The Power of Hearing
For our (Chaya Leverton and Jackie Bierman) audio-essay we decided to work off the concept of Letters that we were introduced to in class. We thought it would be interesting to show how the experience of hearing a letter being read aloud is vastly different than that of simply seeing the words on paper. When you can actually hear the words, the tones, the inflections, the sighs, and the pauses of a written letter, both the meaning and affect can be drastically different than if you had just silently read the letter. The human voice has an amazing power to transform dull, lifeless words into something emotional, thought provoking, ironic, sarcastic, funny, sad, endearing, motivating, manipulative, and more. Hearing gives the listener a better feel of what the speaker (not the writer!) is trying to convey as he/she reads the letter, and it gives the speaker a chance to interpret the letter in his/her own way. In other words, the same letter (written by the same author) can be interpreted and communicated in two totally different ways if read by two different speakers.
We plan to collect about 4-6 interesting and diverse letters and take turns reading them out loud. Our point is to show how by changing how we read the letter, the mood and meaning of the letter can be changed. The broader message here is to show how powerful our voices are and how they can have such a strong impact. Words without a voice aren’t worth as much as words with a voice. We can use our voices to speak up and make a difference.
We plan to use the Letters of Note website for most of our letters. We estimate that we will spend around one minute on each letter and about one minute on a short introduction and conclusion. We will be broadcasting from someone’s home or the school library, and we will use our Macs for the recording.
3 responses so far
I like how mention that in this situation, the voice of the reader has more impact than that of the author of the letter. Sometimes words will only take you so far. It’s also interesting how you’re both reading the same letters and showing the contrast in your voices. This puts a whole new spin on your audio essay: not only are you showing that letters read differently when read aloud, but also that the voice of the reader makes a big difference. This really separates your project from the “Letters” that we listened to in class.
Your project can really go in any direction, depending on what letters you choose. That gives you a lot to work with, and so much flexibility. You can make it a wide variety of the genres you’ve listed, and as long as you do this carefully, I think it’s gonna be really awesome to listen to. Can’t wait to see what you guys come up with!
I really like how you made the letter reading idea into your own. It is very true that everyone has a different perspective of the same things and by having both of you read the same letters that will definitely show a contrast. It might be interesting to also have you both describe very briefly, maybe in just one word even, the main emotion you got from reading the letters. This would further enhance the idea that different readers may get different meanings through the words and would help the listeners get a better idea of your thoughts on each of the letters. I feel like this project will help us get a better idea of how you both think and I look forward to hearing your project!
LOVE this idea! As you can tell from mine, I love letters and I love the twist you put on the topic. I am very much looking forward to hearing the different tones and moods set around your letter and I am curious to hear your voices read them out loud. You both definitely have a clear purpose for your idea which I think is great and I feel that there is a strong entertainment factor present-the different voices and attitudes you use will for sure captivate the listener.
Question-will the letters you choose be random or will there be a common theme/idea going on? I think it can be interesting if you pick letters of a similar topic/time period/ or even from similar age group writers and use your voices to show the differences in tones/attitudes/moods.
Good luck! I can’t wait to hear the finished product!