Abigail Ali, COM 304 Student
I reviewed many Story Corps stories to prepare for an assignment for class. Two stories, in particular, stood out to me during this process. One is about a surgeon who mentored aspiring Black surgeons and the other is about the bond between a mother and her adopted daughter.
Both stories begin with a voice providing background information on the conversation before the voice of the interviewees is heard. This is done to provide context to listeners so they understand what’s going on once the sources begin to speak.
The surgeon story’s speakers were surgeons that had worked with the acclaimed surgeon in the past. The men took turns talking about their experiences with him and told stories. This perspective, compared to the surgeon telling his own story, allows listeners to better understand how impactful the surgeon really was.
The mother-daughter story was more of a conversation between the mother and daughter than it was narrative story-telling or an obvious interview. This perspective allows the listener to better understand the bond between the two, not just from the story, but from how they interacted with each other.
One of the key takeaways from this analysis is that letting interviewees present their stories in their own ways is really effective in getting the listener to understand and feel what the stories are about. Another takeaway is that an indirect source can be just as, or more, effective as a direct source.