Reflection Post: “How I got into College”

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I recommend that anyone who has time listen to thisamericanlife.org. It is a program that I have found a lot of interesting shows on the site and have listened to several different pieces on over the course of the semester. I think they all tell great stories and use techniques that we are using in this very class.

One of the most interesting things about these stories is that it proves that some stories have to be heard they cannot just be written down. There is a particular style to these kinds of scripts. They use tools like overlaying music or tones to make the story convey in a more interesting way.

The particular show that I listened to was, “How I Got Into College.” It was really cool because it started with an anecdote that we can all relate to. It started off by asking college age students why they think they got into college. As the story unraveled it got deeper into the actual story that was about a man name Emir who believed that he owed his entire life to this woman Mrs. Aimes. I will not give away any details but the storyteller, who I believe was also Ira Glass, broke up the action with questions and reflections.

He projected the story through this technique. It made you more interested in the story because you wanted to know the answers to the questions. This patterned created suspense and investment into the characters.

I think that this was a good technique to use. It was one that was in fact mentioned earlier in the YOUTUBE videos that had Ira Glass mentioning these same techniques and how best to use them.

By providing an anecdote in the beginning it allowed the readers to connect and relate to the story. It leads me to think about the reasons that I thought I got accepted to college. As the story shaped around the man Emir I thought more about the people in my life that had created the person I am today. I thought about the people that I had in my life that encouraged me to the person I am today.

 This structure of asking questions, that led to action that in turn l cause reflection was a great technique. I had never really thought about the different pieces that are incorporated to make a sound piecework.

 I was also surprised about how the tone of voice and music added so much to the piece. Hearing the voice of each character invoked personal reactions to the piece. I felt like I had known each character.

 The music in the background allowed the formation of transitions. These helped guide the piece to the different sets of action.

 Overall, I really enjoyed this piece and I recommend people listen to life radio features such as “How I Got Into College.” It allowed me to think more creatively into the tool I use in my writing and the tools I will use for future audio pieces.

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Ira Glass: an expert storyteller

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Ira Glass has three things you need to be likeable on radio: firstly, a soft, intimate voice that makes you feel like he’s talking directly to you across your kitchen table; secondly, the humility to discuss his own work as something not innately brilliant, but as the culmination of many years of hard graft; and thirdly, a brilliant ear for wonderful, personal stories that make for compelling listening.

This American Life, which I’d never listened to before this week, is a kind of Reader’s Digest on the radio – that is, a sweetshop of tasty morsels, none of which you’d never planned on investigating, but which seem to fascinate nonetheless.

In the episode we were asked to listen to this week, about storytelling, or more specifically, reruns, the framing is classic Ira.  Act one is all about action and the Beaver trilogy, a film in which the film maker became obsessed with returning, over and over, to the same subject.  The story is gripping because we hear the journalist, the film and the film maker, Trent Harris, all narrating slightly different parts of the narrative.  I found the act slightly long-winded, but by the end the effect is that I really wanted a happy ending for hte beaver kid, just as Trent and the jounralist do.  I learned that good radio stories are involved, and take the reader on a journey, using the sequencing that Ira references in his video.

I enjoyed the second episode more, perhaps. about couples rerunning each others’ stories – what do relationships do to you and your stories?  Despite the journalist speaking to a number of spouses who claim to have heard their partner’s stories over and over again, we find that they don’t in fact tell authentic, accurate versions of their stories.  Hearing them realise this is entertaining, and the contrast between the voices is enough of a cue to the listener to expect different angles.  Of course there’s also a lot of work behind the scenes to uncover some wonderful stories – as Ira says, the art of good journalism is as much about knowing what to take out as much as to keep in.

Discussion in Act Three of how often the Rosa Parks story has been evoked to explain revolutionary behaviour in many different contexts is an example of ineffective storytelling – where the simile isn’t really apt.  But it’s a good example of how the collective subconscious that Jung talks about gathers experiences into each of our memories so we feel like Rosa Parks, for example, is an ancestor of ours when we make a stand.  Choosing a person that means something to people can help them find a hook for what you’re telling them.

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