One Daughter's Journey.

I listened to this piece with extreme bias, being both a child of addiction and an older sister to boys. I loved listening to Vicky's story, wanting to hug her and reassure her that things do indeed get better from the perdition of dysfunctional families. But through her ingenious use of music and seamless voice-tone changes, I can tell that she has already come to this conclusion herself. Her choice of music is decidedly ironic, and it works. Vicky only uses her own voice as a narrative tool, but the quality of the microphone recordings is varied to a positive effect. It appears as though she is working to appear both interviewer and interviewee at separate times. This is a wonderful device that perfectly mirrors the fragmented story being told. Setting is described in terms of emotion, but as this is a coming-of-age story, it is perfectly fitting.

Things to notice: Vicky utilizes a music tradition used notably in 1990s films (such as "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Swan Princess"), where music reminiscent of ballet is used to symbolize a young woman's journey. She takes care to match the arcs and falls of the music to the tone of the story at that point in time. She knows the value of the cliffhanger; the phrase "And I didn't ask for that" at 3:36 leaves you wanting to hug this young woman. There is an awkward transition between the worst of times to the best of times in the story, but it is easy to move through. Vicky is a wonderful writer, managing a story arc with rises and falls, but managing to not appear scripted or formulaic. Her sentences are clearly spoken, and she knows how to captivate her audience.