Week 4: Audio Stories

First Audio Story: http://storycorps.org/listen/stories/rene-foreman-and-her-daughter-michelle/

This story really makes you wonder how life would be like with a disability. Over the past few weeks I've read stories about people who have been disabled because of their legs, deaf, and now mute, and each time, all of these people have taken such a depressing situation and turned it into a blessing. It really makes me cherish and appreciate the life I have no, and little situations are nothing compared to the problems these people have overcome.

What I especially enjoyed about this is that we're able to hear her talk through her electrolarynx. That's the device that allows her to speak, but it just really hits you harder to hear her, rather than someone trying to talk for her. She's able to make comedic comments about her situation, and it ties in with what we're talking about in class, how you laugh at situations because it helps.


Second Audio Story: http://storycorps.org/listen/stories/a-p-tureaud-jr-and-steven-walkley/

This second story was a classic case of discrimination and racism that African-American's went through. However, I still enjoyed listening to this one because he was detailed about his situation. I think one of the questions the interviewer asked him was "Why did you continue going through college there?" and he answers that by talking about when the black kid talked to him about how he inspired him.

I personally don't know how he was able to graduate with all of the racism around him. Teachers wouldn't grade his papers, and they said they never taught a "negro" before. He was the first African American to graduate from that college, and because of him, other black's followed his footsteps.

Week 3: Audio Stories

First Audio Story: http://storycorps.org/listen/stories/hector-black/

I was hook from the first sentence of this story. He described the intruder in his house, and it was a constant mystery of "what's this guy going to do?" A sign of a good story is when you constantly ask "What's going to happen next?" and that's a thought that was reoccurring in my head.

My favorite quote from the story was "I don't hate you, but I hate with my soul what you did to my daughter." This quote was powerful to me, and struck me. You could hear the emotion in his voice when he was talking to the murderer of his daughter, and that quote even struck the murderer. He apologized twice and started crying for his actions, and it just shows the power of words.


Second Audio Story: http://storycorps.org/listen/stories/john-byrne-and-samantha-liebman/

The first sentence of this story, didn't have as strong of as a hook as my first story, but it still had an interesting hook. I was curious about how him being gay would affect his teaching, and I'm sure that was one of the questions the interviewer asked him. The tone towards the end is inspiring because when he reveals to his class that hes gay, that treat him just the same as before. They gained a new level of trust and friendship between him and his class. I thought it was great story because it took what could of been a horrible experience, and turned it positive. It was a nice touch how the editors included that he felt nervous when talking to the class.

Week 2: Audio Stories

First Audio Story: http://themoth.org/stories/man-and-beast

This story had a great "book ending." In the beginning, it talked about him being a little boy in the zoo. When he looked into the animals' eyes, he promised he would be the animal's voice. Well in the end he wrapped the story up by describing his experience of looking into the Jaguar's eyes. It reminded him of when he was a kid and at the moment, he did a wonderful job of describing the mental connection he had with the Jaguar had. It felt as if you were there yourself in that moment. Even though I found this part to be predictable, it still was entertaining to hear. This was an example of great story telling, esp. after hearing that he had a stuttering problem, yet spoke clearly and thoroughly.

Second Audio Story: http://themoth.org/stories/toast

What I really enjoyed about this story is the beginning of the story. Before just jumping into the story about the birthday party he performed at, he described his feelings in detail of how he felt. He talked about how he was excited to do stand up comedy at Robert DeNiro's birthday and fantasies he had about creating a movie with Robert. Even though he was a comedian, he said he would of loved to create a movie with Robert. However what was really enjoyable is that he makes it extremely comedic. He could of plainly said that he loves DeNiro, but he added a comedic twist to the plot and keeps you entertained.

January CPR

The book I chose for the month of January is The Autobiography of Malcolm X. I chose this book because I've always wanted to read it and learn more about Malcolm X. I've heard people mention this book numerous times, but I've always felt left out. Now is my opportunity to take advantage and read this book.

The other reason why I wanted to read this book is because I've wanted to learn more about Malcolm X. Today we mainly hear of Martin Luther King Jr, who yes did have a monumental affect on history, but Malcolm did too, and I want to learn more about how he contributed to African-American history. Growing up I learned about both Martin Luther and Malcolm X, but it was more detailed for Martin Luther. I was given a broad view of Malcolm X in that he stood for the same thing as Martin Luther, but took on a more violent role. Now I want to take the time and discover the truth for myself, and understand why he did what he did.

Week 1: Audio Stories

First Audio Story: http://themoth.org/stories/lol

The first reason why I chose this story is because it was about trust. Mid story, the the speaker's father is a unofficial police officer (no authority), yet he trusts his instinct to let the young prisoner go to his father's house and get the money for the bail money. This took at lot of guts because he didn't really have any authority because he wasn't officially a police officer, but he saw something in the boy that caused him to trust him. So he freed the boy and gave him a car to drive to his father's and get money for the money.

The second reason why I really enjoyed this story is because of the ending. When all of the police officers returned and saw that the boy was gone, they all feared that the father would lose his job. SO they started coming up with ways to cover it up, but the boy showed up in the end with all of the money for the bail. This surprised all of the officers. It really shows you that there is good in some people, even people who are suppose to be labeled as prisoners.


Second Audio Story: http://themoth.org/stories/liverpool-street

The first reason why I chose this story is because the theme of the story is that you may enjoy something you didn't think you would. The speaker Rudy Rush is an African American comedian from New York. So he goes with a few friends to a rodeo and at first he regrets it. But eventually he makes friends while there and he comes to love it. He continuously goes every year and it feels like a second home to him.

The second reason why I chose this story is that Rudy has a great way to incorporate both humor and seriousness. Hes a comedian so his story was funny, but he gets really serious and emotional when he talks about 9/11. He was at the Rodeo during 9/11, and he talks about how everyone at the rodeo knew he was from New York, and they all tried to comfort him and help him contact family. To this day, they have a tribute to 9/11 every year. In a lot of places, this is common, but its more meaningful at the rodeo because its all because of this one man here.