The issue of the piece on “#1 Party School” by journalists from This American Life was the amount of partying and drinking done by Penn State students here in State College, PA. The journalists speak to students as well as various other people about this issue and their take on it. Some interviewee’s were actually briefly interviewed while in the act partying and drinking. There are several obvious reasons as to why this particular issue needed to be investigated; however, the reporters mentioned how one student at Penn State a couple years ago actually died from drinking “too much” at a frat party. The reporters stated how his body was found after leaving a frat party highly intoxicated after the 18 year old boy attempted to jump off the roof of one building and onto another. This shows just how dangerous getting drunk and partying can be, especially when you are alone.
The intended audience for this investigation would be Penn State students living on campus, as well as any other college student. I also think parents would be an ideal audience because it could be very informative to parents who have children attending Penn State University. The report sheds a direct light on the abundance of partying and drinking, as well as how often it occurs and I would think parents and students would benefit from knowing these findings. In the report, the journalists identified two different kinds of drinkers: the hard drinkers, and the casual drinkers. They found that the hard or heavy drinkers could be hazardous to themselves as well as others, but another interesting point they mentioned was the fact that casual, or light, drinkers are the ones to be most cautious of. According the report, light drinkers often have a night or two where they “let loose” or in other words, drink a lot more than they usually do. This causes a scare because some cases end up being fatal, such as the case mentioned before with the over-intoxicated 18 year old freshman. I thought their findings were pretty neat because most students at Penn State fall into one of those two categories, and upon listening to the report, the information presented would be an eye-opener.
At the end of the report, the overall conclusion drawn was that Penn State was in fact, the number one party school in the nation, and in being so, there were both negative and positive outcomes. The positive outcome was that the nearby beer and liquor businesses flourished, and the negative outcome was the outrageous behavior by some students, was caused by drinking too much alcohol. Both local business owners and party-goers were interviewed in the investigation, which ultimately helped the journalists come to their conclusion. One of the narrative techniques that I noticed the reports use was their organization, more specifically the “Arc” that we spoke about in class. There were scenes included in the investigation such as the bar scene, which had smooth transitions. Also, the reporters had background information and small anecdotes ever so often, so I was never lost at any point in the report.
Overall, I think these journalists did a pretty good job at putting everything together. I definitely learned a lot from listening to it; therefore I would say the report was very effective in captivating the audience and keeping their attention.
The intended audience for this investigation would be Penn State students living on campus, as well as any other college student. I also think parents would be an ideal audience because it could be very informative to parents who have children attending Penn State University. The report sheds a direct light on the abundance of partying and drinking, as well as how often it occurs and I would think parents and students would benefit from knowing these findings. In the report, the journalists identified two different kinds of drinkers: the hard drinkers, and the casual drinkers. They found that the hard or heavy drinkers could be hazardous to themselves as well as others, but another interesting point they mentioned was the fact that casual, or light, drinkers are the ones to be most cautious of. According the report, light drinkers often have a night or two where they “let loose” or in other words, drink a lot more than they usually do. This causes a scare because some cases end up being fatal, such as the case mentioned before with the over-intoxicated 18 year old freshman. I thought their findings were pretty neat because most students at Penn State fall into one of those two categories, and upon listening to the report, the information presented would be an eye-opener.
At the end of the report, the overall conclusion drawn was that Penn State was in fact, the number one party school in the nation, and in being so, there were both negative and positive outcomes. The positive outcome was that the nearby beer and liquor businesses flourished, and the negative outcome was the outrageous behavior by some students, was caused by drinking too much alcohol. Both local business owners and party-goers were interviewed in the investigation, which ultimately helped the journalists come to their conclusion. One of the narrative techniques that I noticed the reports use was their organization, more specifically the “Arc” that we spoke about in class. There were scenes included in the investigation such as the bar scene, which had smooth transitions. Also, the reporters had background information and small anecdotes ever so often, so I was never lost at any point in the report.
Overall, I think these journalists did a pretty good job at putting everything together. I definitely learned a lot from listening to it; therefore I would say the report was very effective in captivating the audience and keeping their attention.
Great analysis.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious: Did this image of Penn State diverge from your own in anyway? Match up?
Thanks!