Second Ivy Essay

D G

7/17/12

2^nd Essay

            This essay is based on two articles. The first one is named “A Dog Year” by Jon Katz. The Second one is named “Climbing the Ladder” by Joseph Bruchac. My favorite article of the two is “A Dog Year” by Jon Katz. The reasons why I like that article is because it talks about man’s best friend and because it is a story about bonding.

            There are many similarities between these two articles. First, they are both about a true experience and are both first person narratives. The articles are both memories or have memories in them. Second, they have a lot of positive thoughts in them. In the article “A Dog Year” there is a positive memory about handing the dog to his daughter. “I personally don’t believe there’s a more rewarding moment for a parent than handing a happy, squirming, doe-eyed Lab puppy over to a small kid.” Third, both the articles talk about relationships. In the article “Climbing the Ladder” it talks about the relationship between the narrator and his grandfather. In the article “A Dog Year” it talks about the relationship between the narrator and his two dogs.

            There are many differences between these two articles. First, the article “A Dog Year” is longer than “Climbing the Ladder”. “A Dog Year” is 29 paragraphs while “Climbing the Ladder” is 17 paragraphs. Second, the article “A Dog Year” is wrote to entertain the reader with this exciting story. The article “Climbing the Ladder” is wrote to inform the reader about the Abenaki people’s strange characteristics. The final difference is that the article “Climbing the Ladder” has dialogue but the article “A Dog Year” doesn’t.

            My favorite article of the two articles is the article “A Dog Year”. First, it is about man’s best friend, the dog. Any article or story that involves a dog always interests me. A dog is a fun, playful animal. Second, this story involves a lot of bonding between the narrator and Julius and Stanley. The reason I know they bonded is because the narrator knows their every move. “After some years—Stanley was seven and Julius eight—we moved almost like a school of fish, the three of us veering in one direction, then another.”

            All in one, these two articles were very interesting. They had many similarities and differences. To me, I think that Joseph Bruchac and Jon Katz can illustrate their memories of these situations very well with the amount of detail they used.