Date of Award

Summer 8-2013

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Mass Communication and Journalism

School

Communication

Committee Chair

Christopher Campbell

Committee Chair Department

Mass Communication and Journalism

Committee Member 2

Fei Xue

Committee Member 2 Department

Mass Communication and Journalism

Committee Member 3

Kim LeDuff

Committee Member 3 Department

Mass Communication and Journalism

Committee Member 4

Phillip Gentile

Committee Member 4 Department

Mass Communication and Journalism

Committee Member 5

Cheryl Jenkins

Committee Member 5 Department

Mass Communication and Journalism

Abstract

This study examined the worlds of three popular soap operas: Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, and Young and the Restless. Someone who has not watched the three soap operas examined for this study might think that soap operas are all alike. Yet this study has demonstrated how different they really are. These soap operas are created by different teams of writers, producers, and editors—different real authors. Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, and Young and the Restless are really distinct and different from each other in a number of ways. These programs depict different classes of people with different personal goals and rules for behavior; they differ in loyalty to family and differ in attitudes about wealth and power.

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