Assignment One:

Communities of Practice Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl
Background Information
The Upper East Side of Manhattan is a very upscale area of New York City, however there are
some areas of the city that arent so fancy. A couple of areas of the city that contrast to the upper
class and famous Upper East Side are Brooklyn, Queens, and the Lower East Side as opposed to
the Upper East Side. An example of why these areas arent composed of upper class citizens is
the Lower East Side; this side of Manhattan primarily includes immigrants and working class
citizens. (TripAdvisor)
Figured World: A social world that has specific rules and conventions for appropriate behavior
within that particular structure.; which includes the dos and donts of the particular community.
Summary on Rules and Conventions:

Gossip Girl takes place on Manhattans upper East Side of New York City. It is a wealthy
side of Manhattan, and money is almost as important as power in this part of town. I
chose this show as my area of interest because the show takes place in the same city for
most of the show. This makes it easier to find settings that are familiar to the characters
and mentioned more than once. New characters are introduced, but the majority of the
show includes the same major characters and themes. The purpose of this figure world, is
to show these characters coming together to not only help each other out with business
deals and power plays, but also personally as friends and/or family. The Gossip Girl is
a blogger used to help spread gossip and rumors about the characters, and make them the
center of attention for the entire Upper East Side.
The communities of practice include all of Manhattans elite. They all come together to
keep their power and where they stand in their community. They also come together to
create business deals and make money. An example of a business throughout the show
would be Bass Industries. One of the main characters Chuck Bass and his father own and
operate Bass Industries. One commonplace in the show is the Palace Hotel, which is
where they come together to hold business meetings/parties, or occasions such as
celebrations of accomplishments made by the hotel, or to meet for lunch/drinks to discuss
business or personal affairs. Other communities of practice that occur in the hotel could
be Nate, Chuck, and Chucks uncle that all come together to discuss Chucks father.
An appropriate behavior would be dressing in formal attire. The characters are always
dressed in their finest clothing (designer name brands), and it would not be appropriate if
a character were to wear for example Nike running shorts, a T-shirt, and sneakers. The
upper East side of Manhattan has a lot of hustle and bustle, so background noises of cars,
people, bikes, and/or busses and taxis is to be expected. It would also not be appropriate
to act anything but classy and professional. It is important to act with integrity.
Some Communities of Practice that can expect to be seen within the show are hotels,
restaurants, fashion shows, ivy league and/or private schools, expensive housing, shops,
etc. All of the communities of practice are connected in a way that the people within this
community all use these resources. Restaurants and even hotels are used to meet and

discuss different affairs. Schools are where learning takes place. Houses and shops are
where brief meetings or important messages are given whether its over phone call/text or
in person. Fashion shows can be where certain events are held.
Actors: A real person(s) who plays a particular role and/or roles within the community or figured
world. Not just a character, but the role they play as in the protagonist, teacher or mother, etc.
These are the main characters that are most significant in this figured world.
1. Lily Bass- the mother to Serena, Erik, and even Chuck and Dan. She also plays the role
of a wife to Bart Bass and Rufus Humphrey as well as a business woman for Bass
Industries.
2. Blair Waldorf- a student in high school as well as college. She also plays the role of a
friend to Serena, Nate, Chuck, and Dan. She also plays the role of a lover and wife of
Chuck, but not only is she his lover, she plays a fellow manipulator and schemes with
him to get what she wants.
3. Serena Vanderwoodsen- a rebel, getting into drugs and falling for the bad boy because
of her strict and seemingly perfect upbringing. She craves adventure and pushing the
limits. She also serves as sort of the brain of the group. She has a level headed way of
thinking and almost always does the right thing. She cares about people and always gives
them the benefit of the doubt. People come to her when they need help.
4. Nate Archibald- He is of Vanderbilt descent. Nate plays the role of a friend to Serena,
Blair and Chuck. Nate is extremely caring and wants the best for his friends, hell do
anything for them much like Serena. He also plays the role of a mediator whenever there
is trouble in the group. He tends to fall for powerful, older women. He also plays the role
of a business man, owning his own magazine company.
5. Chuck Bass- a son to Bart Bass, as well as a business man and business owner with his
fathers company with Lily and Bart Bass. He also plays the role of Blairs lover and
Nate and Serenas friend. Chuck also serves as a manipulator; he always gets what he
wants no matter the cost. He is Lily Bass step son.
6. Dan Humphrey- Dan is a writer and an author. He plays a role of Rufus Humphreys son,
and Jenny Humphreys brother. He was once with Serena, and briefly with Blair. He isnt
as wealthy as the other characters, but still is friends with the elites once he dates Serena.
He plays the role of a friend to Serena, Blair, Chuck, and Nate.
Artifacts: Artifacts can be any physical object, emotion, or idea that has a social or cultural
significance in a specific figured world.
1. Money- wealth is very important to this community of practice. If youre not as wealthy
as someone else, or arent in the same class, they dont want to be seen with you. Money
is also shown through the area they live in such as their homes or where they work. Their
attire is a representation of wealth as well; their clothing is very expensive and
2. Social Class- social class rank is very significant in the show. All of the characters want
to stay elites, not only in wealth but in power. Staying on top is one of the most important
things. Especially to Blair and Chuck. This staying on top includes their social class
such as being elites, as well as their economic class such as being high up in their work
force.
3. Loyalty- although it is underlying, loyalty is very important to these characters. Keeping
secrets, helping each other instead of choosing money or power over them. Keeping in

mind that family comes first, lines can get blurred in this figured world. With loyalty
comes betrayal. Not following through with promises or even going against what a
character believes is right could be seen as betrayal. Not only is loyalty an important
aspect of this figured world, betrayal is as well.
Communities of Practice: Communities of practice are a group of people that come together to
enable growth and learning. They interact on a specific subject of interest but do not spend all
their time as a group; it could be individual.
1. Bass Industries: Chuck, Bart, and Lily Bass all work for Bass Industries which is a
company owned by Bart with his son Chuck. Through this business, they own and
operate several hotels in New York City. All three work together to create the best
business environment and to keep their business growing and becoming more powerful.
2. Manhattans Elite: Blair, Serena, Chuck, Nate, Lily, and Bart are all what this particular
figured world considers Manhattans Elite. They are in the top tier of Manhattans
social statuses, or business world. They are the rich and famous of Manhattan; they are
considered powerful individuals.
Domain: Domain is the focus of the community of practice, its what the group coming together
has in common and what they focus most of their time on. Their main goal or interest.
1. Power- the communities of practice within the show all share a common goal of wanting
to stay on top. The focus is on power within the elites of the community. If the characters
arent on top of Manhattans economic food chain, theyll do whatever it takes to get
there again.
Practices of the Community: Practices of the community are different ways that the group
members come together to share resources such as stories, and advice, often addressing past
experiences which becomes the main source of knowledge for the group. The practices may
include discussions of problem solving, developments, projects, etc.
1. Scheming- Chuck and Blair especially are guilty of using this tactic as a way of
accomplishing a goal or problem solving. They scheme to get what they want whether its
with their business, love life, friendships, these two always find something to scheme
about. Dan also is guilty of this; his plan of creating Gossip Girl as a way into the lives
of Manhattans Elite was a strategic way of finding out personal details about the other
characters to write his version of what has happened.
Literacy Practices: different ways of communicating that can be written or spoken; such as a
text, or email, or handwritten letter, or just simply telling someone.
1. Blog- Gossip Girl itself is a blog, reporting on the scandalous lives of Manhattans
Elite but focusing on just a select few with whom she seems to know well and is
particularly interested in, and everyone that surrounds them in their lives. It reports their
every move and is a huge literacy practice within this community. It is used to leak
information, secrets, etc., about the characters.
2. Texting- Gossip Girl also communicates in the form of a text not just the blog. Also the
other characters use this as a way to communicate to each other.
3. Phone Call- Most of the communicating with each other between the characters is
actually done by talking on cell phones instead of texting.

Observations:
1) First 30 minutes of Season 4 Episode 14 Panic Roommate
Serena Vanderwoodsen, Blair Waldorf, Chuck Bass are all focused on staying at the top of the
social ladder. The elites fight to stay at the top throughout the series while they all scheme and
experience heartbreak, an unmistakable blogger threatens it all.
01:21mins The episode opens up to the sun rising in the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
There are taxis driving down the streets, and people walking to work. Chuck is messing
around with a woman who could potentially save his company, or rip it from his hands.
Blair is at her job at W magazine, and Dan is surprised with a home inspector for a
parolee. Blair sitting at her desk and come up with a plan to help save her review. Dan
and his dad are talking in their home in Brooklyn. Serenas brother and Damien meet up
in the city and have a discussion. Nate is playing pool in his and Chucks living room
while they discuss Chucks interactions with Reina.
07:21mins Blair walks in with her boss in order to talk to chuck about a business event
for the magazine. Dan and Serena are talking in her apartment while she is eating berries
and drinking orange juice. Serena receives a phone call from Ben and leaves to go meet
him. Erik comes into the apartment to warn Dan about how dangerous Ben still is.
10:09mins Chuck and Blair are talking in his kitchen while drinking glasses of water, she
gives him advice and asks him for a favor to help her win over her boss. Dan and Erik are
walking down the streets of Manhattan, they are wearing winter coats so it must be
fall/winter. Once Dan realizes that Erik is trying to help Damien, a former drug dealer, by
scaring away Ben, he refuses and walks away. Reina and her father, who are trying to
take over Bass industries walk out one of the Bass hotels discussing the important
meeting happening that night. Chuck walks over and asks Reina to lunch. Serena shows
up at Dans apartment to send back the bookcase lily sent to Ben and gives him a copy of
the book The Count of Monte Cristo. She reminds him that she doesnt let go of
things easily. They decide to order lunch while they wait for the movers to show up to
collect the bookcase.
14:37mins Blair, Nate, and her boss Epperley are walking down the sidewalk on a chilly
day in Manhattan. Epperley is discussing with Nate what she has accomplished in her life
right as she receives an urgent phone call from work. Nate and Blair discuss her as shes
on the phone only as Epperley quickly says she has to go to deal with urgent business at
work. Chuck and Reina are sitting at the restaurant in the Palace after lunch, and he tries
to connect with her about how he grew up in The Palace. She quickly declines his
invitation to go out with him that night because of business she has to attend to. She
kisses him goodbye and says Maybe some other time. The scene switches back to
Dans apartment where Ben is staying, he and Serena are just finishing up eating as they
start to discuss their past and present situations. Dan walks in shortly after in which
Serena quickly gets up to leave making the situation uncomfortable. Ben ensures Dan that
he has nothing to worry about and that he too only wants the best for Serena. As Ben goes

to the sink to start washing dishes, Dan happens to look at Bens phone ringing and the
name Juliet appears on the screen. He quickly realizes that Erik and Damien may have
been right about Ben.
18:55mins Back on the crowded afternoon streets of Manhattan, Chuck is raving about
Reina on the phone with Blair, but as it turns out, they are still scheming together. Chuck
knew Reina was behind him the whole time he was talking to Blair. His scheming worked
and Reina agreed to see the Palace that night with Chuck. The scene skips back to Blair,
who tries to make Nate feel bad for not hooking up with Epperley, her boss. Serena walks
out and meets up with Blair to discuss her potential on-again feelings for Ben. Blair
reminds Serena that maybe she doesnt actually like him, just the idea of him. Dan and
Ben are talking in his apartment about Serena, just as Ben gets a call from her asking if
hell come to the W party with her that night which he agrees to. Blair and Epperley are
at W Magazine preparing for the W party that night, when Blair finally after telling her
Nate is excited to see her, convinces Epperley that she should go to the party on the
condition that Blair forwards all the calls to her blackberry, which she forgets to do.
23:20mins The scene changes to the very prestigious W party where Blair leads Epperley
to Nate. Serena and Ben walk in and go to get drinks at the bar. Damien shows up and
purposely bumps into Ben to cause a scene. Damien urges Dan to call Bens parole
officer because it might get violent. He then hands Erik the ice from his drink telling him
youll need this in about 3 minutes after you punch me in the face The scene cuts to
Chuck and Reina as shes determined to find his secret hiding place in the hotel from
when he was a little boy. It turns out that it was in the kitchen pantry, which is where hers
was too. Reinas dad shows up during their conversation, and exposes Chuck for what his
true intentions were with Reina.
28:30mins The scene cuts to the room where the party is being held, as Ben comes up to
tell Serena that he needs to leave. Just as hes about to go Erik and Damien come up to
her and Damien has a giant black eye. She presumably asks what happened as Erik tells
her he witnessed Ben do it. Ben is caught in the spotlight as everyone looks at him
including Serena who cant believe what she is hearing about the man she thought had
changed. Florence and the Machine is performing in the background as Ben takes off.
Serena believes that the whole thing was set up because Bens parole officer just
happened to be there. She shares her disappointment with Dan and he brother Erik before
she leaves to go look for Ben. Chuck chases Reina up the stairs and tells her the truth
about everything and admits he truly cares about her. She doesnt believe a word he says
and leaves to go find her father.
2) First 30 minutes of Season 4 Episode 15
It-Girl Happened One Night
01:05mins The episode opens with the scene of the Brooklyn Bridge in the
morning. In the background, Gossip Girl mentions that Valentines Day is right
around the corner. The scene cuts to Blairs room where Serena walks in and talks
to her about how she never sees her anymore because Blair has a full-time job and
is a full time student at Columbia. The girls talk about past Valentines Days and
how they might spend theirs together this year. Reina and her father are getting on
the elevator on the way to lunch with Chuck while she tries to convince him to let
Chuck and Lily Bass still be apart of Bass Industries if they take over. He is not

convinced and doesnt trust them. Lily and Chuck are talking in her apartment and
she warns him to not let his feelings for Reina affect his judgment about the
company. Dan and Ben are sitting in Dans apartment filling out job applications.
Dan says he can help Ben get a job with his old catering company who has a
dont ask, dont tell policy on felons. Dan, as a writer, is trying to get his article
published by Epperley for W magazine, and Ben tells him to find out who the new
Epperley is so he can take it to her in person. Dan doesnt know however that the
new Epperley is Blair.
05:11mins The scene opens to Blair in her office at a meeting with the other
members of the magazine. Her boss tells them that they need to find an It Girl,
and do a story on her and her Valentine by the next day. Blairs boss suggests that
she do Serena, her best friend, but instead Blair suggests Reina for the role and
calls on Serena to help her. Lily and Russell (Reinas Father) are discussing the
lunch they just had, as Chuck and Reina step into the room. Chuck starts talking
about how Lily and himself could be a huge asset to Bass Industries if the
Thorpes take over. Chuck goes on to explain how the Bass name has equity, and
that it would not only benefit the company to keep the Bass name, it would
benefit the Thorpes to work with Chuck to do so. Serena walks in to talk to Reina
about the interview for W magazine and following a socialite around for an article
on Valentines Day. As she talks to Chuck about it, Serena quickly realizes that
Chuck really does have feelings for Reina and that Blair still happens to think hes
faking it.
10:01mins Serena and Ben are talking on the phone about how happy they are that
theyre taking things slow and deciding to skip out on Valentines Day. Ben tells
Serena that he has a job and lies to her that he is tutoring kids instead of working
for a catering company. Nate and his father walk into Chucks apartment to warn
him about Russell and that hes planning on selling Bass industries for parts even
though its more profitable whole. Serena takes Reina out dress shopping for
Valentines Day and for Chucks party. She then explains to Reina that Blair still
has feelings for Chuck and that she doesnt think Reina should do the interview
for W because itll hurt Blair. So Reina decides to quit the interview and let
Serena be the It-Girl after all. Dan walks in to W to give Blair his article for the
magazine and shes reluctant to read it. Reina then calls Blair to cancel her
interview. Shortly after, Chuck calls Reina to ask about any grudges her father had
against Bart Bass (his father), and she tells him no and that her father doesnt hold
grudges. She then tells him that Lily and her father, Russell used to date, until
Bart came into the picture.
16:40mins Dan and Erik are walking down the sidewalk talking about Damien
and how he fell off the grid after Dan and Nate told his dad about his drug
dealing. Dan gives Erik advice about what Erik should do for his boyfriend on
Valentines Day. Blair walks into her home and runs into Serena there, she tells
her how shes determined to find out why Reina backed out of the interview last
minute. Blair asks where Serena got her expensive gift, and Serena tells her it was
from her mom. When Serena walks away, she accidentally leaves a note from the
box. Blair opens the note and she finds out the gift was from Reina, who tells
Serena thank you for not letting her do the interview. The scene cuts to Chuck

walking into Russell Thorpes office to speak with him. He brings up the fact that
Lily broke Russells heart and then goes on to tell him that hell do whatever it
takes to stay in the company. He calls his coworker to tell him that Lily is a
conflict of interest with Thorpe Enterprises. Russell is impressed and allows him
to stay connected with the Bass name.
20:36mins Blair and Serena are talking about how Serena should go out and enjoy
herself, and that no one should be alone on Valentines Day. Serena agrees, and
Blair tells her that there will be no time for friend time after Chucks party. The
scene cuts to Lily and Dans dad at her apartment. Lily tells him that she has been
cut from Bass Industries effective immediately, and she has to go to an emergency
board meeting and cannot enjoy valentines Day with her him until thats over.
Blair makes a call to Goodman and Sons catering because thats where Ben works
and she called to make sure Serena sees him at Chucks party because she thinks
hes a tutor. The scene cuts to Chucks party as Reina and Russell walk in. Russell
talks about how impressed he is with the party and how many people are there.
Chuck tells Reina how much she inspires him. Blair and her posse walk in from
W magazine and she tells them to be discreet. Dan walks up to Blair to try to
convince her to publish or at least look at his article for the magazine. Blair blows
him off while she goes to go look for her crew. Blair finds Serena and convinces
her to do a brief interview for the magazine. Lily walks in to the party and
Russell runs into her.
25:14mins Lily tells Russell shes only there to speak to Chuck, then goes off to
find him after telling Russell that Chuck should know that Russells plan is
working and Chuck doesnt know it. Chuck takes Reina to a personal Suite he had
set up for the two of them for the night. Dan watches them in curiosity as they
walk into the room together. Lily comes up behind Dan asking him if hed seen
Chuck. He just looks at the door Chuck and Reina disappeared behind. The scene
cuts to Blairs W magazine team interviewing Serena and during the interview
Serena turns around to see Ben standing behind the bar working. Ben tells Serena
he thought that she was supposed to be at home for the night, while she then tells
him she thought he was tutoring. Blair then sees an opportunity for her to leave
with her W crew and scoots off to avoid Serenas questioning. Lily barges into the
room with Chuck and Reina and berates him with questions about why he had her
fired. She then goes on to list all shes done for him especially since his father
died. The discussion upsets Reina who is sitting on the bed in the background.
She gets up and tells Chuck thats enough as shes walking out. Lily tells Chuck
that whatever price he pays for the choices hes made are on him. As Lily walks
out of the room, Russell walks in.
29:33mins Russell tells Chuck how impressed he is that he kept his word to him,
but now that Lily is off the board, itll be much easier to sell Bass Industries and
make a profit for it. Chuck is in disbelief that hes been manipulated by Russell as
he says that Reina will no longer hold him on a pedestal once she realizes what
her father has done. Russell goes on to say that hes not worried after what she
just witnessed between Chuck and Lily, then walks out of the room and leaves
Chuck by himself.

3) First 30 minutes of Season 4 Episode 16

While You Werent Sleeping
01:10mins The episode opens up with the sun rising over the Brooklyn bridge
in New York City. It glimpses over the city, showing snow on the ground and
trees. It must be winter. The scene cuts to Dan walking into the living room of
his home in Brooklyn to find Serena and Ben eating breakfast together. Serena
apologizes to Dan if they kept him the night before because they were playing
scrabble, Dan then goes on to ask Serena Since when do you enjoy
scrabble?, which creates an awkward moment in the room for the three of
them. Dan then leaves the house to Serena and Ben who talk about Eriks
eighteenth birthday party and if Ben would come. He refuses to be anywhere
near Lily after she put him in jail. The scene changes to Lilys apartment where
Erik is laying on the couch sick with the flu. Lily tells him shell call everyone
to cancel the party as soon as her important meeting is over. Rufus walks in to
encourage her that everything will be okay. Dorota, Blairs maid is dressing her
as Serena walks into the room. Serena accuses Blair of being a Workaholic as
she argues that a good worker only needs three hours even if they arent
consecutive. After Serena leaves the room, Blair has Gossip Girl pulled up on
her computer and sees a post about Reina.
05:04mins Chuck and Nate are talking about what happened between Chuck
and Russell and how Russell manipulated him. Chuck goes on to say that he
has to get Reina back, so he asks Nate to run into her after she goes to lunch
with her mother. The scene cuts to Blair at W magazine skyping her 3
minions so she can tell them what they can do to help her get everything
done at once and assigns them each a job. She calls in her new interns only to
be told that they all transferred due to Blairs aggressive style. As soon as her
co-worker warns her about losing her job, Dan walks in. Blair then refers to
him as her new intern. The scene changes to Lily walking in to a restaurant to
meet Chuck. She tells him to stop contacting her and that after the humiliation
he put her through, she is no longer putting up with Chucks games. He asks
her if she still has feelings for Russell and after she tells him no, he goes on to
remind her of how she cheated on his father for Rufus and why she wouldnt
do the same to him. She slaps him across the face and walks out. Right behind
them in the restaurant is Russell watching the whole thing. Serena is standing
in the lobby waiting for Ben so she can spend the rest of the day with him after
she goes up to the apartment to visit Erik and wish him Happy Birthday since
he is sick. Right as she was about to go up Ben tells her Erik is already walking
towards them. As Serena asks him where hes going, Erik tells her he isnt
really sick. The scene cuts to Chuck getting into a limo with Lily and tells her
that the slap was a nice touch. He then goes on to apologize again for trusting
Russell over her and Lily goes on to say that she hopes Russell is the one being
humiliated next.
09:33mins Erik is sitting down with Serena and Ben in the Lobby of the
apartment building. Erik tells them that Dan and Nate getting involved with
Damien made things even worse for him. Damien is forcing Erik to be his
drug mule as he has a big shipment of coke coming in soon in a batch of

flowers. Serena asks Erik what Damien could possibly have on him to make
him do this, and Erik tells her that what he has isnt on him, but on Lily. She
forged the affidavit for Bens case and if anyone found out, she could go to
prison. Serena tells Erik that shell take care of this and for him to go tell Lily
to not cancel his party. After he goes back upstairs Serena tells Ben that shell
go pick up the flowers, Ben tries to convince her to leave it alone and not do
anything. Serena tells him that if they dont do it, Damien will just tell the
police about her mom and shell be arrested. Ben tells her that maybe thats not
such a bad thing and that way shell pay for starting the whole mess. Ben tells
her to take a rain check on their plans for now and then leaves. The scene cuts
to W as Blair is taking on a million things at once such as talking on her cell
phone and work phone at the same time, and on the computer. Dan tells her
hell help her as her friend, not as an intern, but only if she tells him she needs
him. Blair unsurprisingly refuses and goes back to talking on the phone. Reina
walks out of a restaurant and Nate runs into her. He tells her that her driver
that she was waiting on probably was told to move because of double parking
and offers to escort her through the park so she can get to where she needs to
go, she agrees. Chuck arrives at Lilys apartment as she is setting up for Eriks
birthday party. He tells her that Reina is being distracted by Nate and they need
to go and snoop in Russells office before all the passwords change. Right as
they were discussing him, Russell calls asking Lily out for a drink and she
happily agrees.
14:26mins Blair is yelling at someone on the phone with Dan standing behind
her as her co-worker walks in. She runs an idea by her which her boss tells her
to do more research on first. She then asks Blair when the next blog post will
be and Blair blurts out within the hour, as she answers the work phone and is
still speaking to someone on her cell. Serena walks in and asks for Blairs help
on a scheme which she happily agrees to help with. The scene cuts to Nate and
Reina walking by the ice skating rink. She tells him that shes never been
skating before even though shes from Chicago, he convinces her to let him
teach her. Blair is on the phone at W once again as Dan walks back in. She
finally tells him that she needs his help and he agrees. Shes called out by her
boss to help on another project and tells Dan to just start with whatevers on
her desk. He takes the purple sticky notes and leaves to start. Nate and Reina
are in Chuck and Nates apartment and she walks out in a bath robe. Nate
apologizes for spilling apple cider on her and she tells him that she was happy
that she got to cancel the rest of her day so she can continue to try new things.
18:50mins Lily and Russell are sitting down at the Palace restaurant having a
glass of wine and talking about old times together. Meanwhile, Chuck sneaks
into Russells office and snoops through his emails to find the name of the
investor that Russells company is misleading to sell Bass Industries. Once
Chuck texts Lily that he got the information he needed, Lily tells Russell she
needs to get to Eriks birthday and leaves Russell with a hope that theyll do
this again soon. Meanwhile at W, Blairs minions do not return with the tulips
she asked them to get and realizes that Dan must have gone to get them. He
brings them to the party and Erik and Serena think they are the ones for the

drug deal but quickly realize that they arent. Blair arrives at the party to an
angry Dan and Serena. She wrote the wrong color down for the coke filled
tulips and now they are in trouble. Erik comes up to them and tells them that
Damien just called him to inform him that he pre-sold the coke and that Erik
now owes him $100,000. Serena tells Erik that for now hell just have to use
the money hes getting from his trust fund for his birthday and they go off to
sort through his presents. Blair tries to convince Dan that she isnt fatigued.
Chuck shows up to the party and pulls Lily and Rufus aside.\
24:43mins Chuck tells Rufus and Lily that the man Russells company is
working with to sell Bass Industries is Bradley Kidd who is looking forward do
following through with this huge business deal. Lily asks how they could
possibly get him on their side, and Chuck says that he invited him to the party
tonight so they can convince him that selling Bass Industries would be a
mistake. The scene changes to Nate and Reina in his apartment dancing to the
Just Dance game. She tells him how much fun the day had been but that she
knows what Nates been trying to do all day. Russell shows up the the party
uninvited and Chuck is surprised, he calls Nate and tells him to keep her there
longer. Lily walks into Serenas old bedroom to find her helping Erik opening
his gifts early. Blair walks in and realizes that Eriks birthday present is on its
way to her mothers house. Ben texts Serena asking if he could meet her
downstairs and she leaves to go meet him as she tells Erik to keep opening his
presents. On her way out of the apartment, Serena passes Damien and rolls her
eyes at him. Damien walks into the room with Erik and tells him happy
birthday. Serena walks over to meet Ben once she gets downstairs. He tells her
how he cant believe shes letting other people get involved to help her mother
when she doesnt deserve it. She tells him that she doesnt agree with what her
mom did, but that she still doesnt want her going to jail. Russell walks up to
Lily as she asks what hes doing there and he tells her that he just wanted to
stop by and drop something off for Erik. Rufus walks up and asks what Russell
is doing there and that he thinks there is still something going on between the
two of them. The confrontation makes Russell leave and Lily compliments
Rufus on his ability to be a double agent as well. Blair speaks to a woman
and introduces herself as the editor for W. The woman looks at her in a weird
way and informs Blair that she has on 2 different shoes. She then asks Blair if
shed seen Chuck Bass and would love to interview him about dating Reina
Thorpe. She tells her she hasnt seen him.

Interview Questions:
1. Describe 2 schemes that Blair and Chuck have created to help themselves stay on top.
2. Describe why you think Serena tends to fall for the type of guy that could be bad for her
reputation as the It-Girl.
3. Explain one way that Dan covers up that hes the one who created Gossip Girl.
4. Give an example of 2 different roles that Serena Vanderwoodsen plays in the show.
5. Name 2 examples of a dynamic character within the show, and at least one reason why
they are a dynamic character.

I interviewed my friend Jenna Childers. I chose her to interview because I knew that she was a
huge fan of the show as well and knew that she would be interested in helping me. I also knew
that she would know all the answers to my questions because she has seen every season. Overall
she provided me with detailed answers that I believe helped my readers better understand my
figured world.
Interview answers:
1. I would say when Blair manipulated her way through high school to get good grades like
manipulating her teachers and friends to get good grades. Chuck manipulated girls & sweet talks
them into getting with him and then forgets about them.
2. I think Serena grew up with a perfect life so she tends to like adventure and pushing the limits
when it comes to boys.
3. Dan posted blogs about himself to make himself less suspicious. He called himself lonely
boy as if Gossip Girl were someone on the outside looking in.
4. Serena plays the sweet girl who everyone views as perfect, but you see that she really isn't.
She's one of the main characters & she always seemed to keep a lot of the other characters under
control.
5. Blair and chuck are both dynamic characters. Chuck was the bad boy who made a lot of
mistakes, but as he grew up and encountered many things he began to feel guilty and even began
to regret his mistakes and tried to make up for them.
Extras:
While watching the show, I realized that I may never be a part of Manhattans Elite but that
there are some things in which I have in common with some of the main characters. For example
Serena, she, like me, grew up with mostly just her and her mother (while her brother was in and
out of mental hospitals). Shes also used to getting exactly what she wants, and if she doesnt,
she acts out. Her upbringing was very strict and limited, and because of that, once she hit her
teenage years she went through a very rebellious phase. Another character within the show that is
similar to Serena in this specific way was Jenny Humphrey, Dans younger sister who by this
point in the show is no longer important. While Serena may not be the only character I may
relate to, she is what stands out as a good representation of a fairly normal teenage girl growing
up under these circumstances.