Narrative Elements

“The Editor” displays narrative elements throughout the podcast that are used to develop Robin Wood’s story. They begin the podcast by telling past events in Robin Wood’s life that lead to part of the climax within the podcast. The narrator tells listeners some of the crimes Wood’s committed within the area of Maryland, and from including this detail the narrator is able to establish a sense of setting for the listener to follow. In great detail they include the setting, age of Wood’s, and are able to give listeners an estimate of the expect year that this story is being told in. From including these details the plot begins to develop as they begin talking about Wood’s prison experience and the reasons for his transfer to a different facility. This is when the the character development progresses, Wood’s at this point in the story is a misbehaving prisoner who is considered dangerous, but as the podcast goes on it becomes clear to listeners that this is not the case. The transfer of Wood’s could be considered an event that has changed him in a positive way. He develops from the act of a dangerous prisoner to an intelligent avid reader that reads hundreds of books throughout his sentencing. This is a turn around point that listeners are able to notice through narrative elements that at first display Wood’s in a negative way, to a man who has developed his intelligence through the negative events within his life. The ending of the podcast tells listeners that Wood’s eventually goes to work for a literacy company, Webster Encyclopedia, and this opens the eyes of readers to notice how much this character has progressed. Through the use of these narrative elements, the author makes listeners question where life would have taken Wood’s, if he received a proper education.