Misunderstanding The Day We Were Dogs

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Recommended: Imagination in literature

Misunderstanding The Day We Were Dogs

Writers as well as many people make or mislabel stories. Magical, unreal, real, fantastic, and the sublime are just a few types of different labels that a person can use. The different types of stories are amusing and fun. The world is made up of all types of different labels of material for stories that people like to read and enjoy. Elana Garro is one of the Spanish authors who has written stories that have been mislabeled and put with other stories that were listed under the magical and the unreal. The short story "The Day We Were Dogs" is one of the stories that has been misplaced. Elana Garro wrote this story in 1993.

The magical and the unreal of this story could easily be identified; during the first part of the story, the girls woke to find a day with two days inside the day. Now either this situation is unreal or it is crazy. A person can think of a day and then think of the present, or a person can think of the future and be in the present. The thought of two days being together in the same day is ludicrous; the thought of this statement being real is also ludicrous.

The real aspect of this story is that the children are pretending to be dogs. The children have wild and creative imaginations. The short story has two children out in the yard with their dog, Toni. While in the yard, the children are talking to the dog and

talking among themselves. "Look for your dog name, I'm looking for mine. I'm a dog? Yes were dogs"(208). Children can actually be playing and really think that they are living in their pretend world. They can actually believe that they are really living their imaginations.

People who actually read stories question the plot and the story as the story progresses. The characters in the story accept everything; however, they are pretending. Questioning and receiving ideas about time and space with the identity of the characters worked well with the characters of the story. By the experience of being a reader, this person can verify that looking for a plot and the story line is very important. The attitude of the characters of the short story of "The Day We Were Dogs" did well. The way the characters acted through out the story was like real children playing out side with the pet dog.

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