Discussion Leaders: Allison, Liz, Andrea
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Blog Post Drop Box: Sharon Creech's _Love That Dog_
Discussion Leaders: Allison, Liz, Andrea
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Discussion Leaders: Allison, Liz, Andrea
Discussion Leaders: Allison, Liz, Andrea
LOVE
ReplyDeleteTHAT
DOG
By Sharon Creech
Sharon uses a boy named Jack to write poems written between September 13 and June 6th. Jack is in Miss Stretchberry’s class in room 105. Jack writes poems even though he doesn’t like to. His teacher, Miss Stretchberry thinks his poems are worth sharing and puts them on the board. Jack specifically says he does not want everyone to know it was him who wrote those poems. He does not put his name on them and hopes the other students wont find out. Jack used to have a dog and he’s really sensitive talking about his dog. The poems written in the beginning of the story about a blue car foreshadows what Jack will write about later on in the book.
We get to find out why he writes about a blue car and why he “loves that dog.”
Jack writes the whole book in poems, which is very clever because Jack says on the first page that he doesn’t like to write poems. He believes it is a girl’s duty to write poems, not guys. I think that is a trend society likes to portray that guys who like poetry may not be as masculine. Through this book of poems you get to find out that Jack is really actually quite good at writing poems. His favorite writer of poems is Mr. Walter Dean Myers who inspired him to write his poem about his dog sky. Mr. Walter Dean Myers’ poem was called “Love That Boy,” which is great because Jack’s poem is called, “Love That Dog.” Jack gets worried though because he doesn’t want Mr. Walter Dean Myers’ to be upset about him using his poem to create his own. In a classroom, this would be a great idea to talk about plagiarism and how to properly give someone credit if you are using his or her work for anything. I like how in the back of the book that Sharon included the poems that Jack was talking about during the book. I was wondering as I was reading during the book what poems they were referring to and then I found them in the end. I thought the teacher in story did a fabulous job of helping Jack learn to love poetry. It is hard to really follow all the rules he was talking about and it made me happy that the teacher didn’t fuss too much with all the technical stuff.
I thought it was great that Jack talked about his dislike for onomoto-something and alliter-something. This was hilarious because you know what he is really talking about. As a teacher you could create a lesson out of this book for word choice and why some words are capitalized and why some words are repeated a few times. You could have your students create their own poems about their pets or something they really loved.
Questions: How would the effect of this book be different if it was not written in poems? Why do you think Sharon included the first excerpt from Hate That Cat in this book?
Elizabeth Ruimveld. Word count: 522
LOVE THAT DOG blog (I know you all know this is a blog, but it rhymed and we’re discussing poetry so I had to)
ReplyDeleteBefore beginning to read Sharon Creech’s novel, Love That Dog, I couldn't help but try and imagine what this story could possibly be about. From context clues I synthesized that a dog must be involved in some way, shape, or form. It’s interesting that throughout the novel, there is a story. Although these poems function almost as each a different chapter, it’s not as if it’s too short. To clarify, a single page chapter in any other novel may seem out of place. However, Creech is able to utilize the one page (or less than a page) poem as a functioning chapter. Each poem, though short, is able to take the reader on a journey through the main character’s mind—his struggles, frustrations, excitement, etc. In that same way, it’s interesting to notice that although these poems may seem, visually, to be separate entities, they keep with the same plot and characters throughout. Within these poems can be found a glimpse of flashback, reflection pieces, brute and literal honesty, and a multitude of poetic devices. Who would've thought an author could do so much with so little.
I've had one other experience reading a novel written in poetic form. This novel was from the perspective of many different authors, which gave the reader a more well-rounded picture of what was occurring throughout the plot. It’s interesting the different ways authors choose to tell the story. I can see this method being fun for students. When they see that poetry doesn’t have to be all rules and no fun, they can learn to relax with this genre. Poetry—at least in my experience—is one of the most dreaded genres for writing in English classes throughout middle and high schools. From lack of exposure to forced form and teachers who convey their own negative connotations about the genre, poetry has not been displayed on a positive or encouraging platform. Creech gives teachers and students an out by taking the reader through one boy’s journey—not only the story of his beloved pup, but also his struggle and perseverance with writing poetry.
I found this novel to be quite entertaining and that I had totally relatable feelings to those of Jack. It would be useful for students to read the tale of another—maybe around their own age—who had similar struggles and doubts and confusions. There are a plethora of topics that could be used for lessons/mini-lessons or serve as inspiration for students’ writing. Some of these include: onomatopoeia, poems inspired by poems, concrete poetry, symbols and metaphors, rhyme scheme, spacing, etc.
Discussion questions:
1. What ages would you deem appropriate for experiencing this novel? As a read-aloud? As an independent reader?
2. Why do you think Sharon Creech decided to include the teacher’s poems at the end of the novel, rather than at the beginning? How would this have changed how you read/interpreted the novel?
3. What do you
think
about the poems
that seem to be just
one
sentence, simply
b
r
o
k
e
n
up into multiple lines? (like this)
Word count: 536
Sharon Creech’s Love That Dog was unlike any book I have read before. I was a little unsure what it would be like reading this book. As I looked through before I started reading I could see that there were several poems included, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to be just a bunch of random poems or if they would all connect with each other to form an over-arching story. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised after reading the whole story through. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did, and it also made me a bit emotional as well.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning I felt like I could relate to Jack as he struggled in Miss Stretchberry’s class when they were working on writing poems. I knew that frustration that Jack was feeling because I, too, have felt that same frustration. Poetry is not my strong suit, and I remember very clearly feeling like I was in another country listening to a foreign language when we would read and analyze poetry. I felt like I had never written a sentence in my life when I would try to write my own poetry. Creech does a nice job of letting the reader get to know Jack and understand how he is feeling as he struggles through the beginning. I think many students would be able to relate to this.
One of the things that I thought was really great was that although Jack struggled at the beginning, he really grew to love writing poetry, and even reading it, especially Mr. Walter Dean Meyers’ work. When using this book in a classroom, this can be encouraging to other students who feel like they are struggling. As much as Jack wanted to, he never gave up and he gained more and more confidence as he continued to read and write poetry.
The reader gets a really interesting perspective reading only Jack’s side of what is going on. I found myself thinking in my head about what else was happening in the classroom, what the teacher is saying, and what other students are saying and doing. There are some assumptions being made about what the teacher has said based on how Jack responds in his poems, but it also leaves quite a bit up to the imagination of the reader which is fun and a little different from most of the reading I have done.
At the beginning I was wondering where the dog played in, as I assumed a dog would be a part of the story based on the title of the book. Creech does a nice job of hooking the reader in by having Jack mention that he used to have a dog but he did not want to write about him. At that point I was really wondering what happened to the dog and why it had that effect on Jack. I was relieved when he ended up writing a couple poems about Sky, and even putting his name on them as I think writing about something sad can be therapeutic. It was very sweet that Jack was concerned about the class being too sad if Miss Stretchberry put the poem about how Sky died on the board for everyone to see.
Discussion Questions:
How would the overall feel of the story change if it was told through multiple perspectives and not just Jack’s?
Why do you think Creech decided to use all poems to tell this story?
How could this book be used in a classroom setting?
Allison Krueger
Word count: 597