Zack Keplinger Ms. Caruso ENGL 1103 October 3rd, 2012 As Real As It Gets?

Reality TV has been around for a while now, but how much about it do we really know?With this paper I hope to answer the questions about the truth in Reality TV and how much of it is real. What I have learned is that Reality TV is partially real but also has a lot of staged or miscued parts as well. The first reality programs started on the radio. They were literally the presentation of peoples lives as we would call reality. As reality began to progress into television there was quite a few shows which literally depicted peoples lives. Reality TV took on a growth style much like technology. Once a few types and ideas were introduced and caught on it grew exponentially. The Real World moved the format ahead by staging an environment in which "reality" could occur in 1992. That landmark series married the secret cameras and setups of Candid Camera, to the explorative impulse of You Asked For It, to the personal revelations of What's My Line, to the technology of Evening Magazine, to the voyeuristic appeal of An American Family and Cops. As stated in this quote, many styles and ideas of how reality could be portrayed were created. The quote also talks about how the environments are staged in a place where reality could ensue. You wouldnt see a season of Real World held in a rural area, because not enough reality would happen. Reality TV escalated to a new level once shows like Survivor and Real World started. Survivor is called a reality TV show and in the show, a number of contestants are put in a wild, uninhabited area and must compete with one another for the prize at the end of the show. For the
Comment [Unknown A5]: Good transition of points. Comment [Unknown A4]: Good use of quoting, it really exemplified the point you were trying to make. You may want to do block-style quoting for this one though since it's a longer quote (for sake of MLA formatting). Comment [Unknown A3]: Same thing as above, maybe find a way to combine the first 2 sentences since the ideas are related Comment [Unknown A2]: I would probably combine these first two sentences as they are talking about the same thing. Maybe just add in a simple comma between radio & they. Comment [Unknown A1]: Maybe reword this last part and switch about it after know.

most part, all of Survivor seems real, the people are actually there, they actually compete, they actually argue, but, what we dont get to see is all of the perspective, or how they do find some of the food and things they eat. The show portrays them as finding food and things on the land but how much of that was truly hunted for or found by the competitors, and how much of it is safe and did they actually eat is the question. These parts of the show start to point towards the fact that it cannot be literally reality, because it is not displayed all day every day, while reality is. One major aspect of Reality TV I have investigated is the staging part. How much is set up and staged for failure? Do the shows cause problems to where the people are going or doing to get a reaction out of them for the show? The answer is hard to find, but can be proven in some instances. One thing for sure is that they depict people in a certain way as they please. They will show the cause of a problem, and the effect but they may not show the whole cause or the reason why someone is mad, and they make one or both of the people with a problem seem either crazy or having a problem emotionally. In this quote, a member of a Reality TV show explains about the portrayal in a certain way: Another interesting thing to note is that with so many competitors, they have to whittle down our personalities to a simple one dimension. I was the "self-taught IT geek," which was the persona I carved out for myself. This is a prime example of how Reality TV cant be true reality, because it portrayed someone very basically without much else when that isnt how they are at all. The problem is that Reality TV is an hour or thirty minute segment recorded from a few days worth of material, while in retrospect reality is an all day and all year long aspect of life, reality it is real life.
Comment [Unknown A7]: This wording in the last bit seems a bit off. What about reality is an all day and all year long aspect of life; it is real life. Comment [Unknown A6]: This sentence is particularly long/wordy. Try breaking it up a bit or condensing the word usage if possible.

1. I know the paper is not quite finished, but are my ideas developing or do you feel I am all over the place? A: Overall I think you explain and transition your ideas well. I can see and understand your points clearly. For the most part your ideas are concise and appropriate; I would recommend just a bit of cleaning up and fine tuning (comments).

2. Is there too many examples of reality shows or not enough? A: For where you are in your paper now, I feel that you are at a good, solid amount of resources used. I would definitely go on to add more with further development of your paper (which I'm sure you planned on doing anyway).

3.Am I introducing the ideas in the beginning well enough, and or am I explaining those ideas through examples in the middle well enough? (Basically, is the intro as strong as the middle or vice versa) A: In my opinion, your body paragraphs so far seem to be more strong than your intro somewhat. I would suggest maybe adding more to your opening paragraph somehow, if you can. expand