XOXO, Gossip Girl

Largely, I think I did a fairly decent job putting my rhetorical research paper together. I found the dreaded word count looming over my head, was rather easy to fulfill considering I was writing about one of my favorite shows. I would like to think that my argument was well constructed and that I made my argument stronger by the use of several view points, showcased through the lens of my rhetorical object- Gossip Girl. By talking about how money, class and social status can distort ones sense of entitlement, I illustrated this by showing specific scenes where each of the five characters, completely different in their own way, but all the same in the way that they all collectively perpetuate the stigma that is associated with the wealthy in this country, showed their misplaced sense of entitlement. To strengthen my argument I laid heavy emphasis on the character Daniel Humphries, as he does not come from this world of tainted luxury and is seemingly proud of that but becomes transformed by this world while he is trying to transcend this world.

As a viewer of this television program myself, I hope that I not only gave my honest account of what I saw to be happening, without over indulging in my bias on the show. I am fearful that maybe I did not counter my argument well enough, making my paper seem like a complete one-sided truth, when that realistically is not the case. As I write this I am wondering if I should counter my argument and ask whether the lack of money has been shown to have a distorted sense of entitlement. All thought this element it not showcased in this particular program I do think it would make a great counter. Another proposed area of weakness in my paper would be the use of sources. I did find it rather hard to find research and studies conducted or scholarly articles written giving their psychoanalysis of the wealthiest tax bracket. Because this show is fictional and a lot of the scenes showcased here have manifested in the real world among wealthy celebrities all of the sources and articles seemed to be from “unreliable” biased authors, and I felt as though adding them to my paper would take away from my credibility.

Collectively, I do think that I am headed down the right path with this paper,  I think the use of additional research, a counter offer and the use of more of my opinion than the story line will benefit my final paper in the end.