Reading and Writing in a Digital Age

I found Robyn’s story most intriguing. Not only because I also used to be an amateur “inventor” myself, but because the way her dad told the story reminded me of how my grandfather used to tell me stories over and over again like the never-ending chant of “row row row the boat”. My grandpa’s stories were mostly about history and archeology though. He would talk about his “great” discovery of a prehistoric site when he was young, how he should donate stuff he had found and kept for all these years. Listening to his stories made me wonder “Will I too have something to look back on and keep telling my children and grandchildren over and over again when I get to that age?” What morals would I be able to drive from it? How will my stories change as I grow old? I noticed Robyn’s dad’s reasons for telling the story grew frank as his daughters grew older. In the end I hoped that I may be able to have a great story to pitch my children purely out of proudness sakes.

When I was writing this down, I thought the reason  behind what makes a story fascinating was because of its familiarity. How the story could trigger your own similar experience and thoughts. However, I noticed that being familiar is not the sole reason why a story becomes fascinating. Yes. Definitely Robyn’s story instantly gave me something to write about but after few hours later I realised what really remains in my mind is the song Nancy Updike sang with Dave Hill about the  Erie Canal. Save the randomness and educational benefits, the song although it wasn’t necessarily the best performance nor did it have great lyrics, it is extremely catchy. Even now, the song stays in my head and I just can’t seem to erase it off my mind. At first I thought putting a song within one’s story would just be a daring attempt which people would give superficial claps and compliments, but now that I think of it, I have to agree with Lisa Pollak.

“That was kickass! She wrote a song! And performed it!”

I really liked listening to these radio broadcasts. It offers a new, dynamic approach to rhetoric. This specific clip made me think of the movie “Death at a Funeral.” In the beginning, the mother was sort of rambling and I didn’t really understand what her point was, but she was definitely trying to make light of a very serious issue. As the narrator continues, she brings in a bunch of other sources to help her do just that. I thought a bunch of the sources were actually pretty funny, like the man that wanted to plan his own funeral, and the man that wanted them to play his favorite song. The narrator says, ‘It turns out, in the funeral business, humor can be a sticky subject.’ But after a while, she had more than she knew what to do with.  It’s really interesting to see how she took a topic, a serious topic, and explored it to find funny stories. She didn’t make up the stories herself, or exaggerate them to make them funny.  People genuinely had funny stories to tell about different funerals. It was an interesting show that I think anyone could find humor in. In “The Erie Canal,” they took a rather boring topic – in my opinion, anyway – and made it into a cute, engaging story. I think they found the right balance of music, information, and sarcasm, to make a funny video. They brought up points that I barely remember learning in eighth grade, when learning about the industrialization of America. But it really is something that I live right nearby, and never give any thought to the matter. The Erie Canal was a huge breakthrough in transportation and advanced movement and trade dramatically in America. Again, here she takes another serious, kind of boring, matter and makes it into a joke. From these videos I saw that providing light humor on serious topics isn’t really a bad thing – it can be a good thing. Sometimes people just need to laugh.

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.

Am I the only one who thought most of these stories were pretty boring? From stories about the Erie Canal to the story about Ira losing his suit on a train, I began to lose hope for these radio stories until I heard Lisa’s story about her search for “funny funerals”. The idea had everything that would interest me; it was unique, funny, and heartfelt. Although it wasn’t a single and unified story (instead being a compilation of stories) and wasn’t altogether too funny, this story stuck out the most to me.

One of the most sentimental moments for me  when listening to this radio story was the story of the father who wanted to have “Silent Night” played at his funeral because it was the song played when he was a soldier in the war and it was declared to be over. As the story is told of the funeral, the background music of “Silent Night” swelled and I completely forgot that this radio broadcast was meant to look for “the funny side of death” and got lost in the moment. The story caught me so off guard because I was waiting for the punch line of the story that never came, but I did not care. The story expressed a deeply sentimental moment in someone’s life that I felt involved in, which, after all, is the point of a funeral.The other memorable moment for me was the story at the end of Lisa’s broadcast with the funeral at the Ukrainian church. The reenactment of the Ukrainian priests voice and actions really made me feel as if I was there, with perfect descriptions of his facial expressions, actions, and accent. Lost in the humor of the moment, I forgot that this was a story of a funeral, which was probably Lisa’s point. At the end of the broadcast, she finally shows an example of a funny side to death.

At its core, this broadcast had everything I would want in a broadcast. Lisa hooks her listeners with an interesting idea of a “funny side to death”. As I heard that I thought “Is that possible? How could death be funny?” and eagerly waited for some humor after suffering through Ira’s story about a suit. But as she started talking, the humor did not seem to flow which was fine with me. Drawn into these stories of intense emotion (and funny accents) I remembered the broadcast was about funerals and a time for remembering. Then out of nowhere, Lisa pulls up the story of the Ukrainian priest, which acts almost like the punch line of her whole segment. So overall, a good broadcast has to have an interesting idea, development, and then a twist or greater message to think about at the end.

Personally, I liked Robyn’s Dad’s story the most. The humor and familiarity make it stand out. My grandfather is exactly the same as Robyn’s Dad. He tells the same story over and over, thinking that he’s never told it to you. He was an engineer, and although he retired over 15 years ago, he has kept the “enginerial traits”. That’s what we call them, at least. He doesn’t focus on the main part of his stories, but rather gives each detail equal importance. This can be very annoying. For example, he will tell a story about how my Aunt was taken to the hospital, but he’ll stop to attempt to remember if he was eating a hot dog or a hamburger when the phone rang. It is hilarious that he doesn’t understand that these details don’t matter, and that his audience does not care in the least. We all want to know why she was taken to the hospital and how she is now.

He likes to take his time and go at his own pace, which is often painfully slow. Although he is like this, we all still love him. I’m thinking about him now and I can’t wait to see him when I go back for Thanksgiving Break. I am lucky enough to have all my grandparents still here. They all have many quirks that make them unique, and I wouldn’t want them any other way. Stories that capture that which is unique, yet relatable are the most fun to listen to or read. They make you think about your own life, and the story is familiar but not repetitive. I’m getting homesick now……

I liked Nancy’s story the best because I found it the most endearing. Her father gave the most boring subject matter – the Erie Canal – and she turned it into something cute and entertaining. I feel like we all are faced with this. Our parents have an idea of something we should be doing, and we have to find a way to put our own spin on it. This both appeases them and allows us to use their advice the best that we can. Also, Nancy has a pretty good voice.

But I also thought Robyn’s story was universally applicable. We all have old, or even not-so-old, relatives who have one thing that they’re really proud of and that they repeat over and over. Usually, they don’t mean to be repetitive and sincerely believe that they’ve never told the story before. Every time I visit my grandfather, he still goes into microscopic scientific detail about how, as an engineer, he invented a mechanism for aircraft called a “foil bearing.” Although I’ve heard this story countless times, and it’s not very interesting, it’s my duty to listen every time. Because that’s what we kids and grandkids have to do until we achieve something significant enough to then retell to our children over and over.

In “Stories Pitched by Our Parents” the stories that caught my attention the most were Robyn’s story and Jane’s story. I know that I definitely enjoyed these two the most because after listening, I realized that I didn’t have to try hard to remember what they said. To me, a good story is one that is memorable.

Robyn’s Dad’s story was the funniest out of the bunch because it is so relatable to me and is presented in a way that just gets you reminiscing about family and all that good stuff. I really like people like her father who are, I’m guessing, old but who act like little kids trying to show off their accomplishments. He’s boastful but sweet and in the end when Robyn asks him why he tells the story and he says “if anyone needs anything they need to go through me” he shows that he’s sweet on the inside and tough on the outside. Her story was memorable and it made me smile. 🙂

In Robyn’s story her dad is the typical big but sweet sort of guy and it’s familiar and well, expected. Halfway through her story I could already imagine him in my head. But with Jane’s story everything was not set in stone and no one was a typical character. Even her story, which was pointed in one direction, veered off into a different subject at the end. It was unexpected. I particularly liked her story because it touched a nerve. Because I normally don’t have to deal with the things Haitians had to deal with in the earthquake, just imagining their situations actually made me tear up a little. When she first started talking about a school being built there the disaster that hit Haiti didn’t even cross my mind and I thought the story was going to be one with a happy ending. Because the ending was unexpected though, it was memorable and it made me think and I did appreciate her story.

The two stories that were particularly interesting to me were the ones about the Harry Brakeman University in Haiti and the one about how Robyn’s dad made everything in his car controlled by the dial on his steering wheel.

The Harry Brakeman story was interesting to me because of the main character of the story, Harry Brakeman. His actions and warmth were the appeal of the story for me; such as how the Haitians accept him as a Haitian and how the university was named after him. His hard work for the community really stands out to me and I can appreciate all he has done even though it was no direct effect on me. But after building all the appreciation for his dedication, it was a very sad ending to hear that part of the school was destroyed in the earthquake. The way the story is told, the listener roots of Harry Brakeman and wants his accomplishments to last, and hearing the devastation of the earthquake is depressing. But the lasting image of Brakeman’s work stays with the listener, making it a great heartwarming story.

A well told personal narrative for me is always interesting. This story is interesting because it is relatable. Robyn’s father customized his car and had everything controlled from a dial in his steering wheel. First of all, that is appealing because that is a cool idea that I never thought of before. Second of all, the theme is relatable. Now I don’t have a tricked out steering wheel, but I have had things in the past that I finished by myself that I love to talk about. Robyn’s dad was so proud of his car that he constantly tells the story to everyone, and although it may seem annoying, that feeling of pride can be shared by the listeners. Everyone has accomplishments that they cherish and that is the reason why everyone can relate to the feeling that Robyn’s dad had about his car. That feeling of pride and accomplishment is a relatable theme to everyone. It reminds the listener of a happy time in their life when they did something they were proud of, making it a great story.

Why did no one find Sarah’s story funny?! I thought it was hilarious. The little girl singing was priceless. It was the first story that I was actually fully conscious for next to Lisa’s. Sarah used real evidence explaining why her daughter couldn’t understand her grandmother’s celebration of Christmas and then she added a twist of humor to it. I can see how humor is a dangerous route to take in radio and writing in general because what might be funny to one person might not be funny to another. Her segment worked for me, it was cute a hilarious and I would listen to it again.

Lisa’s story on the other hand worked because it was just so left field. From the onset I was worried for her. Death is never something I personally consider funny and I think most people can agree with me on that. What I liked most about her segment was that it built up to the one really funny story she told in the end. At first we get technical stuff, borderline boring conversations but it starts picking up when she tells us about the priest in the closet and finally with the Ukrainian funeral. She surprised me by shedding light on the possibility of humor in death. It looks awkward and almost taboo to say something like this but it is what Lisa accomplished and she deserves kudos for that.

I really liked Robyn’s story about her dad’s car invention. I’m not surprised that she won the contest, with 27.2% of the vote! I found the story particularly interesting because it was relatable and authentic. A believable story that makes me think I know that feeling is a story I like to hear.Robyn discusses themes that I, as a daughter, can relate to. She explains how she and her siblings have heard their father tell his story countless times, despite the fact that their dad “really thinks they don’t know the story.” The experience of hearing a proud father tell a story over and over again is one I think many people can relate to. I like how she lets her dad narrate the majority of the story; it makes the story more authentic and real. I also like that her story had a practical lesson at the end: if you put your mind to something, you will succeed. Most importantly, her story was clear and easy to follow. If you try telling a story in a choppy, unclear manner that is hard to follow, you will lose your audience almost immediately.