Constructed Response To Reading

In the stories “A Dark Brown Dog” by Stephen Crane and “The Day I Got Lost” by Isaac Bashevis Singer, there are few similarities. The tones are different, the point of view is different, the general idea is different- everything. Lets begin with A dark Brown Dog. In “A Dark Brown Dog, The point of view is third person omniscient. The narrator is outside of the story, but is able to tell every characters thoughts and ideas. A line in the story of when it the point of view is clear is this: “He looked so comical on his back, and holding his paws peculiarly, that the child was greatly amused and gave him little taps repeatedly, to keep him so.” (pg. 79). The narrator says he or she to tell the characters apart, and we can also use theses words to identify the point of view, which is third person omniscient.  

                The tone if this story is dark humor. We know this because the author uses words with connotations that don’t match the situation or setting. On example of this is when he states that “He came home and held carnival with the cooking utensils, the furniture and his wife.” (page 84) and he uses the word carnival, that has a positive connotation, in a negative situation, which adds humor to the story. The dark tone comes from all the sad parts in the story- when the child beats the dog, when the family beats the dog, the abusive family in general. Also, when the father throws the dog out of the window, resulting in the sad death of the dog. The point of view brings me into the story more, and helps me understand what is going on and why things are happening. We can know why the father is abusive, or why he is angry because of the third person omniscient point of view. The tone of this story makes me sad that the family is so abusive, but it helps me realize that things weren't so easy back then, being poor and all.

                In “The Day I Got Lost” by Isaac Bashevis Singer, the point of view is first person. We know this because the author uses ‘I’ , and Is the main character in the story. “As I stood in the street wondering what to do, it began to rain. "Where's my umbrella?" I said to myself. And I knew the answer at once. I'd left it - somewhere.” (pg. 75) In this quote the author uses ‘I’ plenty enough times for us to know that this text’s point of view is first person. The tone of this text is confused and humorous.  The main character is confused and forgetful about everything and everything that’s happening around him. One example of this is when he forgets his address when he needs to get home to his birthday party because all of his friends are waiting. He can remember a bunch of his friends phone numbers, but not his own, which I think is crazy. The point of view in this story makes us think a bit about other peoples thoughts and ideas on the situation, but it helps us get a better understanding of professor Shlemiel’s thoughts and understandings. The tone makes me happy, but a little confused because he is a professor, but he is so forgetful.

                As you can see, there are not that many similarities through out either of these texts. They are complete opposites almost. A Dark Brown Dog is very dark and incorporates dark humor, and The Day I got lost is light, and incorporates appropriate humor. Although sometimes you may not recognize humor when it’s there, it might be humorous to others, as I have learned through reading these texts. Always keep an open mind about humor.