For the longest time my husband and I have talked about getting a dog however about 18 years ago we had a daughter and we put off getting a dog for a couple of reasons one we live in an apartment we don’t have a yard and with our daughter growing up we weren’t sure if we had enough energy to have both a child and a dog about I guess it’s four years ago when my husband retired just before COVID we had talked about when he had retired that would be a good time to get a dog however as most of you know as COVID set in a lot of people started getting dogs to keep company and it didn’t seem like the timing was right for us to get a dog at that stage Fast forward about four years our daughter is now headed to university and the timing for a dog seemed to be right more was my push I think to for us to get it dog because my husband and my daughter got really close with him being retired and her doing a lot of schooling online an being at home and with her now off at university across the country his days seemed to be filled with riding the spin bike and being on the computer I thought getting a dog would at least keep him active and then potentially also lead to getting him out of the house and having a more interactions with people I thought this was important because as I would get home from work most of the time my husband wouldn’t stop talking it would be like I was his only contact of the outside world so in March of 2024 we ended up looking at getting a dog my husband sister had just lost their dog and they were looking for replacement as well so we ended up heading up to Pemberton and we got adore each got a dog there so are they are dogs are siblings we have Archie who is a steady Saint Bernard doodle and was only is only supposed to get to be about 25 or 30 lbs which I think for some parts I mean that think that it’s a perfect size for an apartment dog however being somebody that you grew up in the country thought it be too small of a dog a dog I didn’t want to misplace or mistaken for my slipper Anne we now have Archie Archie is now four months old and at four months old Archie is 20 lbs the vet says that at four months you could double to 2.5 times their weight is what their grown up weight is going to be which puts Archie between 45 and 50 lbs a little bit bigger than what we were thinking but perfect for me RG has been a wonderful dog I think my husband now knows a lot more people in the neighborhood than what he ever thought actually I’ll change that not more people more dogs in the neighborhood you get to know the people in your neighborhood not by their names the peoples names but by their dogs names so we’ve met cedar we’ve met Obi we’ve met being we met potato I couldn’t tell you at all what their owners names are but we can tell who they are by the dogs names Archie has been with us since the end of March so we’ve had him for just over two months our daughter is now back from university for the summer and she is loving our new dog Archie is friendly social and of course like any parent thinks he’s probably the best dog around I never thought that I would become really attached to a dog I always growing up on a farm the dog always was outside so I never thought that I would become super attached to the dog but Archie actually sleeps on my side of the bed not in the bed but by the side of the bed and is the first person that greets me when I get home from work that being said Archie is definitely my husband’s dog Kevin cannot move without Archie wanting to follow him going outside Archie is always there I’m looking forward to when we head up to our cabin which will be will be heading up for about 3 weeks and I think that it’s going to be an incredible experience for him it’s always great having a dog up there but we have lake and river frontage and I think this dog is going to be amazing up there archie’s I’d mention his met a lot of dogs around our neighborhood but once we head up to our cabin it’s a bigger piece of property so a lot of family will be up there as well and a lot of our family have their own dogs too so I know that it’s going to be this a nice social network for him Archie is about to have his first appointment at the groomers so we’re looking forward to that as the hair on his face gets to cover his eyes and we’re looking forward to kind of seeing how Archie grows and becomes a member of our family as the years go on I think our daughter Siobhan is going to really miss Archie when she goes back to university I know my husband Kevin has joked around about if we had have gotten the dog before Siobhan went to university then maybe she would have stayed around and not left I think if Siobhan stayed here instead of going away for university then we might not have ever gotten a dog because Kevin would have had that wouldn’t have been missing Schumann enough that we would have needed to get a dog so I think it has all worked out for the best

Reflection and Analysis

The text deviates from the conventions of written English in several ways. Firstly, it uses very informal and conversational language. Secondly, certain phrases and ideas are repeated unnecessarily, making the text seem repetitive and longwinded. Lastly, the text is composed of long, run-on sentences without proper punctuation, making it difficult to follow and understand.

The most common error in the original text is the run-on sentences. The entire passage is composed of extremely long sentences without appropriate punctuation, making it difficult to read and understand.  When I realised that punctuation was not in the text, I tested the voice-to-text, by saying the words “period” or “common” in the correct places. The voice-to-text responded and used the proper punctuation.   I did not go back and redo the assignment placing in the punctuation, because it was not natural.  I felt it would take more of a ‘written’ piece of work as opposed to the intent of the assignment.

There are several spelling mistakes and typos, such as “adore” instead of “a dog,” “Schumann” instead of “Siobhan,” and “RG” instead of “Archie.”

Most of the words I spoke were accurately transcribed, which I attribute to being a native English speaker with clear pronunciation. However, I recognize that this may not be the case for everyone, and I empathize with the frustration and obstacles it presents for those who rely on transcription tools. As a teacher, I have allowed students that have difficulty with the written output use voice to text.  Some students have been able to use this technology with success however, others, English Language Learners (ELL) may not have great success due to their accents.  Also, in some cases, ELL students would not necessarily be able to edit and / or check the text for accuracy.

If I had previously scripted the passage, there would have been a significant change in both language and thought. I would have paid closer attention to language choices and considered the intended audience more carefully. The entire passage would have been more deliberate and calculated. As a result, even though it was spoken, it would have aligned more closely with written text and would read as if it were intended to be written from the start. It wouldn’t have felt like oral language translated into written form. Instead, it would be written language adapted for oral delivery and then translated back into written form. Because of this, it would have felt more like a piece of written text.

Ong (2002) states, “Oral cultures indeed produce powerful and beautiful verbal performances of high artistic and human worth, which are no longer even possible once writing has taken possession of the psyche. However, it is possible for philosophy and science to come to disciplined maturity only after the interiorizing exploration of closed-field operations rendered possible by writing.” (p. 14)

I find that oral storytelling and written storytelling differ in several significant ways. When I tell stories orally, I use speech along with gestures, facial expressions, and vocal variations, while when I write stories, I rely solely on text for communication. I notice that oral storytelling tends to be more interactive for me because I can receive immediate feedback from my audience and adjust my storytelling accordingly. On the other hand, when I write stories, I miss out on this real-time interaction. Additionally, I find that oral storytelling often uses a more casual and conversational language style with simpler sentence structures and repetition, whereas written storytelling allows me to be more descriptive and formal in my language. Furthermore, I observe that oral storytelling is short-lived, existing only in the moment it is shared, while written storytelling is permanent, allowing for revisitation and analysis over time. Despite these differences, both forms of storytelling serve to entertain, educate, and connect people across cultures and generations.

Reference

Ong, W.J. (2002). Chapter 1: The orality of language.In Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word (pp. 5-16). Routledge. (Original work published 1982).