Essay on My Kid’s Dog and Irony - 1121 Words

Jonathan Blais Mr. Ersinghaus Story Critiques 9 May 2011 My Kid’s Dog and Irony Ron Hansen’s work, My Kid’s Dog, is a story about revenge, irony, and circularity. The family pet, Sparky, dies. We are informed of this in the first lines of the piece, â€Å"My kid’s dog died. Sparky. I hated that dog (244).† Here Hansen gives us a clue to their relationship, â€Å"We got off on the wrong foot. Whining in his pen those first nights. My squirt gun in his face and him blinking from the water. And then the holes in the yard. The so-called accidents in the house (244).† Right off the bat we get a clear sense of the mood between the two. Hansen also foreshadows the fact that the dog will somehow get revenge on the narrator, â€Å"And then, at†¦show more content†¦Along this difficult march, the narrator reflects on the life of the dog and remembers the not-so-bad characteristics of the family pet, â€Å"During our joint ordeal I had developed a grudging affection for our pet; he who’d be en so quick to defend my kith and kin against the noise of passing trucks, who took loud notice of the squirrels outside, who held fast in the foyer, hackles raised, fearlessly barking, whenever company arrived at the front door (248).† Soon after this moment the narrator is confronted by a motorist who wishes to ‘help’ him with his heavy looking package, which he describes as a ‘family heirloom.’ The narrator consents, and after loading the dog into the trunk, the motorists takes off, ignorantly and ironically thinking he just stole something of value. The piece ends with the narrator informing his youngest daughter of Sparky’s untimely death and the reveal of the dog’s revenge. After the narrator observes his crying daughter, Hansen concludes, â€Å"And that was Sparky’s final revenge, for I said, ‘Okay, honey. Another dog, just like him (250).’† The narrative structure of the story is fairly straightforward. The narrator is recounting an experience that happened to him at some point in the past. Along with the simple flow of the story, reflective details, and occasional scene, there are some significant techniques that Hansen uses to flesh out and add credibility to his story. Right off the bat we see the title, My Kid’s Dog.Show MoreRelatedThe Creation of Suspense in Different Film Genres Essay1876 Words   |  8 Pagestime we see Ginger there in the opening sequence, is built up full of suspense. Parallel editing becomes a real feature now and so much tension is created in the semi-chase scene between Ginger and Mr Tweedy, plus two of his most vicious dogs! The constant switches of one character to another, really is a technique to draw the audience in and to develop the scene further effectively. Once Ginger becomes cornered by the predatory carnivores, we are introduced to a point-of-viewRead MoreLooking for Richard Transcript11989 Words   |  48 Pagespainstakingly transcribed using the screenplay and/or viewings of Looking For Richard. I know, I know, I still need to get the cast names in there and Ill be eternally tweaking it, so if you have any corrections, feel free to drop me a line. You wont hurt my feelings. Honest. Swing on back to Drews Script-O-Rama afterwards for more free movie scripts! Looking For Richard Script Our revels now are ended. These our actors, as I foretold you... ... were all spirits and are melted into air... ... into