A genre that I interact with a lot is reality television shows, mainly lifestyle reality shows. The conventions of these reality tv shows are portrayed in “real time”. These shows are enriched with drama and capture and sustain attention of the viewers. Some elements that capture attention from these shows are character identification, interaction, enjoyment and perceived realism. Most Viewers perceive these shows as pleasurable to watch and usually show favorability towards people presented on these shows. Most of the storyline in these reality shows contain elements of competition and potential conflict which many people see as pure entertainment. TV ratings for reality TV shows in the US have significantly increased sine COVID19. People now are looking for more light-hearted shows to watch.
These reality shows can often influence viewers as well: the way they dress, the way they speak, how we interact with people around us. Also, most of the actors in these reality shows now are entrepreneurs and use the show to get their products out there to gain popularity so you would see them wearing their own clothing line on the show or haircare products and jewelry as a form of advertisement. I have chosen this genre because it is pleasurable to watch.
I think Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” is an essay about language. The mother Tongue” is a person’s native language or language learned from birth. Amy writes about how the challenges you can face being raised by a parent or parents who speak “broken English” or “limited” English. She believed that this “broken” English was what helped shaped the way she saw things, expressed things and how she made sense of the world. Amy later begin writing stories using the English that she grew up with and was able to reveal the passion, imagery and the nature of her thoughts. She knew that she had succeeded when her mom said that the book was “so easy to read.”
