Noah Riccelli Riccelli 1

SEL 107-01

Mrs. Mintus

Project 2 Reflective Essay

9 Oct. 2019

Reflective Essay

In the technologically advanced age we live in, multimodal components such as

podcasts are becoming a normal source of media for many individuals. As students, we are

typically used to expressing ideas/telling stories through writing. This project, on the other

hand, permits a verbal retelling of a story, something not usually done. Once I determined the

process of how I would tell my story as opposed to simply reading it, I found that the

differences in this project had some clear benefits as well as challenges.

I began the process of putting this audio essay together by first reading my written

narrative aloud and actually recording myself doing it. After listening to the recording, I was

able to determine what elements were essential to the audio retelling and what components

could be eliminated without changing the overall message. Next, I put together a very informal

outline and divided the different components of my story into segments, almost as if I was

doing a Ted Talk or radio show. This is not me physically saying “Ok, time to switch segments”,

it is just the integration of one idea to another so I can effectively divide up my 3-5 minutes.

Now that I had some type of structure for my audio essay, I began to create a script. This is not

the type of teleprompter-type script that I read off of, this is a bullet- pointed list with topics I

want to cover. I felt if I am telling the story based on my own memory and not reading off a
Noah Riccelli Riccelli 2

SEL 107-01

Mrs. Mintus

Project 2 Reflective Essay

9 Oct. 2019

script, it will seem more realistic to the listeners and they will be more inclined to take an

interest.

There were some clear and distinct differences between this project and project 1. I was

able to keep most of the main components of my original story in this audio remix. This

includes the beginning portion about the summer work, the discussion of my early childhood

reading enjoyment, reflection of several negative experiences including being paid to read and

DEAR reading, and also a large portion about my writing literacy. I kept the inclusion of Deborah

Brandt’s “Sponsors of Literacy” and decided to eliminate the course reading from Donald

Murray, mainly because it did not fit into my script. I did not add anything major, only some

descriptive details to show my emotions and keep interest with the listeners. One difference is

that I left out some unnecessary details throughout for two important reasons: to finish within

the allotted time limit and to avoid listeners experiencing disinterest. I would say the most

significant difference with this project was that me actually telling the story as opposed to it

being written created a much more informal tone, which I see as a positive in the sense that

listeners can relate to that better.

I felt as if there were a variety of benefits and challenges associated with telling my

story on a digital platform. We live in an age where many people no longer use print media to

get the information they want and need. With all the technological advances, things like
Noah Riccelli Riccelli 3

SEL 107-01

Mrs. Mintus

Project 2 Reflective Essay

9 Oct. 2019

listening to a podcast or watching a video on YouTube have become replacements to reading

book or a paper. The largest benefit of this project was that it applies best to the age of

technology that we are apart of. A major challenge associated with this project was that it is

something I as a student have never experienced working with before. My writing literacy from

an educational standpoint consists entirely of writing papers/stories and receiving a grade.

While it is a great opportunity to meet the standards of today’s society, I also had a lot of

trouble working with the digital platform. Whether it be deciding how to portray my story into

words or actually doing the recording, this project presented many more challenges than

benefits. Even though I experienced these challenges, I still believe that the project itself did

more good than bad.

I believe that this project was more effective than project 1 because it allows listeners to

place themselves in the moment and feel as if they can visualize what is going on as I tell it.

Reading words on a paper does provide a lot of detail and context, but hearing the spoken word

provides individuals listening with the emotion of the storyteller that would never be able to

decipher just from reading the text. Listening to the spoken word is becoming a normalcy in our

society because of all the advanced technology not previously available to us. The differences in

this project from project 1 made for some benefits as well as extreme challenges along the way

that made this project to be very interesting.

Noah Riccelli Riccelli 4

SEL 107-01

Mrs. Mintus

Project 2 Reflective Essay

9 Oct. 2019

Works Cited

Brandt, Deborah. “Sponsors of Literacy”. College Composition and Communication, vol. 49, no.
2, May 1998, pp. 165-85.

“Best Music Compilation.” Best Music Compilation, Nirst Ermin , 13 June 2015,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxDiQhNO780&list=WL&index=2&t=65s.