The influences of gossips toward the conflicts in Cecily Von Ziegesar`s Gossip Girl - USD Repository

THE INFLUENCES OF GOSSIPS TOWARD THE CONFLICTS

  

IN CECILY VON ZIEGESAR’S GOSSIP GIRL

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

KRISTINA NIMAS WIJAYANTI

  Student Number: 094214093

  

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

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THE INFLUENCES OF GOSSIPS TOWARD THE CONFLICTS

  

IN CECILY VON ZIEGESAR’S GOSSIP GIRL

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

KRISTINA NIMAS WIJAYANTI

  Student Number: 094214093

  

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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  Maybe it’s not about the happy ending, Maybe it’s about the story.

• Anonymous-

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  This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to The endless learners who never underestimate others.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My first gratitude goes to my Savior Lord Jesus Christ and Mother Mary.

  Their everlasting blessings bring me to a belief that nothing is impossible. Their bestowal on me is praiseworthy. I would also like to address my deepest gratitude to my parents; Thomas Sukardi and Supari Astuti Veronica for their prays and trust, my sister; Irena Sri Rejeki for her inspirations, my twin sister; Kristina Nimas Wijayani for her supports and enthusiasm toward my writing.

  Due to the process of this undergraduate thesis making, I deeply thank to my advisor, Maria Ananta T. S., S.S., M.Ed., for her precious guidance in accordance with my writing, and my co-advisor, Harris H. Setiajid, S.S., M.Hum., for his correction and suggestions. I also thank to all lecturer and staff in English Letters Department for giving ideas and helps for the last four years.

  Gratitude must also be given to the people who give me contributions in various ways during the accomplishment of this writing. Many thanks to my best

• – friends who are always around, friends in English Letters, partners in All Plus Purikids, girls in Podang 9, members of English Mass Community, colleagues in Culture and Tourism Office of Sleman, and other names that I cannot mention all here. Your contributions are priceless.

  Kristina Nimas Wijayanti

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

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  1

  The Conflicts in Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl in Relation with the Gossips………………………………………………… i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix xi xii xiii

  ………………………………………………………………

  Theoretical Framework …………………………………………

  APPROVAL PAGE ……………………………………………………….. ACCEPTANCE PAGE ……………………………………………………. LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ……………. LEMBAR PERNYATAAN ORISINALITAS …………………………... MOTTO PAGE ……………………………………………………………. DEDICATION PAGE …………………………………………………….. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………. TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………. LIST OF TABLES ………………………………………………………... ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………... ABSTRAK ………………………………………………………………….

  CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

  ………………………………………… A. Background of the Study ……………………………………….

  B.

  Problem Formulation …………………………………………...

  C.

  Objectives of the Study ………………………………………… D. Definition of Terms …………………………………………….

  CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW ……………………………... A. Review of Related Studies ……………………………………... B. Review of Related Theories …………………………………….

  1. Theory of Conflict …………………………………………..

  2. Theory of Gossip …………………………………………… C. Review of Gossip among American Teenagers ………………...

  D.

  CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

  B.

  ……………………………………… A. Object of the Study ……………………………………………..

  B.

  Approach of the Study ………………………………………….

  C.

  Method of the Study ……………………………………………

  CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS ………………………………………………. A. The Gossips in Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl …..………… 1. Gossips among Mrs. Bass, Mrs. Coates, and Mrs. Archibald ……………………………………………...

  2. Gossips among Chuck Bass, Kati Farkas, and Isabel Coates …………………………………………..........

  3. Gossips among Rain Hoffstetter, Kati Farkas, and Isabel Coates ………………………………………………..

  4. Gossips among Chuck Bass, Roger Paine, and Jeffrey Prescott ……………………………………………………...

  5. Gossips among Nate Archibald, Jeremy Scott Tompkinson, Anthon y Avuldsen, and Charlie Dern ……….

  6. Gossips in GossipGirl.net …………………………………..

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  2.

  38 External conflicts …………………………………………...

  C.

  The Influences of Gossips toward the Conflicts in Cecily von

  42 Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl……………………………..……………

  CHAPTER V CONCLUSION

  54 ……………………………………………

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  57 …………………………………………………………

  APPENDIX

  59 ………………………………………………………………...

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LIST OF TABLES

  Table 1 32 . Gossips in Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl ………………….

  Table 2 . Conflicts in Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl in Relation with

  41 the Gossips ……………………………………………………………….. Table 3. The Influence of Gossips toward the Conflicts in Cecily von

  52 Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl …………………………………………………….

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ABSTRACT

  Kristina Nimas Wijayanti, 2013. The Influences of Gossips toward the

  

Conflicts in Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl. Yogyakarta: Department of

English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.

  Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl tells about a girl who is gossiped by other characters. The characters who gossip in the story are not only the girls, but also the boys.

  The gossips are mostly about Serena’s return. Cecily von Ziegesar’s

  

Gossip Girl is appropriate to be analyzed because it also contains some conflicts

  had by the characters who are mostly teenagers. As attention seekers, teenagers, specifically American teenagers, often emerge conflicts through many ways including gossiping.

  There are three objectives in this research. The first one is aimed to find out the gossips in the story. The second one is to get the conflicts in relation with the gossips in the story. The last one is to see how the gossips influence the conflicts in the story.

  Applying a library research, this research uses some particular books as the main sources to answer three questions formulated. To support analyzing the story, some theories are used, such as theory of conflict and theory of gossip. The review of gossip among American teenager is also needed because it is mostly teenagers who deal with the gossips in the story. Meanwhile, an approach which is used to accomplish this analysis is a psychological approach. A psychological perspective is suitable to help understanding the story, because it is human’s mind and behavior which arises conflicts and gossips in Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl .

  At last, the gossips are figured out in the analysis through the theory of gossip. The gossips found in the story are classified through the gossipee’s and the gossipers’ point of view. The second is the finding of the conflicts in relation with the gossips. They are classified into internal and external conflicts. Some external conflicts are also classified into direct or indirect conflict. From the findings from the previous analysis, the influences can be found. The differences point of view of the gossips takes a prominent role in influencing particular conflicts. Only the conflicts which are closely related to the content of the gossip, the gosipee, and the gossipers get influenced. The influences are not limited by the way they solve a conflict, but also the way they start, rise, and end.

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  ABSTRAK

  Kristina Nimas Wijayanti, 2013. The Influences of Gossips toward the

  

Conflicts in Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl. Yogyakarta: Program Studi

Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

  Gossip Girl oleh Cecily von Ziegesar bercerita tentang seorang gadis yang

  digosipkan oleh karakter-karakter lainnya. Karakter yang bergosip di dalam cerita tidak hanya wanita, tetapi juga pria. Kebanyakan gosip yaitu tentang kembalinya Serena. Gossip Girl oleh Cecily von Ziegesar pantas untuk dianalisis karena juga berisi beberapa konflik yang dimiliki oleh para karakter yang kebanyakan adalah para remaja. Sebagai pencari perhatian, para remaja, remaja Amerika khususnya, sering memunculkan konflik melalui banyak cara termasuk bergosip.

  Ada tiga tujuan dalam penelitian ini. Tujuan yang pertama adalah untuk menemukan gosip-gosip yang diceritakan didalam cerita. Tujuan kedua adalah untuk mendapatkan konflik-konflik yang berhubungan dengan gosip didalam cerita. Tujuan yang terakhir adalah untuk melihat bagaimana pengaruh gosip terhadap konflik didalam cerita.

  Mengaplikasikan sebuah studi pustaka, penelitian ini menggunakan beberapa buku sebagai sumber utama untuk menjawab tiga pertanyaan yang diformulasikan. Untuk mendukung dalam menganalisis cerita, beberapa teori digunakan, seperti teori konflik dan teori gosip. Resensi mengenai gosip diantara remaja Amerika juga dibutuhkan karena para remajalah yang kebanyakan berhadapan dengan gosip didalam cerita. Sementara itu, pendekatan yang digunakan untuk mengerjakan analisis ini adalah pendekatan psikologis. Sebuah perspektif psikologis tepat untuk membantu memahami cerita karena tingkah laku dan pikiran manusialah yang menimbulkan konflik dan gosip didalam cerita Gossip Girl .

  Pada akhirnya, gosip gosip ditemukan di dalam analisis melalui teori konflik. Gosip gosip yang ditemukan didalam cerita diklasifikasikan melalui perspektif yang digosipkan dan yang bergosip. Yang kedua adalah temuan konflik konflik yang berhubungan dengan gosip. Mereka diklasifikasikan menjadi konflik internal dan eksternal. Beberapa konflik eksternal juga diklasifikasikan menjadi konflik langsung ataupun tak langsung. Dari temuan-temuan pada analisis sebelumnya, pengaruh dapat ditemukan. Perbedaan perspektif dari gosip memegang peranan penting dalam mempengaruhi konflik. Hanya konflik yang berhubungan dekat dengan isi gosip, orang yang digosipkan, dan orang yang bergosip yang mendapat pengaruh. Pengaruh itu tidak dibatasi oleh bagaimana konflik terselesaikan, tetapi juga bagaimana konflik itu dimulai, berkembang dan berakhir.

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study

  “Anyone can gossip. People like to do so because they thus achieve an effortless illusion of understanding.” (1985: 17). The statement written by Patricia Meyer Spacks in her book Gossip is indeed true. It does exist in our everyday’s life. Gossip mostly occurs between two or more people having conversation. Trying to count how many people do gossiping in each day is actually very subjective. It depends on how people define what gossip is. Emler in Erik K.

  Foster in his Research on Gossip (2004: 78) reported that “about 70% of conversation time involved gossip”. This percentage shows that gossip is everywhere in everyday’s conversation. People might have gossip to place themselves in certain place or condition. The fact that gossip is in every people’s conversation is actually too judging. However, people can hardly deny that at last.

  To define what gossip is is also subjective. There are basically some characteristics on how an “idle talk” or “chit-chat” is called as gossip. There are three factors to define the construct of gossip (2004: 80). The first is third parties not present, the second is evaluative content, and the last is situational factors. The exchange of information about absent third parties is enough to justify the gossip. Nevertheless, people might have a belief that gossip always contains a negative evaluation made by the gossipers. In fact, both positive and negative evaluations in gos sip’s content are considered one of the constructions within. Lastly, not only

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  do the third parties and the content have important roles in constructing gossip, but the situation also has. The need for the proper condition and the right atmosphere cannot be separated from the first two (Foster, 2004: 81-83).

  Apart from the construction of gossip that mostly people are able to acknowledge the idea with ease, they might not be well aware toward the existence of gossip in literature. It is an ordinary thing that gossip is talked about among spoken practices. It can be done among students in the school, mothers in the market, or even fathers in the office. In fact, it also emerges in literary works including novels. In the past, gossip is the friend of novel. The importance of gossip for an emerging feminist consciousness is one of the histories of the novel (Schantz, 2008: 10). Gossip used to be the weapon in literary works, especially novel, to criticize things such as feminism and gender equality. Novels such as

  

Emma by Jane Austen and Chance by Joseph Conrad are the examples of the

  employing of gossip by the novelists within the story. The relation between gossip and novel is not merely that far. Nowadays, novelists mostly use gossip as substance to emphasize message and characters or influence the conflicts.

  Due to the employment of gossip by novelists, there are two roles of gossip as written by Spacks. Both are gossip as thematic device and gossip as characterizing speech. (1985: 8-10). As a result, gossip in literary works is no longer defined as weapon to criticize only, but it also gives benefits to the novelists to reveal intrinsic things within. Firstly, as thematic device, gossip can elucidate the novelists’ aim in writing a novel. “It (gossip) thus calls attention to

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  ambiguities of facticity and of interpretation —useful stuff for the novelist—and to the crucial importance and complexity of context

  ” (1985: 8-9). While in gossip as characterizing speech, gossip can illustrate the human revelation well including in tone and substance. It can convey fictional personality, even the dimensions of close relationship (1985: 10).

  Knowing the relation between gossip and literature, it is very important to turn back to the literature itself. Literary works are well known as the representative of human life in a written form. All the objects in real life such as characters, plot, setting, and even conflict can easily be found in literary works.

  This is stated by Marlies L. Danziger and W. Stacy Johnson in An Introduction to

  Literary Criticism :

  This defines literature in relation to life, seeing it as a way of reproducing or recreating the experiences of life in words, just as painting reproduces or recreated certain figures or scenes of life in outline and color (1961: 8). Each figure in literary work is designed differently by the author. However, the way they do and the way they say also result in different perceptions regarding to each point of view of the reader. Conflict, the one that always exists in every story, is one of the things that a character should deal with. No one can neglect every conflict that they have. Many factors can influence conflict. It can be hedonism in a society, disorder habit, or even gossip. Conflict can be whether better or worse, it depends on how certain factor influences it. Gossip, an unpredictable speaking habit, will be a great factor in influencing the conflicts. No one can predict how people do gossip about others; no one also can decide whether the gossip will influence a conflict in a good or a bad way.

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  In this research, the writer is interested in discussing gossip and conflict in certain novel. Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar is the main object to analyze.

  

Gossip Girl is actually a series consisting of thirteen novels. The first novel

Gossip Girl was released in 2002. The uniqueness of the story and reality of

  teenager’s habit presented here make this book quite appropriate to be used in this research. Moreover, this is also the reason why Gossip Girl becomes best seller as New York Times states. Crissy Calhoun in her book Spotted: Your One and Only Unofficial Guide to Gossip Girl strengthens the statement above.

  “The combination of no-holds-barred honesty about what teenagers can, and do, ... has made the Gossip Girl books best seller, with over 5.6 million copies sold as of August 2008 ” (2009: 6).

  Gossip Girl can be easily classified as an American pop novel. It really

  represents the ideas of American teenagers at this time. The existence of friendship, love, and life style through gossip are raised in the novel. The complexity of the conflicts in the novel is also one of the reasons why the writer in this research uses it. This makes analyzing the topic of this research through this novel applicable.

  Although there are total thirteen novels written by Cecily von Ziegesar as series, the first novel is much more interesting to the writer of this research since the writer of this research wants to find the initial idea of the author, Cecily von Ziegesar toward her intention through the series of this novel. Everything is nothing without any good beginning. The first novel of Gossip Girl is expected to

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  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

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  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).

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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

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  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. 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

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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.

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B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Conflict

  Conflict is one of the intrinsic elements in a literary work that always exits in everyday life. It can bring the satisfaction of the reader in reading a literary work. Every writer should concern how to make a story keep moving. This movement is commonly come up with the resolution of conflict. Conflict can occur when there is “a clash between characters, between a character and his environment, within himself, a clash of forces in the universe, even a struggle for meaning on the part of the reader

  ” (Beaty, 1973: 604). Conflict grabs readers’ interests to take a part of the story.

  Hugh Holman and William Harmon in A Handbook to Literature (1986: 107-108) state that conflict is a struggle within a plot which grows out of the interplay of the two opposing forces. A struggle against another person, a struggle against society, a struggle against nature, a struggle for mastery by two elements with the person, and the struggle against fate or destiny are 4 different classifications of conflict and one additional possibility of conflict. Not only does conflict imply the struggle between a protagonist against someone or something, but also it implies the existence of some motivation for the conflict or some aims to be achieved thereby.

  Robert Stanton in his An Introduction to Fiction (1964: 16) states that every conflict in a literary work can be distinguished into two: internal conflict and external conflict. Both conflicts can be in turn subordinate to the central conflict. It is indeed always between fundamental and contrasting qualities or

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  forces, such as honesty and hypocrisy, innocence and experience, individuality and the pressure to conform.

  There are two other fundamental types of conflict stated by Maciver and Charles H. Page in Society: An Introductory Analysis: direct and indirect conflict.

  Conflict which occurs when individual or groups thwart or impede or restrain or injure or destroy one another in the effort to obtain some goals is classified as direct conflict. On the other hand, conflict which occurs when individuals or groups do not actually impede the efforts of one another but nevertheless seek to obtain their ends in ways which obstruct the attainment of the same ends by others belongs to indirect conflict. (1950: 64)

2. Theory of Gossip

  The anthrop ologist Gary Fine argues that gossip is a “form of discourse between persons discussing the behaviour, character, situation, or attributes of absent others” (1997: 422). The absence of others gives more possibility for people to talk about them rather than the one who is presence.

  In Gossip and Scandal, as quoted by Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern in Witchcraft, Sorcery, Rummors, and Gossip (2004: 30-35), Max Gluckman states that gossip contributes to the unity of the group. It can control “aspiring individuals and make possible the selection of leaders without embarrassment. “Nevertheless, gossip somewhat can be manipulated by the powerful against others. A bit different from Gluckman, Robert Paine in An

  

Alternative Hypothesis sees gossip as being made by individuals to forward and

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  protect their interests. Gossip within groups having rival interests is likely to be competitive and hostile.

  Apart from the definition of gossip explained above, there are three classifications of gossip stated by Patricia Meyer Spacks in her Gossip: destructiveness, avoidance and competition, and intimacy. Rather than defining those as goals, Spacks prefers to define the classification in terms of real:

  The classification that I have just offered differentiated most importantly in terms of real rather than announced goals: destructiveness at one extreme, avoidance and competition in cocktail party gossip, intimacy and moral investigation at the “serious” end of the spectrum. (1985: 6) Destructive gossip plays with reputation, dealing with truths and half- truths and falsehood about the activities, somehow about the motives and feelings, of others. It often produces serious purposes for the gossipers by damaging competitors or enemies, or diminishing another. This kind of gossip can affect incalculable harm. (1985: 4)

  The second classification of gossip argued by Spacks is apparently the most common one. A competitive gossip constitutes moral avoidance. This kind of gossip can solidify a group’s sense of itself. People might measure who is up or who is down to compete each other to reveal complacencies of groups in power.

  (1985: 5) On the contrary, there lies a gossip which exists only as a function of intimacy, mostly taking place in private. Gossipers talk about others

  “to reflect about themselves, to express wonder and uncertainty and locate certainties, to enlarge their knowledge of one another.” (1985: 5)

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  Foster on his Research on Gossip divides social functions of gossip into 4 varieties. They are gossip functioning as information, entertainment, friendship, and influence (2004: 83-86).

  a.

  Information Gossip is widely functioned as media to gather or disseminate information in an efficient way. Nevertheless, no matter how salient or scandalous the information is, it will not be counted as gossip unless the participants know enough about the people involved to experience the thrill of revelation; b.

  Entertainment Gossip as entertainment actually depends on the sensitivity of the gossipee in receiving the information being passed. The entertainment value of gossips occurs outside the actual change. It can exist solely for the entertainment value of the gossipers; c.

  Friendship When gossip brings group together through the sharing norms, establishing boundaries to distinguish insiders from outsiders, this is then one function of gossip as friendship; d.

  Influence People somehow can learn how to behave

• – what to do and what not to do
• – from listening to gossip. Gossip is acknowledged to be an efficient social mechanism. (Foster, 2004: 83-86)

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  C. Review of Gossip among American Teenagers

  Based on Alice Marwick and Danah Boyd in The Drama! (2011: 1), today’s gossip, jokes, and arguments that bring conflict for teenagers are nothing new. Through gossip, teens try to define the boundaries of acceptability, allowing them to construct and refine their own morality and sense of social norms. Many teens ask their friends whether they already know about the newest gossip or not to place themselves in a group. It allows teens to both make certain they are mutually aware of a particular event and signal their own attitude towards it. (2011: 10)

  “While teen conflict will never go away, networked public have changed how it operates.” (Marwick, 2011: 23). Gossips also circulate on networked publics. As attention seekers, teens perform gossip for everyone. Both the performative and attention-seeking aspects of gossip grab teenagers into popularity.

  This review is really suitable with the novel being used in this research which is Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar. The existence of a website called gossipgirl.net containing lots of gossip obtains the participation of the characters which are teenagers to read and state opinions. It deals with their eagerness to seek attention from others.

  D. Theoretical Framework

  This research reveals the influence of gossips toward the conflict in Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl. There are three problem formulations made to be

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  answered. Thereby, there are some theories presented to help the writer in answering the questions. The theory of gossip by Patricia Mayer Spacks and Erik K. Foster are used to figure out and classify the gossips found in the story. After that, the theory of conflict by Robert Stanton and Maciver and Charles H. Page are used to find out the conflicts happening in the story in relation with the gossip. There are some conflicts between characters and conflict within character. Lastly, there are also some studies using whether the same topic or the same novel which is needed to deepen the analysis of this research. The review of gossip among American teenager is also used to help the writer to comprehend the way American teenagers behave.

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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study This study analyzes a novel of Cecily von Ziegesar entitled Gossip Girl. Published by Little, Brown and Company at 2002, this novel contains 199 pages. Stated as the first bestselling novel by New York Times, this success of Gossip Girl leads it into several following series. They are You Know You Love Me

  (2002), All I Want Is Everything (2003),

  Because I’m Worth It (2003), I Like It Like That (2004), You’re The One That I Want (2004), Nobody Does It Better

  (2005), Nothing Can Keep Us Together (2005), Only in Your Dreams (2006),

  Would I Lie To You (2006), Don’t You Forget About Me (2007), It Had To Be You

  (2007), and I Will Always Love You (2009).

  Just like any other novels, Gossip Girl also has several subchapters to emphasize its plot and conflict. The first thing that people notice about this novel is that the presence of a website with no name administrator. This uniqueness makes this novel interesting to read. This website is like the link to other characters. Gossip Girl surely reflects the reality among teenagers. The development of technology conquers them unconsciously. Without any other information obtained, people will easily guess what this novel about through the title. Gossip Girl, as the title suggested, is about groups of people who like to gossip. Gossip is then the one that grabs the characters into the conflicts.

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  Gossip Girl is actually mostly about a controversy which happens because

  of the coming back of the most adorable girl in town, Serena. Some characters are busy to guess the reason why she goes back, while others are on their own way to reject the coming of Serena to maintain their popularity among others. On the other hand, the love triangle between Serena, Blair, and Nate also makes their own conflict. The love life, divorcement scandal, and friendship are also presented in a real logic within the story.