Why Waste Time Watching Soap Operas?

The soap opera is truly an America phenomenon. Each and every weekday, millions of people from all over the world tune in to their favorite soap to follow the trials and tribulations of their favorite characters. Lives are portrayed with passion, courage, love; stories are told with a flair for the outrageous, or even a hint of danger. One soap opera even went so far as to use the devil and Satan as one of its storylines! Soap operas have been on television since 1952, with the debut of what was a radio show "Guiding Light". This is the longest running continuous soap on TV. The term soap opera is deceiving, for it is not about soap, nor is it an opera! It is called this because soap companies were big sponsors of the radio shows back in the 1930s, when soaps like Guiding Light were being aired. The opera part comes from the fact that operas tell a story, just as the soaps do. What makes a soap opera unique is that the story never ends, that is why soaps like GL can be on the air (either radio or TV) for more than 50 years!

Soap characters are like every day people, but then again, they are really very fictional. Soap people never seem to age, or they age very rapidly, as in the case of children being children one day and teenagers the next!! Characters are always perfectly dressed, with perfect hair, perfect clothes, and perfect jobs, where the money never runs out, and babysitting is always available on a moments notice, so that if the hero needs to save the day, he or she can! Characteristics of a Soap Opera Soaps are popular among all gender lines, any demographic group or region, all over the world. However, their main focus years ago was the housewife,

and stories were geared toward the market of women aged 18-49. Although this has changed a lot over the last 50 years, many stories are directed at the romantic, dangerous side, the kind of stories that bring the viewer in and make them want to watch, day after day. Soap stories are usually in the form of an arc, a long-term story that plays out over a few months, and then leads to another arc to keep the story going. Different types of soaps, whether it be daytime or nighttime use this arc to keep the viewers interested, however, a daytime soap can usually go into more detail. Evening soaps are typically only once a week, for an hour per show, which means that an arc could not delve as deeply into storyline as a daily show does.

The Popular Soaps Among the most popular soaps in American culture are "Days of Our Lives", "The Young and the Restless", "All My Children" and "Guiding Light". Many soaps have come and gone such as "Generations", "Ryans Hope", "Edge of Night", "Another World", and "Search for Tomorrow". The soaps remain popular because they have a strong following, a devoted fan base that keeps them on the air. Although the myth is that soap operas are made for housewives and working class women, the demographics of viewers reveal that people of all economic levels, men and women, enjoy a good narrative story that never ends! Famous Soap Opera Personalities Many famous people are associated with soap operas, not just actors and actresses but behind the scenes like writers and producers. Among the famous actors are big name stars in soapdom like Susan Lucci ("All My Children"), Deirdre Hall ("Days of Our Lives") and Anthony Geary ("General Hospital"). There are some famous soap writers, such as Irma Phillips, an icon in soap opera history. She wrote some major soap opera legends such as

"Guiding Light", back in the 1930s, and then "As the World Turns" in 1956. Subsequently, she and co-creator Ted Corday wrote "Days of Our Lives" in 1965. The reins for Days were handed down to son Ken Corday when father Ted passed away. Another soap opera icon was Agnes Nixon. She originally worked under Irma Phillips, but then branched out with her own ideas, creating other soap legends "One Life to Live" (1968) and "All My Children" (1970). Of course many people have become famous subsequent to portraying characters on soap operas, such as Kevin Bacon, Meg Ryan, Brad Pitt and Marisa Tomei.

Conclusion Soap operas have evolved over the many years, from radio to half hour TV shows, to one-hour daytime and nighttime storylines that last for months or even years at a time. Soaps have been the jumping board for social issues, health issues, even political issues. Actors and actresses have gotten their start on soaps and moved on to bigger (sometimes better) projects, and writers and producers have found a home on the different networks that broadcast them. Although soaps have had a tough time competing in an everincreasing television market, they are here to stay; loyal fans will never give them up without a fight!

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What soap opera do you watch?

A REAL SOAP OPERA 1

Teacher page GRADE LEVEL
AIMS

TIME EQUIPMENT A. WARM-UP

Advanced The students practise listening and/or reading comprehension and extend their vocabulary (a soap opera). They study the expressions the main idea, connectives, reference words, key words. For their homework they produce their own soap opera. A 45 min lessons + homework English plus Advanced 1 CD ROM, multimedia classroom

Discuss soap operas with your students. e.g.: a. What is a soap opera? (Longman, Dictionary of Contemporary English: also soap, a daily or weekly continuing television or radio story which is usually about the daily life and troubles of the characters) b. Do you watch soap operas? Which? c. Which one do you prefer? Why? B. READING CD ROM English + Advanced 1 => Start the programme ? ? ? ? ? => Select English language ????? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? => Reading ????? ????? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? => A real Soap Opera ????? ????? ????? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? => Explore ????? ????? ????? ????? 1) Tell your students you are going to read "A real soap opera". Click "next" to turn to the next page. You can also check the pronunciation by clicking the "hear" button. 2) Comprehension check. Ask your students to answers the questions on their handouts. (CD ROM English + Advanced 1) a. Sara couldn't meet her friends because: ... she had to study for a test ... she was expecting a phone call

b.

c.

d.

e.

... she didn't want to get up ... she had to do her laundry Bob was confused because: ... he couldn't work the washing machine ... he didn't know how much soap to measure ... he didn't follow the instructions ... he wanted to ask Sara out on a date When Sara tried to turn on the machine: ... water spilled onto the floor ... smoke came out of the machine ... the warning alarm began to ring ... Bob turned the machine off What word in the story means "directions"? appliances movies instructions Which word in the story means "put in"? measure shut off push in insert

3) Check the answers using CD ROM English + Advanced 1 Click the arrow in the top left corner Test Click the answer the students give you. Then check the answers by clicking the "check" button. Move to the next question by clicking the arrow. When you finish click "the end". Discuss the answers. a. b. c. d. e. she was expecting a phone call he wanted to ask Sara out on a date water spilled onto the floor instructions push in

C. AFTER READING 1) Discuss these with your students: a. What are the most important elements of a good soap opera? b. Which elements should you pay attention to when writing a soap opera?

c. Discuss these with your students: the main idea in a text connectives reference words key words THE TEXT (CD ROM English + Advanced 1): Sara doesn't like to be woken up on Sunday mornings, but when the phone rang that morning she immediately answered hoping that it was Bob, her new neighbour, calling. It wasn't Bob, it was only her friend, Betty. Sara yawned sleepily, disappointed. Sara listened As Betty invited her to the movies. She looked out her window and yawned again. "Ir's raining, and besides, I have to do my laundry," she said. "Come on! I've never known you to be afraid of a few raindrops!" Betty said. "OK, OK, but I don't expect to be ready before 12:00 o'clock, " Sara answered. "Fine. We'll meet you at the theatre at 12:30. I'm sure it will have stopped raining by then, " Betty replied. About two hours later, Sara finally made her way down to the laundry room. As she entered, she saw Bob, who appeared to be confused, staring at the washing machine. "Oh, hi. The machine seems to be out of order, "Bob complained. "Are you sure you have followed the instructions?" Sara asked. "They're really not complicated." "I followed them to the letter, but it didn't go on. I really don't have a head for fixing appliances, " Bob answered. "Let's re-read the instructions, "suggested Sara. "You put in the laundry, measure the soap, and insert the coin into the machine. Then you push this button in and pull that one out." Sara tried to set the wash option, thinking that Bob was not as intelligent as he had first seemed to be. Suddenly, the machine started shaking noisily. Warm soap water began to spill out onto the floor. "Quick! Shut it off! " shouted Sara. "I can't find the switch! " Bob yelled. Not knowing what else to do Sara threw her dirty clothes onto the floor, trying to soak up the water. Bob managed to find the plug and pulled it out, stopping the machine. Together they collected Sara's soaking clothes from the floor and rescued Bob's laundry from the washing machine. They decided to forget the laundry and have a cup of coffee instead. On their way upstairs they agreed that the whole thing was quite funny. Some time later, Jack and Betty were waiting by the theatre. "I wonder what's happened to Sara, " Betty said. "She should have been here by now. How long does it take to do the laundry?" 2) CD ROM English + Advanced 1 - the arrow in the top left corner - explore

Ask your students to find the information in the text and answer the questions (always discuss the answers): a. What is the main idea? CD ROM English + Advanced 1 - main idea (turn over the pages to see all the pages) b. Find the connectives. CD ROM English + Advanced 1 - connectives c. Find the reference words. CD ROM English + Advanced 1 - reference words d. Find the key words. CD ROM English + Advanced 1 - key words 3) HOMEWORK: Make up your own ending of this soap opera.

A REAL SOAP OPERA 1

Student page 1) Answers the questions. (CD ROM English + Advanced 1) a. Sara couldn't meet her friends because: ... she had to study for a test ... she was expecting a phone call ... she didn't want to get up ... she had to do her laundry b. Bob was confused because: ... he couldn't work the washing machine ... he didn't know how much soap to measure ... he didn't follow the instructions ... he wanted to ask Sara out on a date c. When Sara tried to turn on the machine: ... water spilled onto the floor

... smoke came out of the machine ... the warning alarm began to ring ... Bob turned the machine off d. What word in the story means "directions"? appliances movies instructions e. Which word in the story means "put in"? measure shut off push in insert 2) Find the information in the text and answer the questions: a. b. c. d. What is the main idea? Find the connectives. Find the reference words. Find the key words.

Sara doesn't like to be woken up on Sunday mornings, but when the phone rang that morning she immediately answered hoping that it was Bob, her new neighbour, calling. It wasn't Bob, it was only her friend, Betty. Sara yawned sleepily, disappointed. Sara listened As Betty invited her to the movies. She looked out her window and yawned again. "Ir's raining, and besides, I have to do my laundry," she said. "Come on! I've never known you to be afraid of a few raindrops!" Betty said. "OK, OK, but I don't expect to be ready before 12:00 o'clock, " Sara answered. "Fine. We'll meet you at the theatre at 12:30. I'm sure it will have stopped raining by then, " Betty replied. About two hours later, Sara finally made her way down to the laundry room. As she entered, she saw Bob, who appeared to be confused, staring at the washing machine. "Oh, hi. The machine seems to be out of order, "Bob complained. "Are you sure you have followed the instructions?" Sara asked. "They're really not complicated." "I followed them to the letter, but it didn't go on. I really don't have a head for fixing appliances, " Bob answered. "Let's re-read the instructions, "suggested Sara. "You put in the laundry, measure the soap, and insert the coin into the machine. Then you push this button in and pull that one out." Sara tried to set the wash option, thinking that Bob was not as intelligent as he had first seemed to be. Suddenly, the machine started shaking noisily. Warm soap water began to spill out onto the floor. "Quick! Shut it off! " shouted Sara. "I can't find the switch! " Bob yelled. Not knowing what else to do Sara threw her dirty clothes onto the floor, trying to soak up the water. Bob managed to find the plug and pulled it out, stopping the machine. Together they collected Sara's soaking clothes from the floor and rescued Bob's laundry

from the washing machine. They decided to forget the laundry and have a cup of coffee instead. On their way upstairs they agreed that the whole thing was quite funny. Some time later, Jack and Betty were waiting by the theatre. "I wonder what's happened to Sara, " Betty said. "She should have been here by now. How long does it take to do the laundry?" 3) HOMEWORK: Make up your own ending of this soap opera.
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The soap opera Submitted by TE Editor on 17 August, 2009 - 09:09 In this activity students create a profile for a group of people and imagine their relationships to each other. They then construct a soap opera based around the characters and write a scene from the soap opera. This activity can be completed in one lesson or divided across a number of lessons if you feel your students need more support and correction. Preparation Download copies of the photographs here or cut some of your own out of a magazine. You could give out magazines and scissors to students and ask them to cut out a number of people who they think look interesting. Pictures of people 339k zip All images are copyright Chris Tribble, King's College, London University and used with his kind permission. Procedure

Put your students into groups of about 4 people, then give each group a copy of the pictures. Ask the students to try to imagine who the people are and what they are like. This might be easier for some students if you stick the pictures onto a sheet of paper and then write the headings for the information you want at the side (e.g. Name, age, occupation, habits, hobbies, character etc) Once they have done this ask them if they know what a soap opera is. Try to get some examples of ones that they watch.

Next ask them if they can think of things that most soap operas have in common (e.g. heroes, heroines, villains, drama usually based around some kind of setting / workplace, etc.) Next tell the students that all of the pictures they are holding are of characters from the same soap opera. Ask them to decide what the relationships between the people are and what role each of them has within the soap opera. Try to get them to decide what kind of setting the soap opera takes place in (e.g. in an office, on a ranch, in a hotel etc.) Next tell the groups that they should write a short scene involving as many of their characters as possible. You may well need to help out and input language for this, so be sure to monitor closely. Lastly, if your students are confident enough, ask them to choose characters and act out the scene from their soap opera. You could video this and let them watch their performance or you could just take in the scripts and help to correct them.