Dog Stories

Two of my seniors created an audio-documentary as a final project for my class, and they gave me permission to share it here. If you are a dog lover, you'll enjoy it.

I couldn't get the player to embed in this blog, so if you'd like to download it, click here. I'm only able to get it to work as a download.

It is an audio-documentary in the style of the NPR program This American Life and lasts about a half hour. It's a nice listen-to on a drive.

One segment of the documentary is me talking about our dog, Casserole.

And another is an old friend discussing the loss of his beloved Blocker.


I can't help but think that they would have been friends.



The two students got an A on the project, by the way. Here's my evaluation:

Hey there.

Nice nice work on the audio documentary. You exceeded my high expectations, and the significant concerns that I had never came to bear.

I'll start with my concerns:

Initially, you recall, I had intended not to approve your project. It was unclear to me how a presentation on dog psychology would fulfill an assignment that is meant to tell the story of a life. But, in the proposal presentation, you tied it to the family model from Mr. A's class by planning to write a mock sit-com. With dogs. Well, okay. I approved it with warnings and reservations.

Then, things started to shift, and most of what you used to justify the authenticity of the assignment fell away: The research into dog psych, the connection to the sit com / family model. What was left was stories about dogs. Interesting, yes, but again the connections to the class were getting pretty unclear.

At this point, it was pretty late in the game, so changing was not an option. I held my breath. I sensed that what you were creating had quality and integrity, I just wasn't sure how it suited the course itself.

But it really did. Listening to the documentary, it became clear that what was being reported on were stories of life, or, more accurately, stories of identity, which is really what is at the heart of the course. These stories, while about dogs on the surface, are actually about how people define their own identities through their dogs. This could seem accidental, but I'm sure it occurred because you edited with a theme in mind. And you ended up with a more authentic and in-depth exploration of identity than many students who approached the assignment more traditionally.

Of course, it helps a great deal that the final product is of such high quality. I would not have discovered the theme had I been distracted by audio noise, a poor mix, sloppy editing, or careless music choices. Your skill in recording, editing, selecting and using music paid off. You chose and excellent model in This American Life, and you emulated that show's technical excellence while establishing a different context (especially with the risky but excellent decision to eliminate a host.)

One of my great regrets with this course is that we didn't have the time or the means to publish the projects publicly. I would like all of them to have a greater forum, but especially yours. The idea is fresh and original (and risky), the content is funny and moving and meaningful, and the execution is outstanding. You should both be very proud that rather than a senior cruise you took a senior expedition and discovered some wonderful stuff, in stories and in your potential. I'm proud of both of you.

A

A personal aside: Because you are my students, and because my story and the story of a close friend are included, I would like to post your documentary as a podcast on my family blog. I would need the permission of both of you to do that. Thanks.