants things to go her way. A big story line recently is between her and her14 year old daughter Rosie. After finding out her daughter was sleeping with boyfriend Craig Harris, Sally forces Rosie to take the morning after pill, she also insists that Rosie and Craig split up. Being teenagers, they disobey and continue to stay together without Sally or husband Kevin Webster knowing. This storyline is very dramatic and covers an issue which concerns a lot of parents today. As an audience you see different views of the parents and the children and it shows a way of dealing with this kind of issue, or not choosing this way of dealing with the issue in the way characters have. Both Sally and Kathy have similar roles being parents of two girls and wanting the best for them. Kathys recent storyline in Hollyoaks has shown similar way of wanting the best for her children. She has recently been pushing her daughter into training extremely hard at swimming. Daughter Sarah loves her swimming but her mum has been making her hobby into something she doesnt want to do. This storyline may show people that pushing your child hard into doing something can push them away from you. This shows that even though both soaps are very different they still have similar storylines and characters. This is because of the audience, even though the audiences are slightly different they both use these storylines towards the younger audiences and both soaps deal with everyday issues and both have shown this. Another two characters I have been looking at are soap star Leanne Battersby and Mandy Hutchinson. Both characters are a similar age but live two very different lives. Leanne is a troublesome girl. Ever since she was a teenager she was mouthy and still hasnt changed. She has been married but that ended and she has also been in the wrong crowds, fleeing coronation street but returning in 2004. She then got into a relationship with newcomer Jamie Baldwin but later started sleeping with his father Danny behind his back. After him finding out and leaving Leanne she is now in a relationship with Danny Baldwin and trying to still be devious and ruin peoples lives. Comparing Leanne to Hollyoaks character Mandy Hutchinson, we can see that she is quite the opposite. Mandy is wife to Tony and mother to Antonia. Mandy owns the nightclub The Loft and with her degree in business studies from HCC, she and Tony own a lot of businesses in Hollyoaks. In the past, Mandy has been with many different guys and with the loss of her father, brother, mother and step father, she became quite alone but with the help of her husband Tony she is now back on her feet with her own new family. Even though both characters are the same age they lead very different live. Audiences see both soaps very differently in the different actors for both soaps. Some people do not consider Hollyoaks to be a serious drama when compared with the bigger soaps such as Eastenders and Coronation Street, partly due to its reputation for hiring numerous attractive, blonde, ratings-grabbing actresses.

college parties Essay -- essays research papers

College Parties   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ever since I’ve come to college my whole life has changed. Living on my own is fun but I miss being back home. I hate having to do my own laundry and clean my room, I miss my mom doing those things for me. I’ve made many new friends that I hang out with everyday and we’ve become extremely close. I think I like them so much because they remind me of my friends from back home. The work is also a lot harder than high school and it is very stressful. Once I finish all the work that I have to do I like to party to get my mind off of it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Our school is not a very big party school but when there are parties to go to they are usually pretty good. The party nights during the week are usually on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Usually the main party nights at college are on Thursdays but since our school is a suitcase school our main party night is Tuesday. The parties to go to are either in the village, Park Avenue or in the suites. The real good parties are at the basketball house and football house but they only have parties when they win, which isn’t very often.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The types of things that go on at these parties are fights, alcohol and drinking games, loud music, dancing, socializing, smoking, rape, drugs, sex, drunk driving, and police. When I got to my first party it was nothing like high school parties. There was so   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  &n...

The Dramatic Impact of The Witches in Macbeth

Witchcraft in the 17th centaury was frowned upon by the church as a result witches were feared and loathed in the community. Many people thought that they were directly connected to Lucifer (the devil). Their evidence of this was that the devils familiars came up from hell and drank the witches blood from devil spots (moles or birthmarks), in return for this blood he would grant them special powers such as the ability to fly, foul crops or kill at a glance. As a result of this propaganda created by the church thousands of innocent people were tried as witches and burnt at the stake. To be in a 17th centaury audience and have witches appear on stage would be terrifying and cause a genial reaction of shock and disgust. Also the king of the time James the first had an interest in witchcraft specifically the torture of witches. He even wrote a book demonology which listed all the horrible means in which to torture a confession out of them. So adding this to the play may have been Shakespeare's way to please the king. Act 1 scene 1 gives a dramatic start to the play arousing our curiosity over the mysterious identities of the three witches and creating a puzzling spectacle. This is because when you enter the scene the witches have almost finished there current meeting and appear to be planning the next one as they say â€Å"when shall we thee meet again†. This creates a feeling of mystery because you do not why there are an the moor or who they are. The witches themselves heighten this confusion with there riddling and perplexing language which seems to flow from one witch to the other as if they were all one being, such as when they say â€Å"When the hurly burleys done : When the battles lost and won : That will be ere the set of sun†. Each witch responds almost instantly as if continuing the sentence like one being. This crates the atmosphere of a spell or a chant. This enables them to see past the present in to the future such as when they say † when the battles lost and won†, this suggests that they already know the outcome they know more than you. The witches also speak of some very unusual things that suggests that they are not normal. One of the oddest things they say is â€Å"Hover through the fog and filthy air† giving you the impression that they can fly. They also chant â€Å"fair is foul and foul is fair†, which would make it appear that they have a warped perception of reality what you would perceive as foul they would perceive as fair meaning that they can bend the rules a little. This draws you in because you want to know what mischief they can create. In the production that I saw I thought that they carried out this very well with fantastic lighting and sound affects. The witches were dressed in simple black robes and rags, but while reciting there lines there was a battle going on behind them with men falling in all directions which provides a feeling of confusion and that they have more power then the men fighting. I thought that this was brilliant because it gave the beginning of the production a real dramatic exciting start to the play. Then very abruptly they vanished this effect in the production was created by freezing and changing the lighting, this was quite effective as all one stage were oblivious to them. The scene then shifted quickly this then provided a sudden shock at the confusion of what had just happened. When you next see the witches in Act 1 Scene 3 you get to see the true nature of the witches and the malice and brutality of there character. One of them says that see has been killing swine and there is a distinct air of pleasure in her voice. This gives a reaction of disgust and horror to any audience. Another of the witches has been denied chestnuts by a sailors wife and so was going to as a form of revenge forever tempest toss her husband so he will be forever kept awake by an eternal storm and never able to return home. In the production I saw them use a rope as a visual aid to represent in my opinion the sea as they tossed the rope the sea tosses as the rope does, or the rope could have signified a union of there powers all coming together in hatred. This whole scene demonstrates there glut for revenge and there incredible power giving them a hold over nature itself. After this a witch cries that Macbeth is coming they then meet with him and tell him that one day he will be king they then tell Banquo him he will be lesser than Macbeth and greater. After confusing us some more they vanish into thin air Macbeth reacts in fear almost, to which Banquo replies â€Å"look how are partners rapt†. The next time you see the witches the plot has advanced considerably by Act 4 Scene 1 Macbeth has committed treason by murdering the king and become as predicted king himself. Macbeth has lost almost all of his allies and goes to the witches in desperation and seeking information. When he arrives the witches are huddled over a cauldron adding strange ingredients to the cauldron as if expecting Macbeth again demonstrating strange powers of deviation. All of these ingredients are very gory and show how vile and loathsome the witches really are, the witches have also it would appear have put a degree of planning in to this meeting. Another thing that demonstrates there planning is the complexity of many of the ingredients such as † finger of birth-strangled babe ditch delivered by a drab† this also shows the lengths to which they will go to cause mischief. Macbeth orders the witches to reveal there secrets to him showing how he has changed since the beginning of the play where he was honourable and meek. In the production that I watched the witches came in after the banquet scene and climbed over the table and took a goblet from the table and used it as a cauldron, this I thought was an effective addition to the play as it displayed them to be so powerful they undermine the very monarchy. When the witches agree to show Macbeth they give him the potion they had already prepared as if they want to show him, they show him in a series of apparitions. The first apparition is an armed head that tells Macbeth to beware the thane of Fife, to this Macbeth reacts without surprise as he already suspected Macduff. The second apparition is a blooded child (who we later learn to be a child born through suasions ) this apparition tells him â€Å"to be bloody, bold and resolute; Laugh to scorn the power of man for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth†. This true to form with the witches is confusing because he has been told to beware Macduff and then that no man woman born can harm Macbeth. The third apparition is a crowned child holding a tree this apparition tells Macbeth to be lion mettled, proud, and take no care who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are; Macbeth shall never be vanquish'd be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him†. This is a very good example of Shakespeare's visualisation with mind boggling seemingly impossible tasks like the very woods moving. This apparition makes Macbeth even more sure of himself as he does not believe that this could ever happen. But as Macbeth demands to know more the witches give in very quickly, they then show him with some relish the final apparition this is a vision of Banquo and his airs on the throne the first of the Stuarts. Again more confusion as this means that at some point Macbeth is going to be defeated. The witches then dance and say that they must cheer his spirits almost mockingly they then vanish. In the production the apparitions appeared in the air as giant flouting holograms I thought that this was very effective as it provided visual stimulus to the sound. At the end of the production that I saw they added an extra scene where after Macbeths death the witches stand and point at Fleance, as if to say that he will be next in there makings of mischief. This raises the question of how much the witches are to blame for the whole proceedings , I believe that the witches are not completely to blame and are infant just a catalyst as they never actually told Macbeth to kill the king they just gave him a prophecy of what might happen but his ambition was to great and his impenitency to have what was promised, as Banquo said â€Å"The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles, to betray's In deepest consequence.

Sight vs. Blindness in King Lear by William Shakespeare

The theme of sight versus blindness appears several times in the tragedy King Lear by William Shakespeare. In the opening scene of the play, we see King Lear as himself. The audience is left to explore his character on their own. The Earl of Gloucester is another character that is blinded. The theme of eyesight or lack of it refers to the physical and metaphorical blindness of the characters in the play. Lear announces that his kingdom is up for grabs but his daughters must express their love for him in order to be awarded her land. Goneril uses Lear’s state of metaphorical blindness to give a phony speech on her abundant love for her father. I love you more than word can wield the matter; dearer than eyesight, space and liberty...rich or rare; no less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honor...beyond all matter of so much I love you (Act I, Scene I 55-61). At this early stage in the play, we can see Lear’s lack of eyesight and Goneril’s true personality . Both Goneril and Regan’s speeches blind Lear because of their exaggerated showing of love for their father. Lear’s eyesight blinds him of reality. When it is Cordelia’s turn to deliver her speech to her father, Lear does not accept or understand his daughter’s expression of love. Goneril and Regan tell Lear what he wants to hear, however, Cordelia expresses her true feeling. Lear’s lack of sight forces him to lose his favorite daughter and also a loyal friend, Kent. Gloucester is also metaphoricallyShow MoreRelatedSight and Blindness in King Lear1615 Words   |  7 PagesSight and Blindness in King Lear In King Lear, the recurring images of sight and blindness associated with the characters of Lear and Gloucester illustrate the theme of self-knowledge and consciousness that exist in the play. These classic tropes are inverted in King Lear, producing a situation in which those with healthy eyes are ignorant of what is going on around them, and those without vision appear to see the clearest. While Lears blindness is one which is metaphorical, the blindnessRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s King Lear1550 Words   |  7 PagesINTRODUCTION: By facilitating the growth of evil within William Shakespeare’s King Lear, it is evident that the tragedy’s protagonist, King Lear can be held accountable for his own victimization and ultimate downfall. The most notable aspects of this self-induced victimization include Lear’s own lack of practical wisdom and divergence from the natural order, combined with the neglect of kingship, that enables Lear as a tragic hero to create the conceptual framework in which the ulterior motives ofRead MoreHow to Read Lit Like a Prof Notes3608 Words   |  15 Pagessave it. 6. When in Doubt, It’s from Shakespeare†¦ a. Writers use what is common in a culture as a kind of shorthand. Shakespeare is pervasive, so he is frequently echoed. b. See plays as a pattern, either in plot or theme or both. Examples: i. Hamlet: heroic character, revenge, indecision, melancholy nature ii. Henry IV—a young man who must grow up to become king, take on his responsibilities iii. Othello—jealousy iv. Merchant of Venice—justice vs. mercy v. King Lear—aging parent, greedy children, a