I paired up with a partner to share our personal narratives through a podcast. In this podcast, my partner and I, compared and contrasted about each other's stories.
Podcast outline
Title: Dogs & Daydreams
Produced by: Haley Harris & Blakely Stegall
Outline:
Blakely: I think it is so crazy our personal narratives are so similar. I also think God brought my dogs into my life at the perfect timing. I had Sam for 14 years, and I still have my dogs Lulu and Mac. Sam was my first best friend and I had the most amazing times with him growing up. We got our other dog, Lulu, when I was 11 so Lulu got to grow up with Sam too. Last Summer he passed away and I was devastated. The night before he passed away, my sister and I slept together and looking back now this is such a God thing. He knew we would need each other by our sides when we got the news from our parents in the morning. Also after his death, I read on twitter if you see a yellow butterfly it means someone decreased is thinking about you and looking over you. After I read this, I would see and still to this day see yellow butterflies flying around all the time. We have our new dog Mac now because my Mom and I got a call at church that he was ours after a family had been looking at him. Dogs are so pure and happy I sometimes wonder if humans deserve them, but I'm glad we do because they have changed my life for the better.
“Sam was a chocolate Labradoodle and was about the size of a football. He had the most soft, wavy, brown fur and honey brown eyes that could melt any person’s heart. Little did we know that our new shy puppy would fill the hole in our lives we didn’t even know existed.”
Lulu
“There was a massive red bag waiting for us next to the even bigger Christmas tree, and my mom told us to open it first. Much to our surprise, we saw a baby labradoodle with a big red bow sitting on top of her head. She had fluffy blonde fur that was as soft as a blanket, and the most beautiful green eyes.”
Mac
“When we finally got to PetSmart after what felt like an hour-long drive, we were handed our beautiful Goldendoodle puppy. He had blonde sandy fur and looked just like Lulu did when she was a little. The whole ride home, I held him close to me. He never barked and he laid so calmly in my arms like he was meant for that moment. He had the sweetest puppy breath, and because I knew the time would fly, I savored that moment.”
What is the best part of being a dog owner? / What is the hardest part of being a dog owner?
Does it take a toll on your [Blakely] mental health being away from your dogs while at school? Yes, I miss when I'm having a hard day just hugging them. Just one simple hug or spending time with them makes my day so much better. I love humans and having my best friend down at Alabama is a great thing, but sometimes I just need my dogs to be there for me. I know they aren't judging me and love me unconditionally.
Do you truly think dogs make people happier?
Do you think we deserve dogs?
Produced by: Haley Harris & Blakely Stegall
Outline:
- Opening
- Welcome to our podcast, Dogs & Daydreams. I’m Haley Harris – a senior studying Environmental Science & Economics … and I’m Blakely Stegall – a freshman studying Advertising. We are in English together at The University of Alabama and we are going to be talking about the personal narratives we wrote.
- The reason you’re all listening is because we are very passionate about dogs and their purpose in each of our lives. Though Blakely and I have lived different lives, I think it’s fair to say our dogs have impacted us the same – they leave a mark differently yet in a way that makes it equally special.
- Outline of the Persuasive Dialogue
Blakely: I think it is so crazy our personal narratives are so similar. I also think God brought my dogs into my life at the perfect timing. I had Sam for 14 years, and I still have my dogs Lulu and Mac. Sam was my first best friend and I had the most amazing times with him growing up. We got our other dog, Lulu, when I was 11 so Lulu got to grow up with Sam too. Last Summer he passed away and I was devastated. The night before he passed away, my sister and I slept together and looking back now this is such a God thing. He knew we would need each other by our sides when we got the news from our parents in the morning. Also after his death, I read on twitter if you see a yellow butterfly it means someone decreased is thinking about you and looking over you. After I read this, I would see and still to this day see yellow butterflies flying around all the time. We have our new dog Mac now because my Mom and I got a call at church that he was ours after a family had been looking at him. Dogs are so pure and happy I sometimes wonder if humans deserve them, but I'm glad we do because they have changed my life for the better.
- Haley: *give examples of excerpts in P.N. that helped describe Mango*
“Sam was a chocolate Labradoodle and was about the size of a football. He had the most soft, wavy, brown fur and honey brown eyes that could melt any person’s heart. Little did we know that our new shy puppy would fill the hole in our lives we didn’t even know existed.”
Lulu
“There was a massive red bag waiting for us next to the even bigger Christmas tree, and my mom told us to open it first. Much to our surprise, we saw a baby labradoodle with a big red bow sitting on top of her head. She had fluffy blonde fur that was as soft as a blanket, and the most beautiful green eyes.”
Mac
“When we finally got to PetSmart after what felt like an hour-long drive, we were handed our beautiful Goldendoodle puppy. He had blonde sandy fur and looked just like Lulu did when she was a little. The whole ride home, I held him close to me. He never barked and he laid so calmly in my arms like he was meant for that moment. He had the sweetest puppy breath, and because I knew the time would fly, I savored that moment.”
- Haley: “We live in a fast-paced society where we are always on the go, and pets have a sense of making you feel whole and present in the moment – I think we could all learn a thing or two from them.” | “Pets give a sense of grounded-ness that is vital for surviving in the fast-paced society we live in. “ | “The world would be a better place if we could all just slow down and pet a dog.”
- How did having a dog help balance mental health?
What is the best part of being a dog owner? / What is the hardest part of being a dog owner?
Does it take a toll on your [Blakely] mental health being away from your dogs while at school? Yes, I miss when I'm having a hard day just hugging them. Just one simple hug or spending time with them makes my day so much better. I love humans and having my best friend down at Alabama is a great thing, but sometimes I just need my dogs to be there for me. I know they aren't judging me and love me unconditionally.
Do you truly think dogs make people happier?
- I 100% believe dogs makes people happier. I could cry just thinking about how cute they are. To them life is always fun and beautiful and I believe if humans thought more like dogs sometimes it would make things better. Dogs honestly become apart of the family. My life would be dull without my dogs in it. They always brighten my day. The cutest thing ever to me is when I come home from college to see them and Mac never fails to pee as he jumps up and down with so much excitement. Knowing a pet loves you so much he pees of excitement when he sees you is so meaningful.
- Haley and I have a deep and personal connection to our dogs. We both believe God had a huge part in placing them into our lives at just the perfect timing. Although a common term used is “a dog is a man's best friend” we know for a fact that a dog is a girl's best friend too. Out of all the personal stories we could have written about, we picked to write one about our dogs. If this doesnt show how much meaning they bring into our life I don't know what will. Even though dogs can't talk back to us sometimes that is just what we need. A phrase I have grown up using, especially to boyfriends, is “actions speak louder than words.” Dogs are a perfect example of this. They cant tell us they love us, but they show us.
Do you think we deserve dogs?
Podcast reflection
My audience changed from writing a personal narrative to my professor to telling my personal narrative to everyone. I changed the mood by trying to relate to people who care about their dogs just as much as me. The tone of the podcast is very playful and fun as my essay is more serious. I changed the mood to get more people interested while listening to the podcast. My purpose stayed the same for the essay and the podcast which was that God put all my dogs in my life for a reason and at the perfect time. I also gave descriptions of my dogs in both too. The podcast was not as organized as my essay was. My essay has sections for each dogs and different subjects I was talking about and in the podcast, we would just go back and forth and change subjects a lot. My composition process has stayed the same as I always wing things and do it last minute. In my podcast I added that without my dogs I think my mental health goes down. I did not talk about this in my essay, but I think the listeners could relate to this. The most challenging aspect about this assignment for me was using technology. I am bad with computers and editing but luckily my partner was super helpful and edited a lot of it. Also, we didn't edit it a lot, we did not include any music or special effects. I thought it was going to be so hard to do a podcast for 20 minutes, but the time flew by while we were recording. The most interesting aspect to me was that my partner and I had such similar essays. I never thought someone would have wrote about God and their dogs like I did. She talked in her personal narrative about how she thought God brought in her dog at the perfect timing, and that was the main message in my essay. It was really easy to talk back and forth with her since we could relate so much. I also thought the speaking studio was so cool and without this project I would have never known it existed. I also thought it was crazy how expensive all of the equipment was. During my training to learn how to use the stuff, the man went over how much everything was. Even the chairs we were sitting in cost 500 dollars each.