https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bFVohHP_58
For my source I found a video from a guy who makes videos about his parrot and how he's trained and raised it and how he's bonded with it. In this video he explains the general behavior of African greys and answers some questions about them.
The purpose of this video is to educate the audience, rather than tell a story, so I'd try to avoid making my story sound too much like a documentary. However, I like the way he mixes in his own experiences with his bird to help show a personal connection to what he's saying. I think I should spend more time describing individual events or stories from when I was raising the birds, rather than the general "over the years" approach I've used so far. I want to show more of my emotional connection with the babies throughout the story. Also, because parrots aren't the most common pets, I feel like I need to take some time to describe them to an audience who might not have any idea what these birds are like.
I think that the concepts you're taking away from the video are a great idea. Your "over the years" approach doesn't seem quite as effective as using individual, and more personal narratives. The individual anecdotes will definitely help the audience to relate and understand the topic of your story more. I think that they could help the audience to really empathize, and get put into your own shoes regarding how raising and letting the birds go made you feel.
ReplyDeleteI think that your story would benefit more and be more intriguing and engaging to the audience if you went about telling it in a way that wasn’t too dry like a documentary. It is always a good idea to give a description of what you’re talking about, in this instance the parrots, to paint the picture for the listener so that they see the story you want to tell instead of them conjuring up images for themselves. Adding a personal note too it allows you to connect to your audience more as well.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of showing an emotional connection with the birds is a great take away from the video. Many people can relate to the emotional attachment of a pet and to play off of this is something most people can relate too. I think if you added in maybe a story or two of some special moment you had with them that would really show a true connection to your life, and would also help to prevent it from sounding like a documentary. I think also trying to describe what these birds look like in more detail could be good, as many people will have an image of something different than what you might want.
ReplyDeleteI definitely like the idea of straying away from the "documentary" style and focusing more on telling a personal story. As other people have said, a personal story can connect with a reader in a much more powerful way. I think if you use some stories of the connections you've made, it'll really help to put the reader in your shoes. For example, any instances or examples of something that really stuck out to you during your time of caring for these birds.
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