Piece Comment

"The Personal Side of the DREAM Act" Review


I began listening to this piece with no outside knowledge of the DREAM Act, so I was very thankful that the narrator summarized the legislation during the introduction of the radio piece. However, the summary was surface level, and I finished listening to the piece without a full understanding of the act. When the narrator began listing the effects the DREAM Act would have, the audio faded out into interview discussions about the effects. This sounded cool, but the interviews were not clear enough. I think this piece of legislation could have a significant impact on the lives of undocumented students, and I think the significance was not underscored well enough in the piece. Organization felt choppy, but I understand what the producer was aiming for. It was a neat idea to have the necessary qualifications for DREAM Act participants listed out followed by Carlos explaining how he fulfilled each requirement. This may seem like a lot of criticism, but I thought the piece was good; the topic is just so important, that listeners need to leave fully aware of the DREAM Act and what it could mean for undocumented students. This could’ve been fulfilled with more narration in the transitions.