1. CONVENTIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF
THE SOAP
Soap operas started in America, 1940’s. The name was given to
them because they were sponsored by soap manufactures. It
connotes the domestic setting of the soap and exaggerated lives,
which forms the opera part.
Characteristics of settings
o Domestic
o Anti-romantic
o Contemporary
o Realistic
o Middle or lower class
o Working class
o Urban or Suburban
o Focus more on leisure than work
Plots and Conventionsfollow a similar formula; each episode is
shaped to achieve a blend or variety of moods and atmospheres.
They rely on juxtaposed scenes; frequently involving comparisons or
commentary on events or affairs. They never finish and end on
important cliff hangers. There is an absence or closure or solved
problems and relationships. Plots involve:
o Dramatic stories
o Reflective of real life
o Emotional characters
o Follows a few characters rather than whole cast
Soaps such as Crossroads and El Dorado etc. follow these
conventions.
Characterizationof the people in the soap in very important, there
should be at least one character that the viewer can connect with,
whether it’s feeling as they are that character or if it knows
someone just like that character. They must represent;
o Psychological realism
o Domestic
o Social
o Sexual aspects of life
o Particularly emotional life
o Patterns of desire, motivation and reaction
The audience is the fourth wall, which gives the aspect that the
characters think their lives are private, when the reality is that it’s
very public. It also contains a lot of stereotypes such as;

2. o Struggling sing parents
o Homosexuals
o Cheating partners
o Rebellious teens
o Businessmen
o Villain
o Street Bitch
o Bad boy
o Hunk
o Teen Pregnancy
o Plain Jane
o Hardman
o Motherly roles
o Steady reliable
These characters are usually present.
Themes and issuesare dealt with in soaps, the issues are usually
relevant to the audience and the current topics with in the news at
that period some of these are;
o Social class
o Mobility
o Gender relationships
o Public and private
o Desire and transgression
o Practical morality, codes of action and behaviour
o Self-relation to community
Sometime they foreground antagonistic issues;
o Homelessness
o Adoption
o Bereavement
o Domestic violence
o Illness