Assignment One

Relevant Background Information: This show takes place in

upper east side New York. It is based on the book Gossip Girl
written by Cecily von Ziegesar. Gossip Girl is about a group of
privileged teens and the lives that they live. From their love lives
to the extravagant trips they go on an anonymous blogger tells it
all. No one knows who this person is but this person is releasing
all their secrets. The important places that take place in these
three observations are The Empire Hotel, The Van Der Woodsen's
house, and the Cancer Treatment Facility. As love, death, gossip,
and disaster occur Gossip Girl records it all. Each episode is very
intense and interesting, if you miss one episode you are
completely lost!

Actors

Serena
Blair
Waldorf:
Van Der
Blair
Woodsen:
and Serena
Serena
are is the beautiful,
best friends.
blonde,
bubbly,
Blair
socialite.
is referred
Shetoisas
always in the
Queen B.
spotlight
andInishigh
Gossip
school
Girls
Blair
biggest
had target. She
her minions
returns
homewho
from
would
boarding
do whatever
school and tries to go
she said.
back
to her
Everyone
old life but
at Constance,
realizes so many
the things have
high school
changed.
Serena
the girls
used
went
to be
too,a wanted
party animal but she
to betoinstraighten
tries
with Blair. up.
Blair is one of the
biggest schemers in this show.

The main actors of this

show are Serena Van Der
Woodsen, Blair Waldorf,
Chuck Bass, Dan
Humphrey, and Nate
Archibald.

Dan Humphrey:
Nate
Chuck
Archibald:
Bass: In the
Nate
Danfirst
isis referred
couple
the niceseasons
to
guy
asof the group.
Although
Chuck
Lonely
isBoy
the
he has
bad
throughout
aboy
lot of his
girlfriends
Gossip
groupGirl.
of
throughout
friends.
Dan Asthe
series
the
starts
show
off
he as
goes
remains
a humble
on Chuck
the boy
nicestarts
from
guy that
to
Brooklyn
mature
everyone
and likes.
He has
become
who
doesnt
never
more
fitstabbed
caring
in withabout
the
anyrest
of
hishis
ofclose
friends
group
in the
of back
or sent in
friends.
Manhattans
Heanonymous
has
upper
hadeastsiders.
a rough
tips to life.
gossip
He
His
has
girl.
mother
a He always
goesinterest
died
love
when
aboveheand
inwas
Serena
beyond
a child,
and
toor
try
throughout
sotowe
winthought,
over
thegirls.
and his
show
they
father
are never
off again
really
on truly
again.
showed
He is ahim
any attention.
writer
and writes
Later
a book
on his
about
father
hisdies
life and poor
Chuck is orphaned.
everyone
in it. Dan has
Chuck
the is
biggest
in love with Blair
and they have an
transformation
in the
off again
group.on
Heagain
goes from
relationship.
being
the outsider that no one really knew
or cared about to becoming friends with the
Artifacts
most popular kids in school.
Gossip Girl.com- This website is
significant to all of our main characters
as well as everyone in the show. People send in tips anonymously to gossip girl and she
posts them. The website sends out blasts about certain people and everyone gets the
notifications at once. As multiple people hack into gossip girl you never know who
gossip girl really is until the very end.

Money- Everyone, except Dan, comes from money

and they have well enough. Money plays an
important role in the show because it not only
shows that to some money is everything, but also
that everyone uses money to get out of things.

Observations
Observation #1 Gossip Girl Season 5 episode 15 Crazy, Cupid, Love
6:40 - It is Valentine's day and Blair is back from her honeymoon but shes not
alone. She has a royal minder with her at all times to make sure she doesnt fall
back into bad habits. Rufus is buying a diamond necklace for Lilly, Dan is
picking up movies to bring to Blair, Chuck is walking his dog, and Serena is
going to spend her day interviewing a 70 year old celibate women. Serena tells
Blair that she hasnt had a real Valentines Date since high school with Dan.
Just as she says this Dan walks in and Serena leaves. Dan tells Blair the same
thing, that he hasnt been on a real date since Serena, and Blair starts to plot.
15:00- Nate calls Lola and asks her out but she declines. Charlie is back in
town and tries to talk to Lilly but only Rufus is there. Georgina is getting
frustrated because she doesnt have anything good to post on Gossip Girl. She
comes up with a plan to throw a party at The Spectator (where Nate works) and
she posts it for everyone to see. At first Nate tries to kill the idea but then
realizes he can get Lola to come by calling a caterer. Serena and Dan end up
at the same restaurant where they were supposed to meet 2 other people but
their dates cancel on them and they are left sitting with each other. Chuck take
over Nates party and moves it to the Empire Hotel so that Lola will work it.
When Serena and Dan continue to get these on the house deserts and drinks
they realize that Blair is trying to play Cupid.
30:15- Georgina goes to Lillys and talks to Charlie, trying to get some sort of
gossip out of her. Dan tells Nate he wont be attending his party but then
Gossip Girl blackmails him into bringing Blair. Georgina gets a copy of Blairs
prenup and realizes that Blair will go bankrupt if she defaults in her marriage.
Everyones at Nates party and Charlie shows up. Blairs royal minder goes
downstairs to keep an eye on Chuck. The real Charlotte Rhodes (Lola) runs
into Charlie(Ivy Meadows, whos pretending to be her) Dan finds out that
Georgina is working for Gossip Girl.
35:00- Dan and Blair kiss, Serena sees it, and Georgina takes a picture of it for
evidence. Lola and Charlie are catching up and talking about old times. Blair
leaves the party. Nate sits down next to Charlie and Lola and then Charlie
leaves. Nate tells Lola that her real name is Charlotte Rhodes and that her
mom made her go by the name Ivy Diggins. Lola, the real Charlotte Rhodes, is
appalled.
42:00 Dan finds Georgina in the elevator and tries to get the picture back.
Georgina tells him that shes actually Gossip Girl and if he outs her then it will
ruin Blairs life. She tells Dan about the prenup and how if Blair defaults in her
marriage then her whole family will become broke. Georgina leaves and shows
Chuck the picture of Blair and Dan kissing. Dan now knows Blairs feelings for
him.

Observation #2 Gossip Girl Season 5 Episode 16

6:00- Dan finished his book proposal and sent it off to Alessandra. Blair and Serena
are fighting about Dan again. Dorota locks Blair and Serena in the dining room so that
they can work out their issues. Lola stops by Nates and talks about Ivy, trying to get
some information on what shes really doing trying to pretend to be her. Ivy is
performing Dans book, Inside, and tells Nate to come by and watch.
16:00- Lola takes Nates phone to call Ivy and asks why shes using her name and
pretending to be her. Chuck convinces Alessandra to submit Dans proposal without
reading it. Ivy/Charlie tells the caregiver to call the rest of CeCes family so that they
know about her condition. Carol is back in town from her silent yoga retreat and has
tea with Serena and Lily. Nate calls out Lola and asks why shes using him to get to
Charlie. Blair gives Dan back his DVDs and stays with him to watch his book get
mocked.
22:00 - Charlotte is taking CeCe to the hospital, the rest of the family is called and on
their way there as well. Blair and Dan kiss again and Serena sees it. Serena and Blair
argue over Dan once again. Alessandra misses 4 calls from Jonathan Carp. It turns
out that Dans proposal is plagiarized. Blair tries to talk to Dan as a friend but Dan tells
her that he wants to be with her and she realizes that she might have feelings for Dan
a little bit.
24:00- Lola looks up what Gossip Girl is and is astonished at how much Gossip Girl
knows about everyone. Gossip Girl sends a blast that Charlie is at the hospital. Nate
and Lola go to find out whats going on. Serena, Lily, and CeCe are already at the
hospital waiting to hear whats going on with CeCe. They think there is a blood clot in
CeCes bloodstream.
30:00- Alessandra goes to Dan and asks him whats going on with his book proposal.
Dan figures out that Chuck is messing with him. Blair is performing the Inside book at
the comedy troupe. Blair realizes that Dan has wanted to be with her for so long and
finds out he was there for her when no one else was. Lola shows up at the hospital
and sees her mom and serena, lily, rufus, and charlotte. The whole family is confused
as to what is going on when they find out that Lola is Carols daughter.
35:00- Everything is getting unfolded. Ivy/Charlie tells everyone that Carol hired her to
pretend to be her daughter to get ahold of her trust fund. Dan confronts Chuck and
asks why he switched the proposals. Serena tells off Charlie and tells her to leave her
family alone. Lola tells her mom that she wants nothing to do with her when she found
out she hid an entire family from her and hired someone she knew to pretend to be
her and get her money.

Observation #3 Season 5 Episode 17

12:00 - Cyrus may have found a loophole in Blairs prenup. Lily is having a Wake
for CeCe and Georgina and Charlie are showing up together. When Serena and
Lily get back up to their apartment the Wake is in session and it is an Irish Wake.
As Georgina goes out with Charlie she leaves Phillip in charge of Gossip Girl.
But when Philip tries to post something he accidentally outs it that Chuck Bass
sent in the tip. Realizing that Lily doesnt know anyone at the wake Rufus points
out that its all the people that were involved in CeCes life. ex. her butcher,
driver, firefighter, gardener, etc.
16:00- Lola and Nate come up to Serenas thinking that its just her there but
instead see all of the people and try to leave. Carol stops them and has a talk
with Lola. Georgina sees that Philip has messed up and tells Dan. Blair
confronts Chuck about the GG Blast and Chuck tells her that its the truth. When
Dan sees Blairs disgust he tries to apologize. Esty shows up at the Wake and
tells Blair she knows shes trying to get out of her prenup. Esty tells Blair that
Cyruss plan will not work but she comes up with a plan that will.
24:00- William, Serenas dad, shows up at the Wake and Georgina tells Lola that
talk to him may be her best shot at figuring out whats really going on. It turns out
William is the Executor of her Estate. Chuck posts a picture of Dan and Blair
kissing on Gossip Girl from Dans phone which leads to Blair getting into serious
trouble. The Grimaldis call Cyrus and ask him to pay the Dowry in full.
26:00- William is reading CeCes will in front of Serena, Lily, Carol, and Ivy.
CeCe leaves Ivy with everything. Blair confronts Dan and Dan outs Georgina as
Gossip Girl. Blair begs Esty to find out if there is anyway to salvage the deal but
finds out that there was no deal to begin with. Esty and Georgina made it up
together.
30:00- Dan finds Chuck and tells him what a mess he has just made. He tells
Chuck that the Dowry is enough to cause the Waldorf's to become bankrupt.
Chuck is shocked when he finds out it was that much. Lily and Carol think that
Ivy had something to do with the will seeing as she was left with everything. Ivy
reassures them that CeCe knew everything, all her secrets and all of theirs.
35:00- Carol tells William that hes the father of her child. Georgina comes to
Blairs and apologizes to her but tells her that she may know of a way to get her
out of her marriage in return for a favor later on. Lily informs Chuck that when he
was in the hospital and needed a blood transfusion, Jack was the one who did it
for him. Chuck is completely taken back by this news.

Interviewee: Madison
Popoff

the
Girl
I
the
the
it.
she
She
and
out
do.

This is my best friend Madison Popoff. I

chose my to interview her because shes
one who introduced me to the show
Gossip Girl. I had heard about Gossip
but I had never watched the show myself.
was interested in it but I never had the
time to really sit down and watch the
show. It wasnt until I decided to watch
show until she had made a reference to
show by comparing some boys house to
When I told her I had never watched it
was shocked and told me I had to start it.
has seen every episode at least 3 times
even re-watched the series with me. I
was having difficulties trying to figure
what I was going to research but
Madisons answer to the last question
helped me determine what I wanted to
I am so glad that Madison sat down and
watched the show with me because I
ended up really enjoying the show and
now I can say that it is definitely my
favorite.

Interview Questions

1. Who is your favorite character? Why?

Serena because shes the most mature out of all of the characters in the show, she
doesnt do as much manipulative things as the others, thinks of others before herself,
shes not as spiteful.
2. If you could be any character who would it be?
Chuck Bass because hes so rich, he truly, deeply cares for one person. Even though
he always messes up he gets his life together and tries to make things right.
3. Boys: Nate, Chuck, or Dan? Who would you pick?
Dan because he has a good heart, he is a lover not a fighter and Ive had my fair share
of fighters and I really need a different type of guy in my life.
4. Who did you think Gossip Girl was? Were you shocked when you found out
who it was?
I thought Dorota was Gossip Girl. I was kind of shocked but not really because I kind of
put it together at the end of the show. Because Dan is an aspiring writer and him
creating gossip girl could be a project. He also didnt get exposed as much as the
others.
5. Who do you relate to the most?
Serena because she is fun and really easygoing.
6. If you had to pick, what was your favorite part of the show?
My favorite part was watching Serena and Dan fall for each other over and over again,
especially because of the social class status issues. She had money and he didnt and
even though everyone was against them they still made it work. Even through all the
bad things that happened they always managed to come back to each other.

Analysis A.
The show Gossip Girl takes place in New York in the upper east side area. With millions
of dollars and no priorities our characters have time to obsess over who is dating who
and who is getting into trouble. In comparison with our world, anyone with internet
access can go on to the internet and post something about someone, but not like this.
The rules and conventions are a little far fetched from reality. Bribing someone is wrong
in our world but people still do it. However, not like our favorite upper eastsiders. Bribing
is definitely a big part in the rules and conventions. In this show just about everyone
bribes their way out of things or into getting some juicy information. In high school
everyone knows everyone's drama, thats true in both our world and in Gossip Girl. In
this world it is completely acceptable to obsess and plot against one another. Everyone
is running around with their phones out taking pictures, recording videos, and giving tips
as to what is going on in the lives of one another. It is also acceptable for the boys to
sleep around with everyone, have prostitutes, and go to secret mens clubs.
As it would be odd for some random person in everyday life to have their very own
private investigator it is pretty ordinary for just about everyone to have one in Gossip
Girl, or at least use them a few times. In one of the seasons Serenas mom, Lily, forges
her daughters signature and puts an innocent man in jail for years. Since the
Vanderwoodsens are so well known and rich Lily is simply put on house arrest instead
of thrown in prison. As far as our teens go, theyre getting into drugs and alcohol,
throwing huge, elaborate parties costing tens of thousands of dollars all at the age of
16/17. If one was throwing parties or at least attending then they were a nobody, which
one would never want to be. When they get into trouble money fixes everything. Another
rule and convention would be clothing. If one wasnt wearing couture then they may as
well be dirt poor.The appropriate behavior in this show is to be catty towards friends but
also to try to be mature and unbothered by the tabloids.

Chart

Analysis B.
Example 1: Gossip Girl
Example 2: Bribes- This is of interest to me because there is so much bribery going on
in the show and just about everyone seems to accept it.
Example 3: Socioeconomic status- Just about every main character in the show is from
a wealthy, high class family except for Dan but he still manages to get in with the group
of upper eastsiders.

Gossip Girl is based on the book by Cecily von Ziegesar. Seeing as

the show is based around all the ups and downs of the kids lives I
searched for a few key terms dealing with such things. After looking up
different things I decided to look up Socioeconomic statuses.
Socioeconomic status is based on a persons job, income, and
education. Since most of the characters come from such rich and wellknown people I wanted to look up how being so privileged can have an
affect on others. Im really interested in the socioeconomic statuses
throughout the show. From characters having trust funds, to owning
hotels, and then some that are on scholarship to a fancy school. I
intend to research the different statuses and how those that are more
privileged treat/compared to those who arent as privileged.

Propose

Citations
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Money.
Retrieved April 18, 2016, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239935
Kristina L. McDonald. and Martha Putallaz. and Christina L. Grimes. and Janis B.
Kupersmidt.
and John D. Coie. "Girl Talk: Gossip, Friendship, and Sociometric Status." MerrillPalmer
Quarterly 53.3 (2007): 381-411. Project MUSE. Web. 9 Feb. 2016. <https://
muse.jhu.edu/>.

http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/merrillpalmer_quarterly/
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Norris, Michele. "Letters: Parenting In The Age Of 'Gossip Girl'" NPR. N.p., 11 Nov.
2009. Web.
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Norris, Michele. "Parenting In The Age Of 'Gossip Girl'" NPR. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb.
2016.
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120287967>.
Popoff, Madison J. "Interview For Gossip Girl." Interview by Kate V. Swakla. Gossip Girl.
The
CW. New York, New York, 01 Feb. 2016. Television.
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http://nowhitenoise.com/2012/08/how-tomake-the-sixth-season-of-gossip-girl-the-best-one-yet/
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Turow, Scott. What's Wrong with Bribery. Journal of Business Ethics 4.4 (1985): 249
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