Mentor Text - Non-Narrative: Serial

           

             For my non-narrative mentor text (for English) I have chosen the podcast Serial.  As described on its official website, “Serial is a podcast . . . hosted by Sarah Koenig.  Serial tells one story – a true story – over the course of an entire season.  Each season, we’ll follow a plot and characters wherever they take us.  And we won’t know what happens at the end until we get there, not long before you get there with us.”  Consisting of twelve episodes, each which last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, the first season investigates the 1999 murder of a high school girl that is much more complex than any records have thus far shown.

            I have chosen Serial as a non-narrative mentor text for a variety of reasons.  Having English as my subject area, I have a large amount of freedom when choosing my texts. Since Serial is a podcast, it can be used to cover several expectations of the media studies strand from the curriculum.  Although non-fiction and non-narrative, the story is presented in a strategic and intentioned structure and form.  Moreover, the website contains numerous documents (letters, articles, maps, transcripts, etc.) that can be used in conjunction with the actual podcast and as support material.  I believe that this podcast would fall under a form of non-narrative that is meant to inform or explain.  Although the narrator sometimes offers her opinion on the unfolding events, she consistently reminds the readers that she is presenting facts in order to arrive at a truth (and a truth that might differ from her desired outcome). 

In terms of writing conventions, the podcast is a form that allows for many possibilities.  Since the final product is read out loud, spelling is not necessarily as important as sentence structure and grammar.  Nonetheless, each episode is read from a script and contains a plethora of additional written material online, all of which must be grammatically correct and free of spelling mistakes.  In terms of language, there is a balance of technical terms – especially legal terms (ex: affidavit) that students will need to know – and conversational language, such as the occasional swear word or use of humor.  Perhaps the biggest advantage of this form of non-narrative – especially in terms of when students begin producing their own podcasts – is that reading the text out loud is necessary, and this (reading out loud) is often one of the most beneficial practices for proofreading and editing. 

What do we learn about the murder in question when it is presented in this format (as a podcast) differently than if it were presented in a different format?  I think the fact that we actually hear the voices of the people involved has a profound impact.  They are not just characters in our head, but rather real people that have emotions.  The podcast format also allows the author to do just what the title suggests and serialize the story as a weekly episode. 

If you have not started downloading Serial already before finishing this post, I recommend you stop reading right now and do it here.