Engaging Critically with Texts Reading Response

This text will help my writing in this class in many different ways. For starters, it says that “you need to convince your audience that you are worth taking seriously.” If you audience doesn’t think that you’re credible, then they won’t listen to what you have to say or even read all of your work. Also, the type of media that you use conveys different messages. For example, advertisements are not always seen as credible so many people have learned not to trust them. Therefore, many advertisement firms are teaming up with public relations. Because people read the paper, they find the information and ads more credible. It’s very important that the author knows exactly what he/she wants to communicate. The purpose of any piece of text or work is to have the audience leave with a certain understanding or impression about something. By knowing what they want to communicate, the authors are able to alter the message as they see fit for their given audiences. Communicating your goals effectively is important in every job in the world. The text or information must make a message that is well supported, too. A text can support social, political and/or economic influences as well. The audience should be able to pick up on all of these characteristics throughout the author’s work. I hope to be able to prove that my writing can becoming stronger throughout this course by using these tips.

Story Final Draft

What could I have done? The dog house?! How could a ten-year-old do something so terrible to be in the dog house already? At least, I was never alone. I always had company from my partner in crime. Whenever she was around, she always brought such joy and innocence into the atmosphere. In fact, my best memories of her are when I would crawl inside her snug wooden dog house on our porch and cuddle with her in the dark. My yellow Labrador, Angel, would lie on the pillow while I laid my torso and head on her chest. She smelled of the woods and drying mud. It was calming for me to hear her relaxed heartbeat. In fact, sometimes I would be very close to falling asleep until mom called for me. If I didn’t hear mom at first, she would nudge me with her paw or remove her head from mine and lightly lick my forehead. Her heat even comforted me, even though it was during a blazing summer. She never excluded me from joining her by leaving the dog house. Sometimes, I would even swear that she motioned with her head for me to join her. She was always aware of how gently she would place her head upon mine, almost as if I were her puppy and not the other way around. Sometimes, she would become instantly energized and her tail would thrash around, whacking me against my neck and back making me laugh and aware of the exact position of my face to keep from being clobbered. There was the rare occasion that her enthusiasm could no longer be contained within the dog house and we both tried to escape through the hole at the same time and we would get stuck. It usually involved me recoiling into the dog house while pushing her out from behind. Her angelic face always read of laughter when this would happen.

Now imagine a giant eraser comes and wipes out all of the happy memories that I just recalled and all that is left is a lonely child sitting on the floor wishing that she had someone (or something) around her size to talk, romp with, that would accept her no matter what. This would’ve been my fate if my mom hadn’t thought twice about allowing me to have a pet. Mom’s initial reaction about a pet was that she would have to take care of it and that included the food, the vet bills, and the expense, expense, expense. However, she didn’t consider all of the wonderful memories and lessons that I would learn from having a pet. I am a strong believer that children need to have pets in order to have that wonderful bonding experience, so I urge the parents that are considering adopting a pet to view it from all sides, including you’re child’s.

Story Draft 1

When I was around ten, I had a wonderful yellow Labrador puppy named Angel. Whenever she was around, she always brought such joy and innocence into the atmosphere. In fact, my best memories of her are when I would crawl inside her snug wooden dog house on our porch and cuddle with her in the dark. She would lie on the pillow while I laid my torso and head on her chest. She smelled of the woods and drying mud. It was calming for me to hear her relaxed heartbeat. In fact, sometimes I would be very close to falling asleep until mom called for me. If I didn’t hear mom at first, she would nudge me with her paw or remove her head from mine and lightly lick my forehead. Her heat even comforted me, even though it was during a blazing summer. She never excluded me from joining her by leaving the dog house. Sometimes, I would even swear that she motioned with her head for me to join her. She was always aware of how gently she would place her head upon mine, almost as if I were her puppy and not the other way around. To keep myself entertained, I would pretend that we were hiding in a cave and that our breathing could be heard throughout the cave walls. I knew that we had to be quiet to avoid the people that were chasing us from discovering us. I talked in a faint whisper and told her that someone was chasing us and that they wanted to try and trick her with a treat. She would become instantly energized and her tail would thrash around, wacking me against my neck and back. There was the rare occasion that her enthusiasm could no longer be contained within the dog house and we both tried to escape through the hole, out of the cave, at the same time and we would get stuck. It usually involved me recoiling into the dog house while pushing her out from behind. Her angelic face always read of laughter when this would happen. It was almost as if she was saying “Ha ha! Sorry mom. I just get so excited when you mention treats! Can we play with my tennis balls now? Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!”

What is Story? Reading Response

Almost within the first sentence, I was struck with a quote that really hit home with me. That quote was, “if you are breathing you are a story teller.” In addition, “most of the time you don’t even realize you are telling stories,” drove home a strong point with me as well. Listening is key to being a good story teller. For example, “listening is observable evidence of curiosity.” I found the definition of story very enlightening, “story is a reimagined experience narrated with enough detail and feeling to cause your listeners’ imaginations to experience it as real.” Experience will always be the best tool used to teach someone. “Kidnapping, even for good reason [of forcing someone to have an experience], is frowned upon.” I found this quote quite hilarious, and I had to include it in this response. I was able to connect more with this text because I not only understood fully what the author was trying to say, but also connected with what the author was presenting to me. I agree that people are more likely to notice negative actions than happy ones and therefore people are constantly on the “monitor and correct” train. The author says that emotions are irrational, but I disagree with that. Emotions make us who we are and nothing in my opinion is more concrete than raw emotions. Organizing is critical to the right flow and delivery of a story. However, it is challenging for groups to come together to convey a story. Many thoughts gear towards many disagreements.

The Elements of Story Reading Response

This reading is useful in many ways. For starters, it reinforced the idea that I was taught in high school that “writing raises the emotions.” By connecting with the audience’s senses, the writer is able to portray a more accurate and specific story line. Descriptions are essential to painting the story within the writer’s mind. Some adjectives are better than others depending on the mood. It is also good for the writer to know when they are being too descriptive or not descriptive enough. For example, the main idea should have the most description, while other sub-ideas should be demoted in details. “All stories are divided into two parts, the action and the commentary.” By separating the story into those two main parts, the author is able to keep the audience mentally involved. Stories need to be entertaining as well as informative in order to keep your audience from becoming bored, as I did while reading this piece. The vocabulary needs to be at a level in which the audience can follow or else it belittles them and they lose interest quickly. In my opinion, this piece was not made to focus on an audience member like me. I found it difficult to understand many of the author’s examples within this text. However, my favorite quote from the text was “you must be factually accurate, but you are not limited by fact in your choice of expression.” I feel that this quote demonstrates how writers focus mainly on fiction details in order to make a non-fiction piece come to life.

Guide Dogs

This commercial begins with a yellow Labrador puppy sitting in it’s dog house out of the rain just minding it’s own business. All of the sudden, an adult German Sheppard jumps over the fence and forces the Labrador puppy out of it’s dog house and finishes the puppy’s food. The Lab puppy is now sitting in the rain and slightly whimpers. The scene changes to another day and the Lab puppy is outside playing with a red ball. Again, the German Sheppard jumps over the fence and takes the ball away from the lab puppy and pees on it while the lab puppy just watches and whimpers. The scene changes again and it shows the lab puppy being handed from a man to a female. Next, the woman walks the lab puppy into guide dog school. It shows the women entering with the puppy then a couple of seconds later, leaving with a more grown up version of the puppy. Next it shows the adult Lab assisting a person with seeing impairments. The Lab is leading it’s master through the rain when the Lab runs into the German Sheppard again. The lab continues on without hesitation and leads his master inside out of the rain. The German Sheppard tries to follow but he is stopped short because there is a picture on the door that indicated no dogs allowed which makes the German Sheppard whimper. The commercial concludes with the master petting the Lab while it lays on the living room floor. The Lab finally looks happy, too. The message of the commercial appears here and it says, “Give a puppy a chance to become a guide dog.” The message was sponsored by the Norwegian Association of the Blind.

Every Home needs a Harvey!

This is a story about a couple looking for a new dog to complete their family. They're in the animal shelter and walk by the first cage that has a yellow lab inside that looks very energetic and playful. They continue to walk past the next cage which has a mini wiener dog inside and the dog is very cute looking. The wife even bends down to get a closer look. However, the couple wants to see all of their options. The couple continues on to the final cage where a very lack luster dog is laying in the far corner by his bed. They watch the dog for a brief second seeming disappointed with this dog compared to the first two. To their surprise, the dog has a huge flat screen behind him and the dog clicks on a remote with his paw. The TV turns on and it starts showing all the reasons why Harvey, the final dog, would be the best choice for the couple. It shows how the dog would bring you your slippers then wink in happiness. It goes on to show the dog putting clothes into the washing machine and then ironing the freshly cleaned clothes up on an ironing board. Next, the dog is in a yard pushing a push lawn mower while his tail wags. The dog continues to prove that he is completely house trained by flushing the toilet after he was through with his business. The scene switches to the dog picking up the kids after school and still having enough time to get home and cook chicken. The dog wants to emphasize that he can also clean windows while his owners are doing other various things such as putting on make-up. He is happy to clean your dull shoes and make them sparkle by using his tongue. Harvey can also challenge your children or yourself at a game of chess. He will also gladly tuck you in at night then turn off the light. Harvey will basically be your best friend. The video comes to an end and the couple look at the dog with longing eyes. The camera goes back to the dog where he is now sitting with a suitcase and gives a couple a “what do you think” tilt of the head. The main message of the commercial comes onto the screen and it says “Discover the power of TV advertising at www.thinkbox.tv. TV. Where brands get their breaks.”