Rebecca, an eighteen year old college freshman, falls into the age group of the intended readers of the article See Spot Read, from People Magazine. The article discusses Willow, a dog who was taught to read. To determine the effectiveness of this article for its intended audience, Rebecca read the article in sections and answered questions about each section and about the article as a whole.
The article began with a section explaining who Willow is and how she learned how to read and what she can do. The title really resonated with Rebecca because when she was younger she “had a whole book about a dog named Spot and it [said] ‘See spot run... and so See Spot Read reminded [her] of this.” The writer was able to capture the reader by relating the title back to childhood memories. The writer however lost the reader with confusing phrases. Rebecca noted that the first paragraph states that Willow can read but also states that Willow cannot read the article about her. These contradictory statements really cause the reader to loose the meaning of the piece as a whole. Rebecca stated that after reading the first section she really “need[ed] some evidence that Willow can actually read.”
The next section of the article discusses two different viewpoints on whether or not Willow can actually read. Rebecca “liked how the paragraph starts ‘but isn’t this dog just recognizing cue cards?’...That is a really good question to bring up.” She feels that “it is a really good idea [to] just ask a question and then answer the question. It keeps the norm going.” The norm in this article, however, seems to be confusing the reader. Once again Rebecca became confused and disappointed by the argument made by the writer. She did not understand the meaning of the dog reading “handwritten or printed signs.” Rebecca wondered if it is “when [the owner] is holding the cards or can [Willow] just read the words “sit up” and then sit up?” More confusion occurs when the negative argument is added into the mix. The article questions whether or not “the dog is just discriminating between the shapes of the letters. Rebecca noted that “Isn’t that what reading is? That’s how I read. I look for letter shapes and I put them in the thinker up here and act.” The article does not clarify the arguments for and against Willow’s ability to read.
Overall Rebecca liked the article but was not “inspired to research Willow and how to train your dog to read.” She felt that the writer lacked a personality and it made the article seem “a little dry.” The lack of personality translated to a very confusing article that did not back up its arguments or make the reader interested in the topic. This text did not seem to work for the intended reader for those reasons. This showed me that even a simple article with an adorable picture of a dog in glasses can completely miss the mark when trying to appeal to its intended audience.

The article that I have chosen is from People Magazine. The article describes Willow, a dog that seems to be able to read. The article discusses how the owner taught the dog to read large cue cards and follow the commands written on the cards. The article also contains arguments that the dog cannot actually read but can simply recognize characters. The article is meant for the readers of people magazine who are typically older teens and middle aged adults interested in pop culture and gossip.

What was happening to you as you read the opening passage? The opening passage describes how Willow cannot read the article written about her and how most people would not be surprised by this fact. It then goes on to describe how Willow can obey specific commands by reading them on cue cards after only six weeks of training. My initial reaction to this passage was of slight shock and disbelief. It is not normal for dogs to be able to read written commands. The fact that the dog can read did not sit well with me. I felt that the dog probably learned to recognize the different cue cards or the shape of the letters on the cue card rather than actually reading and comprehending the words. I smiled when I read that the dog plays dead “when [her owner] holds up a card with ‘bang’ written on it.” It added some more comedy to an already silly article about a reading dog.
Point to the sentences or passages that you liked especially. Point to the ones you didn’t understand or which made you stumble or resist. One of the phrases that really resonated with me was in the middle of the passage when the article states “But isn’t this dog just recognizing cue cards?” This sentence really resonated with me because it iterated exactly what I was thinking when I began to read the passage. The story went exactly where I hoped it would by addressing the opposite point of view. The paragraph following the sentence contains quotations from an animal behaviorist. The behaviorist states that “This is not reading. The dog is discriminating between the shapes of the letters.” This resonated with me as well because it provided a logical explanation as to how the dog obeys the commands without actually reading. The paragraph also discussed how it could be possible that Willow can actually read which did not sit well with me because there was no actual proof as to how it could be possible for a dog to be reading.

Describe the writer’s relationship with the reader in terms of distance. The writer seems to be very close to the reader. The piece is very welcoming and conveys a sense of comfort with the use of humor. The introduction talks about how Willow cannot read Marly and Me, a story about a dog, and this makes me chuckle and sets a casual tone for the piece. The writer also finishes the story with humor when he states that Willow was a witness at her owner’s wedding and how “her paw prints are stamped on the marriage license.” The humor allows me to feel comfortable with the writer, rather than distant. The use of a comical picture of Willow wearing a pair of glasses and sitting on top of piles of books about dogs also brings the writer closer to the reader. The picture captured my attention and thus brought me deeper into the text by setting up a context for the story, a reading dog. The writer also reduces distance by creating a title that many readers can relate to. The title See Spot Read draws me in by reminding me of my childhood and the simple stories about Jane and Spot. Overall the casual tone of the piece brings the reader closer to the writer and helped me feel as though I was having a conversation with an old friend, not just some writer in a magazine.