be out of box, extraordinary. So, the readers are eager to read more the other series.
Gossip Girl can never be separated with the attractive writing style by the author. There is a thing which is very iconic in this novel. That is described as a
website called GossipGirl.net. That website is like the eyes of every character there. Gossips about anything and anyone are always uploaded and this make
other characters can pretend that they know everything about the gossip. The characters in the story, like to gossip and make their speculation about anything
especially which is presented in the website. These gossips are the prominent factors in influencing the conflicts. This is what the writer in this research tries to
figure out, how gossips influence the conflicts in the story.
B. Problem Formulation
In this research, there are two questions have been formulated to be analyzed by the writer in the discussion:
1. How are the gossips described in the story?
2. How are the conflicts described in the story in relation with the gossip?
3. How do the gossips influence the conflicts in the story?
C. Objectives of the Study
The aim of this research is to analyze the influence of gossip toward the conflicts in the first novel of the series Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar. The
discussion is mainly about to answer the three problem formulations as mentioned
above. Firstly, the writer tries to find out the gossips described within the story. Secondly, the writer is eager to figure out the conflicts described in the story
related to the gossips mentioned above. The last, the writer tries to observe how the gossips influence the conflicts within the story as questioned in the previous
one.
D. Definition of Terms
There are several terms which are needed to be defined to avoid misunderstanding in this research.
The first term is gossip. According to Sarah R. Wert in a journal Review of General Psychology, it is states that Gossip happens within conversation and it is
often very subtle especially for those who are outside observers, such as researchers. “Gossip is every person’s behaviour, egalitarian in practice and in
allure ” 2004: 76.
The second one is conflict. According to Perrine, conflict is a struggle within a person or a struggle which involves a character and other things outside
the character 1966: 54-59. The last term that needs to be defined is influence. Influence, according to
Drever, means any past or present condition, experienced as or actually playing a part in determining one behavior, or course of thought in the present 1958:134.
7
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW
In this chapter, there would be divided into three parts. The first part will review several studies which had been done by other researchers related to the
topic and the object of this research. The second goes to the review of certain theories which is used in this research, such as theory of conflict and theory of
gossip. Last but not least, the last part explains how the theories mentioned in the previous part are applied in this research.
A. Review of Related Studies
In doing a research, reviewing some related studies is indeed prominent. The first part of this subchapter reviews a study about gossip itself. Ned Schantz
wrote in his Gossip, Letters, Phones about the existence of gossip in Jane Austen’s last novel, Persuasion. Schantz argued that Austen used gossip to
counter the abuses of unscrupulous men through the way Mrs. Smith, a lonely widow fallen on hard times, talked to Anna about the cruelty of Mr. Elliot due to
his intention in marrying Anna 2008: 11. Schantz classified this gossip as a feminist revelation. Persuading a young lady to reject a wealthy man’s proposal is
a brave action done by a widow through gossip that she knew and she was quite sure that it was a fact not a merely gossip.
The fact that Anne later admits to herself that she might in fact have succumbed to Mr. Elliot does little to redeem Mrs. Smith’s act, for the
saving force of gossip becomes in hindsight merely providential, exceeding the intentions of any individual. Since it is not a principled act,
it remains gossip in its diminished state. And yet the fact remains that Providence in this case takes the form of a female network, thus showing
the way for more assertive women who might want to make a little Providence of their own. Schantz, 2008: 11
The second part of this subchapter discusses an article entitled
Commodities in Literature, Literature as Commodity: A Close Look at the Gossip Girl Series by Amy Pattee. She tries to elaborate the strength of writing style by
Cecily von Ziegesar and its television series which is being so incredible famous among teenagers. She argues that Cecily von Ziegesar’s series was created on
purpose in order to feed into a television or movie franchise. 2006: 163. The good thing from the revelation of the novel through its television series is that the
awareness for the audiences of the power of self-display. This awareness can place them on a track running parallel to that of the series characters which is
preceded appropriate purchases and attitude 2006: 166-167. After discussing about the correlation of Gossip Girl and its television
series, the writer in this research goes to an article written by Lauren Mechling in A Nice Girl’s Guide to Misbehaving. She mainly talks about the teen life of Cecily
von Ziegesar which is eventually known as being the source to her story in Gossip Girl. Mechling quotes that Ziegesar writes only about she knows. Her experiences
might be out of date; nevertheless Ziegesar is sure that the girls still do exactly the same thing as she did.
School days are close to von Ziegesar’s heart. The 32-year-old New Yorker has channelled her inner 16-year-old into a series of saucy novels,
revolving around Manhattan’s junior set, which have become a literary phenomenon in America.
http:www.arlindo-correia.com120103.html Last but not least, an undergraduate thesis done by Yuniar Eka Risti is the
one which fills the last part of this subchapter. Entitled The Influence of Hedonism
in Socialite Community toward the Main Character Jenny Humprey, this study uses the same novel as this research uses which is Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip
Girl. Nevertheless, she used hedonism in socialite community as the main topic, and related it into the character’s personality changing. Jenny Humphrey, one of
the main characters, is totally different from the character’s stereotype of this novel. She is sweet, kind, innocent girl, yet not a socialite. Surrounded by many
socialites friends makes her want to be like them, including being hedonistic. Her appearance, lifestyle and trait change after she meets the socialites.
Everything is done to be like her socialites friends, to be like Serena, Blair although it is impossible because she has no family name, no popularity,
no wealth. She becomes an unrealistic person. And the socialite life is not suitable at Jenny characteristics and lifestyle. Risti, 2010: 55-56
From the four studies explained above, the writer of this research hereby
states that they differ from what this research tries to figure out. In one hand, Schantz discusses gossip as feminist revelation in Jane Austen’s Persuasion. This
study is used to acknowledge how to trace a literary work through gossip. On the other hand Pattee discusses the Gossip Girl series and Mechling writes about an
argument that Gossip Girl is basically about Cecily von Ziegesar’s teen life.
Those are needed to support this research in doing the analysis. Meanwhile, the writer of this research also discusses the last study mentioned because it has used
Gossip Girl previously as the object of the study for an undergraduate thesis. The four studies are presented to strengthen that the idea of this research is purely
original from the writer and to be an endorsing studies in analyzing the problems on the next fourth chapter.
