Case #3: Belt Buckle

When the storytellers describe Jimmy as a likeable (3:00), affable troublemaker, this could be considered a tangent. Why does it matter that he is likeable? If the listener did not know that the boy was likeable, he may begin the story thinking that the story is all about getting into trouble. There may be a higher sense of mystery if we think that the boy is a trouble maker. The reader may want to continue reading more.

(6:36) The storytellers talk of the urge to return a lost item. I would also consider this a tangent. The listener gains a stronger sense of morality, the moral dilemma that occurs when deciding to return something that doesn’t belong to you. This element of the story would be lost. Perhaps what would be gained from deleting this tangent would be a stronger focus on the immediate characters in the story.

 
The music at about 11:50 in the story makes me feel youthful, jumpy, and light on my feet. It creates a unique sense that the story is moving right along, at a rather fast pace.