My Sentence

Prison pieces are tricky, for the simple reason that portraying such raw emotion without dramatization. Nick takes a stance that is the opposite of dramatization: description. Purposefully avoiding a definite setting, Nick takes on the task of simply describing the atmosphere of a youth correctional facility. Without pure narration, the voices of (presumably) correctional officers, social workers, and the troubled youth themselves tell the stories of the system. Nick uses the stereotypical bleak, clanging "prison music" to start the piece. But this completely turns around soon, with a guitar-riff filled rock ballad running behind the interviews. There is a powerfully humanizing effect in this music; the troubled youth seem much less threatening. The editing is smooth, uninterrupted. The sentence reverberations act as wonderful tools to illustrate the closeness of the relationships between the workers and young prisoners in the system.

Things to notice: Nick's own perspective on the youth correctional system leaks into this piece, whether he means for this to happen or no. The usage of the rock ballads behind the interviews suggests that he views these young men as only that- young men. The close synchronization between sentences creates a feeling of uniformity, suggesting impersonality. But of whom? The nameless workers? The prisoners themselves? Nick's voice and objective is unclear, the only clue being his final question toward the worker at the end of the piece. But even the intention behind this questioning is unclear. There is a lingering of a hidden agenda throughout this piece; Nick would do this piece much more justice if there were a clearer objective.