Courtesy of MeTuesday, September 25, 2007
Picture
Courtesy of Me
Marley and Me, Week 1, Post B
So far, I have had tons of connections with this novel. First of all, I am a dog lover and can really connect with the characters of John and Jenny for this reason. There are several pictures of Marley in the front cover and I have a few pictures of my dog, Ginger, that are almost identical. In the preface of the novel, the author, John Grogan, describes his childhood dog. It was sort of eerie to read this, because as I kept reading there were so many similarities between his dog and the dog my parents had before I was born, Jessie. One of the more unique similarities was that both dogs would dive to the bottom of lakes and bring back large rocks in their mouths, I don’t know of any other dog that has done this. As the actual novel began, even more similarities occurred to me. John’s house was built in the 1950s, so was mine. Challenged with the task of choosing the right puppy, John decides that he and his wife Jenny should keep an open mind about bringing home a puppy, which is exactly what my dad told my brother and I when we were trying to choose the right puppy. They end up bringing home a puppy named Marley, and John decides to register him in the American Kennel Club, in the case that one day Marley becomes a show dog. My mom and dad also registered Jessie in the American Kennel Club, because my dad would do obedience shows with her and traveled to several cities for these showings. Marley loved to run around the house while unraveling a roll of toilet paper, just as Ginger loved to do when she was a puppy. (I guess it’s a dog thing). Also, Marley had extreme amounts of energy as a puppy, as did Ginger. Both were even so enthusiastic at one point that they knocked out a pane of glass from a door! This story has many parallels to my life, and I enjoy reading it to see if the next event will be strikingly similar to one in my life.
Marley and Me, Week 1, Post A
VOCABULARY
Fauna (3) - the animals of a given region or time considered as a whole
Caveat (17) – a warning or caution
APPEALS
“The house was built in the 1960s and had an Old Florida charm- a fireplace, rough plaster walls, big airy windows, and French doors leading to our favorite space of all, the screened back porch” (5). This is a logical appeal because it describes the physical characteristics of the house. The details make it sound inviting- I would want to live there!
“Something was crashing through the brush-and breathing very heavily. It sounded like what you might hear in a slasher film. And it was coming our way. We froze, staring into the darkness” (9). This is an emotional appeal because it makes the reader apprehensive about the source of the sound. Could the source of the sound injure them?
“No other breed had come close to overtaking the Lab since. In 2004 it took its fifteenth straight year as the AKC’s top dog, with 146,692 Labs registered. Coming in a distant second were golden retrievers, with 52,550, and, in third place, German shepherds, with 46,046” (16). Definitely a logical appeal- it’s a basic, cut and dry fact. But I have to admit, I didn’t know there were almost three times as many registered Labs as golden retrievers.
QUOTE
“It was a day meant for joy, not for us” (48). This quote is important because John admits the fact that he was crushed by the miscarriage of his and Jenny’s child, this is the first time he reveals how devastated he was. He realizes there are days to be happy, but there also need to be a few days of sadness, and this was one of them.
THEME
So far, the novel seems to bring up the idea that first impressions aren’t the only way to judge something. To find out who a person (or dog) truly is you have to learn about them, by observing and interacting.
Fauna (3) - the animals of a given region or time considered as a whole
Caveat (17) – a warning or caution
APPEALS
“The house was built in the 1960s and had an Old Florida charm- a fireplace, rough plaster walls, big airy windows, and French doors leading to our favorite space of all, the screened back porch” (5). This is a logical appeal because it describes the physical characteristics of the house. The details make it sound inviting- I would want to live there!
“Something was crashing through the brush-and breathing very heavily. It sounded like what you might hear in a slasher film. And it was coming our way. We froze, staring into the darkness” (9). This is an emotional appeal because it makes the reader apprehensive about the source of the sound. Could the source of the sound injure them?
“No other breed had come close to overtaking the Lab since. In 2004 it took its fifteenth straight year as the AKC’s top dog, with 146,692 Labs registered. Coming in a distant second were golden retrievers, with 52,550, and, in third place, German shepherds, with 46,046” (16). Definitely a logical appeal- it’s a basic, cut and dry fact. But I have to admit, I didn’t know there were almost three times as many registered Labs as golden retrievers.
QUOTE
“It was a day meant for joy, not for us” (48). This quote is important because John admits the fact that he was crushed by the miscarriage of his and Jenny’s child, this is the first time he reveals how devastated he was. He realizes there are days to be happy, but there also need to be a few days of sadness, and this was one of them.
THEME
So far, the novel seems to bring up the idea that first impressions aren’t the only way to judge something. To find out who a person (or dog) truly is you have to learn about them, by observing and interacting.
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