Merle’s Door
Lessons From a Free Thinking Dog
Ted Kerasote
If you’ve ever owned a dog, or cared and loved a dog you understand how amazing and incomparable a relationship between a human and dog can be. Kerasote explores the possibilities, abilities and discoveries that come with such a relationship. Discover the meaning to companionship, love and loss, as two unlikely souls meet each other at the borderline. Kerasote is about to deport from the beginning of the San Juan river when he meets an unlikely wanderer in the desert. Kerasote uses a sense of ethos to draw you into his writing, while at the same time you are truly learning facts about the past of dog specimen. The connection manifested between Kerasote and Merle are clear, and make you feel as if you were on those hikes, the rivers, and roads, of their hear-strung relationship.
Apart from the journey of their life, you begin to learn things about ‘man’s best friend’, and maybe the key to understanding each other is to not always depend on the other, but to be just as equally independent, and that the ability to let each other make their own pathway choices, but inevitably meet up at the halfway. The research put into this book creates a sense of logos, to make the reader understand the other side of dog training and develop your own revision of how to ‘adapt’ to the lifestyle of the dog instead of the dog ‘adapting’ to your own lifestyle.
S(speaker)
the speaker was Ted Kerasote, who narrated the whole story in first person. His use of diction and word choice expanded the development of this story. Examples would be such as when he uses allegorical text, such as when he translates the movements and body signals given off by Merle, into human words and understanding.
O(occasion)
The occasion and time this book is set in is a variable timeline strewn throughout the years Merle lived in Ted’s life. A very present and current piece of writing that documents around 15 years of dog life.
A(audience)
This book is a challenging text for those younger than high school just because of the type of book it is. So it is aimed for those high school and older, and to anyone who love dogs.
P(purpose)
The purpose for this book is possibly a way to let out his feelings about Merle, but maybe to cherish the life of Merle and share his life and what it meant to Ted, but I believe it is a mix of both.
S(style)
he used many variable sentence lengths to give it structure. He smoothly transferred from talking in first person in the sense it was about him and Merle to about studies, research, and stories collected from previous authors of various different texts.
T(tone)
The tone of the story expresses the true feelings of Merle and Ted. It expresses and farther describes the setting of the story.
My heartstrings were definitely affected by this book, but at the same time I have been equally affected by how well it produced its message in a relatable setting. I would give this book a 5 out of 5 paw prints
