Reading and Writing in a Digital Age

The most enjoyable story for me was that of Jane’s dad. I felt emotionally invested in Jane’s story, like many, I found myself cheering on Harry Brakeman. When they revealed that his university had in fact survived the devastating earthquake, all the tensions and the nervousness that I had seemed to evaporate. It is always enjoyable for me to hear a goodwill story. Harry Brakeman did so much for the community in Haiti. He always looked to direct his attention towards helping the small Haitian community, which takes a lot of selflessness. To actually do what he did, and not just say you’re going to di it, takes a lot of guts, and it really left me with a glowing image of Harry. The story built itself up with all these positives as it recollected Harry’s life, his goals and his accomplishments. In my mind, though, I could feel that eventually the earthquake would be introduced into the story. I was expecting complete devastation, the entire college crumbling, Harry’s lifelong achievement destroyed in a matter of moments. But, when I heard that most of the college had miraculously remained intact, I felt a warmth, which was planned by the broadcasters, I’m sure. And then they brought in the story of Luc, who took in 172 kids,  I think. His voice is a little more downcast, but still, the scope of his effort and accomplishment in helping the community doesn’t upset the listener. I feel like the goal of this story is to bring attention to the struggles caused by the earthquake, yes, but also to show how people past and present have helped make the situation a little more…bearable.

The other story I enjoyed was Sarah’s surprisingly. Maybe it was the six year old singing on the radio about why Jewish people are celebrating Christmas. It was such a novelty, I couldn’t help but laugh and find it incredibly cute. At first, I thought it was going to be an intellectual piece when Sarah brought in the child psychologists. I expected some diversion into other cognitive issues with young children, or more tales of things Ava couldn’t grasp. Instead, I got Sarah singing with a little six year old girl about not eating the Christmas Stew. Because, of course, you’re a Jew.