AP
English Language and Composition Seminar #3
Dogtown by Elyssa
East
Seminar
Goals
·
Deepen
our understanding of the relationship between purpose, argument and rhetorical
strategies & techniques
·
Deepen
our understanding of how to synthesize research, experience, and observation to
gain understanding and to make arguments
·
Deepen
our understanding of our own relationship with where we live and important
places in our lives
Seminar
Activities
Introduction to the Cape
Ann Museum and to the seminar’s goals and activities
Achieving a
purpose
Use
brainstorm writing, pair sharing, and whole group sharing to explore the
purpose of Dogtown: to persuade, to
inform, to engage.
What is Elyssa East trying to persuade her audience of? What point is she trying to make ?
What were you informed of while reading the book? (Students wrote down two specific things.
How does East effectively engage her audience? What choices did East make that did not engage you?
Noticing &
Analyzing
Use
brainstorm writing, pair sharing, and whole group sharing to explore Elyssa
East’s purpose(s), argument(s), and rhetorical strategies/techniques.
(in
the Folly Cove Auditorium)
What did you notice about East's rhetorical strategies and techniques? What did you notice about her use of storytelling, setting imagery, and characterization? How does the organization of the book contribute to her argument and other purposes? What did you notice about her style, voice, and tone? How is point of view significant in the book?
Use
direct observation and note-taking to explore Marsden Hartley’s use of artistic
techniques to create meaning and effect in his art.
What do you see in the paintings: composition, color, line, shape, space, texture, pattern?
What effect does the painting have on you? What feelings and ideas does it produce?
How do the choices made by the artist contribute to its effect and meaning?
(Marsden
Hartley exhibit)
Researching
& Synthesizing
Use
Socratic seminar observations and thoughts about Marsden Hartley’s art to
understanding Elyssa East’s Dogtown.
How does your experience observing and thinking about the paintings affect your understanding of parts of East's book?
(in
the Folly Cove Auditorium)
Use
Socratic seminar to explore how Elyssa East synthesizes research, experience,
and observation to persuade, inform, and entertain her reader.
(in
the Folly Cove Auditorium)
Reflecting
& Taking next steps
Use
direct observation and note-taking to reflect on the relationship between art
and ourselves.
(in
the Museum--tba)
Use
brainstorm writing, pair-sharing, and Socratic seminar to explore the
relationship between research and ourselves.
(in
the Folly Cove Auditorium)
Compile
questions to send to Elyssa East.
Discuss
how all of this will inform what we do during the school year.
Those of you who did not attend the third AP English Language and Composition summer seminar must write a substantial response (300+ words) to the summary provided above. Your response may be informal but it must thoughtfully relate your careful reading of the memoir with the concepts presented in the summary. Although you are free to respond to anything in the summary of the first session, you might want to pay particular attention to the underlined passages. I look forward to hearing from you.
All summer work (except for the quotation responses for your choice book) must be completed by the first day of class August 26, 2012. (In other words by 8/26/12 quotation responses for All Souls, Omnivore's Dilemma, and Dogtown must be completed, and students who did not attend one or more seminar must complete blog comments for the seminar(s) they missed.)
To be honest, I thought this story was going to be a very boring one, but I was proven wrong. The author of this novel could not have done a better job with telling this story. While reading, all I could think was “wow” and “I didn’t even know that”. She captured the city of Gloucester in a way an "outsider" would not be able understand, but she astoundingly did. She made the story fun to read, by adding little facts about things in Gloucester, and proved that she really did do her homework. Her love for Marsden Hartley is also very respectable. In his paintings he makes Dogtown seem like such a magical place. The author also does so, in a different form of art. The author did her job in making connections with her audience, and with luring them into the story. When she compared her old life, and made it seem like much less of a life than getting to live in Gloucester, that had to be one of my strongest connections to East. She did not scare me away from Dogtown either, but instead made me more curious about it. I have only been once, but I expect to go back more than once after reading Dogtown. I would too like to see where Hartley has painted, and recreated himself. Her metaphors were also easily understandable. Before reading this story, I had never known of the Dogtown murders, but now I have the urge, as East did, to learn more and more of them. She was not only passionate in her writing but you could relate to her reasons for wanting to do what she did, and understand them. Overall the connections she made to Gloucester were impressive, and this book is now one of my top five!
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that Elyssa East initially wrote “Dogtown” for herself. However, the more she researched the more it seemed that Dogtown was not what it seemed by outsiders, and it needed to be understood and heard. East became the voice for the forest as she came to totally understand what Dogtown was, and of what the Gloucester people felt and thought about Dogtown. It was imperative that East research not only Dogtown, but of the perceptions and opinions about Dogtown as well, for perceptions are reality to those who believe in them. Dogtown is what people make it to be; it assumes any perception. The perception is left up to the believer; to what you think of Dogtown. But much of what people think is really what they have heard from the majority of our culture and has influenced them or scared them into agreeing with “majority rules”. Researching is important, and East proves that to us by explaining the views of most of Gloucester, and comparing it to what Dogtown truly is, when you look into it deeply enough and care enough about it to strip away the many perceptions built on top; to look at Dogtown bear naked, so to speak, in full reality. Research matters so much because you can believe what society says and decides or you can ask questions; you can delve in deeper and discover what a place or a person truly is.
ReplyDeleteAt first glance, East was dragging her story along by adding too much detail; speaking unnecessarily of Fiesta and Anne Natti’s murder, even the history of Dogtown seemed excessive. However, when wondering later why Dogtown was perceived in certain ways, you must consider the environment that people lived in. You must understand what has happened around Dogtown, affecting it. Also you must consider what has happened in Dogtown; for people never forget basic events that occur in a mysterious place. With a place like Dogtown, you need to place some sort of definition on it. Without one, it is terrifying to just wonder what the place is. The people who used to live in Dogtown, with the perceptions labeled unto them, were used as markers for Dogtown’s definition;; Anne Natti’s murder was used to give further support to the statement that Dogtown was a “spooky, scary place not to be trusted”. Learning about Fiesta, we learn about the superstitious people who created the many faces of Dogtown. With all of this background information, we learn why and how Dogtown has the labels it has. Dogtown has so many labels that without a book like this how do you know what is the honest truth, and what is your imagined reality? People are afraid of the unknown. They are afraid of Dogtown, like they also are afraid of Hodgkins, because it is a mysterious and uncontrollable wilderness and they do not understand it. They do not know what it really is because the wild comes with no solid definition. That is why there are so many labels; because the misunderstood wilderness accepts any thought and can become any opinion. It can shape into many different realities for different people who see and feel different things. Research leaves you aware of all the many perceptions, or realities, that a person or place can assume. East teaches you to look through all of them to find the real one.
Sometimes all we need, what we need, is a visual to understand what someone might be trying to say using three hundred words. There are many times when you want to describe something, and you cannot; there is not the proper word in existence to use. But a picture, or a work of art, comes from the depth of your creation and of your soul and your mind. Only you can create the thoughts that are running through your mind. That painting, or other form of artwork, can be interpreted many ways. But there is no influence on your interpretation. Any time someone looks at that painting, they see it “bear naked”. They see a scene, a meaning, created by one’s thoughts and ones techniques with their brush. We look at East’s writing techniques and how they help convey her message- the interest she shows, while still maintaining objectivity as she speaks when presenting a fact. She encourages us to research something before making a judgment by her interest at what she found. A painting, too, encourages us to research-to think deeply about a painting before knowing what to say about it. A painting conveys more than words do, but only if you know how to paint what you want to convey, and that the onlooker knows how to hear what you are painting.
ReplyDeleteDogtown is a book about the history of a place in my own home town. This fact was very interesting and made the book captivating to read. Elyssa East made a very good representation of the town and its history and I was informed of things I did not even know about my home.
ReplyDeleteEast tries to persuade people saving this area of land from being destroyed. She informs people of the historical value and stories of the land to add to her argument. She also tries to scare people out of the area using tales of murder, witches and ghosts.
East also uses these stories to reel people into her book along with other things. I was grabbed by all the history of Gloucester that was put into the book. The murder trial and everything associated with Hodgkins kept me going from page to page.
East’s point of view is very prevalent and significant. Through this expression of her point of view, a reader can tell that she truly cares about the fate of the area, that she was interested in the history of the land, and that she wanted to inform her audience of the power and wrongness within the story of the murder of innocence that happened within this enchanting and haunting place. Because of this the author’s voice has a certain kind and knowledgeable tone.
Marsden Hartley’s paintings show a wide variety of natural colors ranging from the greens of spring, to the reds and oranges of fall, to the browns and other deathly colors shown in the forests during winter. The shapes are reminiscent of the rocks, trees and paths stretching wide and into the horizon. Hartley represents the expanse and power of the woods by filling the canvases with the forms of trees and rocks. The simplest picture was the most powerful for me, the one of Whale’s Jaw. The edifice is so powerful and representative of the area that even a picture of it has a moving quality to it. I think the simplicity of it being a simple pencil drawing adds to the power through the stark contrast of black and white.
Art is a form of expression that anybody can utilize because the subject is so varied. Another result of the variation in what art is, is that everyone can find art that they connect with whether it’s a painting or their favorite song.
If I could speak with the author, I would ask her some questions. I am interested on how she came to think this would be a great topic for her book. Why did she jump between history and the trial so often? Why include both of those things in the same book in the first place? These are things that I had wondered while reading the book so I would love to get the answers from the author.
Overall I enjoyed Dogtown because it was informative and connectible because it was an about an area in my home town.
In the beginning of the book I was actually bored. The author kept adding in details and random stuff I just did not want to read, but I kept going. Soon I couldn’t take my eyes off the book. The way she brought me into the face of the murder was different. The description of the scene was creating a picture in my head. I was new to Gloucester freshman year, so when I started reading this book everything was fairly new to me. As I got deeper into the story, I was thrown pieces of information I never even thought of happening.
ReplyDeleteShe took her story from skipping every other chapter. She got me all wrapped up in the murder, then took my mind off of it to explore her reason. East took me inside her head. The journey she under took to find out the truth of what really happened, or more so the reason for Dogtown. What really lies behind every rock or what is connected to every root of a tree. East introduced the reader to her thoughts and feelings; who her inspiration was. Marsden Hartley was not just any old artist. His paintings capture eyes and lure them into the depths. As you sink deeper truth is uncovered, and the real beauty of Dogtown peeks through and surprises most.
As I kept reading the book Dogtown, my mind began to wonder. I began to think of where I actually live. This story that is before me, actually took place here. Inside I felt shock, but it was good. I drew me in closer and I really began to understand. East chose this place to write about. Her inspiration was less of some man and now Dogtown itself. She was brought here by her own curiosity, but did she just pack up, leave, and forget? No. she stayed and took the time to read dig into Dogtown, and really experience what is really in front of her.
If I would be able to ask Elyssa East a question, I would ask her, “Why?” “Why did you stay so long, and make this place a part of yourself? In the end you said you had enough, and it was too much. What exactly was too much, and when did you really realize it was?”
Dogtown: Death and Enchantment in a New England Ghost Town by Elyssa East was certainly a change of pace so far in our summer reading curriculum. East, herself, is by no means a stranger to Dogtown. She dug deep into the rich history of this eerie place after a painting by Marsden Hartley caught her attention, and the result was not pretty.
ReplyDeleteDogtown is a beautiful place on the outside, yet something lurks deeper beyond it's physical surface that seems to hang over whoever explores these woods. There have been many stories of witches, prostitutes, outcasts, and even murderers using this place as a sanctuary. In most recent times, an example would be the murder of Anne Natti. Anne was a school teacher who was murdered by Peter C. Hodgkins in Dogtown one day. In East's book, she describes the murder intense imagery as well as factual evidence to back it up, which truly captures the horror of it all.
The story also changes perspectives. The reader is also provided with a biography of painter Marsden Hartley, a man who deeply enjoyed Dogtown in the early 20th century. He explored and painted every nook and cranny of Dogtown to help him deal with his depression and weakening quality of life. Hartley's paintings were very peculiar. He often used deep shades of red and autumn colors; objects in his paintings were rimmed very darkly with black and were shaded with black as well. Everything feels very cozy.
After reading Dogtown by East, it left me with quite a few questions. But what captures me most is the many different ways people utilized Dogtown. I would ask her, what makes Dogtown such a different place than any other park? Why is that it has such a stark contrast to it? For example, what about the place compelled Hartley to use it for solace, and Hodgkins to feed his sick, twisted, psychological issues?
Dogtown was my second favorite book selection this Summer. I like a book that is quick to suck me into detail and keep me guessing, and that is exactly what Elyssa East had done. By starting off the book with the details of such a horrifying murder, I was then glued to the book. What looks as such a peaceful place to go to and clear your head, has such a horrifying history to it, that it almost makes me scared to enter those woods, yet curious to find Anne's stone.
ReplyDeleteI believe at first, East started to persuade her audience of the detail of Dogtown, and the many reasons why she was so intrigued into finding out more information about it. She herself was trying to find a meaning to such a random place because the painting she saw gave her such a story that she had to get to the bottom of it. While reading the book I was informed on much more information about Dogtown that I had ever known, I never knew there was a murder there, and all the old war time stories behind such a discreet area. Elyssa East did an absolute phenomenal job on engaging her audience. In my personal opinion, the imagery and description she gave throughout the stories she told was fantastic. I truly felt as if I were experiencing the event. What then lost my attention was switching back from the murder event to historic events. I was so interested in the murder, that I didn't pay full attention to what I was reading in the interim of the book.
Noticing and Analyzing: East's tone throughout the book, in my opinion remained very stable. Although while talking about the murder there was much more intensity, I did not pick up on a change of tone while reading. I enjoyed the way she told her stories, and I believe she did an amazing job on the description and imagery. I fully enjoyed the book due to her writing technique, and was very sucked into her story. I believe the way she shifted from the murder to the historic events helped her to then share information with the audience, and at the same time come to terms with herself that Dogtown wasn't going to change her, but the journeys she went through had an effect on her life.
Research and Synthesizing: East set up a very good way of sharing her information throughout the story. She gathered all the information, ahead of time to then experience what Dogtown was like. She got both sides of the stories, and was able to then give her outsider opinion also.
Elyssa East's book about the Mysteries of Dogtown was very informative, although it lacked the ability to keep me engaged. As a Gloucester resident, there were times while reading this book that I was made to feel ashamed of my lack of knowledge about my own home town. In that aspect, the book was fairly intriguing. I've definitely learned a few things about the local history, and I'm sure that knowledge can only do me some good. And while informing people about the history of the country's oldest seaports was undoubtedly a large part of the purpose of this book, it was certainly not the only reason she had for writing. However, I found the other objective much less interesting. East seems set on making Dogtown sound like the haunted crime scene of a horrific murder, and while it is true that the woods have seen their share of dark happenings, I don't think that is at all what they stand for. Her style of writing gives off the mysterious aura of a cheesy, late night murder mystery. At times it's attempts at atmosphere almost give it the feel of a chic-flick of a book. The set up of the narrative also made the book a bit more difficult to stick with. When I first began to read the book, it seemed as though it was going to be a narrative of a murder, but then the book began to jump around, and at certain points it appeared as if the author was struggling to find ways to bring these brief interludes back around to the main story, which appeared to be about the murder of Ann Natti, although I still am not able to say that with all certainty. These quick blurbs became more of a distraction than an enhancement. The constant struggle to keep track of where the book was trying to take the reader made it very disengaging. As interesting as the history lessons were, I'd rather have read a book on just plain facts, rather than have a scrambled mix of rock solid information and a rather dressed up murder mystery.
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