Erving Goffman pioneered the "dramaturgical approach" , which is part of the symbolic interactionist paradigm in social theory, to sociological analysis.
Symbolic interactionism is a theoretical framework that sees meaning as actively constructed through social interaction, and which claims that society itself is constructed and maintained through these meaningful interactions.
Symbolic interaction does not see meaning as inherent but rather sees meaning as actively constructed and sustained through social interactions.
Goffman explored the social labor of constructing meaning through interaction in his research, and the conceptual tools Goffman developed (see the chapter 4 reading) allow us to analyze and understand everyday behavior in a analytically deeper way.
Now, using the concepts of dramaturgical analysis, discuss a situation in which you have attempted to manage the impressions of others by controlling the meanings given and received in that situation.