The final project for WR 152: “Case Studies in Fairy Tales” asked students to work in pairs to “remediate,” or translate, elements of their academic research essays into a multi-voiced podcast episode for a non-academic audience. Before beginning this group project, they did rhetorical analyses of podcasts similar to the ones they planned to create, with attention to audience, purpose, structure, performance elements, and design. Alex LaSalvia and Ana Carvalho had both already written persuasive, in-depth, well-researched academic essays to draw from (Alex’s research essay surveyed retellings of the Andersen fairy tale “The Princess and the Pea,” and Ana’s explored the social psychology of the Andersen tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes”). However, it was their careful attention to the rhetorical elements of the genre of podcasts, and in particular the subgenres of conversational and educational podcasts (plus elements of interview and storytelling podcasts!), that enabled them to create such a successful entry of their own.
Thus “Satirizing Royalty,” a 22-minute episode of an imaginary podcast series focused on Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales called “The Princess and the Podcast,” is an audio treat. Alex and Ana converse casually but engagingly about the episode’s topic: Andersen’s complex attitude towards royalty. They chose this focus because it was where the material of their research essays dovetailed, and they take turns interviewing each other to shed light on questions that fall within each other’s area of expert knowledge, communicating not only substantial amounts of information, but insights gleaned from their thoughtful analyses of the tales. They also collaborate to deliver charming storytelling performances of each of the two fairy tales for listeners who may not already know them, and they use music and sound effects to make optimal use of the aural mode, preventing listeners from getting bored or tuning out. Their “Podcast Homepage” website, where the episode’s sound file and its supplementary materials are housed, is especially excellent: take note of their attention to design elements (including the logo they created), and the way they credit their sources (both academic and sound) and offer goodies like “Behind the Scenes” and “Bloopers” videos of their creation process. Last but not least, their homepage provides an accurate transcript of the entire episode, a crucial accessibility tool that expands their potential audience to those who process written information better than aural. The only disappointing thing about this podcast episode is that the longer series it purports to be a part of doesn’t actually exist!
— AMY BENNETT-ZENDZIAN
WR 152: Writing, Research, & Inquiry with Digital/Multimedia Expression