Mentor Text Analysis of Podcast – Lisa Liu

1. “‘Your Heart is On Protein Powder:’ Reflections On Love and Family” by Mason Best and Roseann Smith
2. “A Day in the Life of an Anxious High Schooler” by Cece Benz
3. “The evolution of dating culture (podcast with my parents!)” by Arí G 
4. “My Incarcerated Family” (interview) by Samantha Zazueta
5. “Seeking An End to Cycles of Domestic Abuse” by Destiny Mabry

I chose the podcast “Seeking An End to Cycles of Domestic Abuse” by Destiny Mabry as my mentor text analysis. First, the title is very effective because it directly shows the topic is about abusive relationships. The author starts the audio by introducing her mother which demonstrates her expectations of lovers’ relationships. Then, the author has a transition of not meeting those expectations because she had met someone who mistreated her and she was embarrassed to say out loud. However, she moves to a new place, an afterschool program where she introduces herself, and can bravely speak about it. Later, Mabry begins the plot of her sister’s story, Kia. At first, she shows her sister’s family was happy and lovely by inserting her sister’s kids’ sounds and their laughing sounds. However, it turned out that Kia experienced domestic violence from her husband who later murdered Kia, their two kids, and himself. In the ending part, Mabry discussed domestic violence is not known by a lot of people because the majority are not willing to talk about it. During this process, Mabry has a rhetorical appeal of pathos by triggering the audience’s sympathy from her sighs, crying, and personal story in the podcast. She incorporates the text narratively and adds some interviews or conversations with her mother and her grandmother. The intended audience is someone who is also experiencing similar domestic abuse or simply the general public. Lastly, there is a Call to Action or a challenge that Mabry tries to convey about stopping domestic violence and getting healed is to expose and discuss it. The podcast is 8 minutes and 42 seconds long. From this podcast, something I want to emulate is the narration and conversation with a person. Something I will avoid might be the length of the podcast, but I think this podcast is so engaging that I don’t mind if it exceeds 5 minutes.