Research Source 5

Tayler Dooley

Bragadottir

English 201

11 March 2015

Research Assignment Source

The fifth academic source I have incorporated into my research paper is an article title, “Authentic Reality TV Selves: The Case For Melodrama.” In her article, author Renee Sgroi aims to analyze melodrama’s presence in reality television. She uses her own research and the research of others to highlight some of the key melodramatic features presented in popular reality shows. She argues that reality television’s genuineness enables viewers to relate to identify and relate to the characters on the show. Sgroi discusses the morality aspect many reality television characters possess, which is a major criterion of melodrama. In her article, Sgroi also references articles that discuss how reality television programs display expanded knowledge, stylistics cues, over exaggerated emotions, and many other melodramatic aspects.

The article was very useful because it helped me to organize the melodramatic component of my researcher paper. In order for me to make claims about melodrama’s presence in reality television, it is important to support those claims with research findings. Sgroi’s article has enabled me to uncover these research findings. Her article also supports some of the other articles I have incorporated into my paper which cite the melodramatic components of reality television. The findings of this article were also presented in a scholarly, unbiased fashion, which generates credibility among the source. With that being said, the article fits nicely into my research because it shows that specific melodramatic aspects (morality, style, expanded knowledge, emotions, and authenticity) are indeed integrated into reality televisions.