Short Story Study Guide
Edited By: Exemplar
G. Trueheart, Man’s Best Friend:
James McNamee
Author/Title
a) Raft As James McNamee write a letter to young readers to explain about dogs being “Mans best friend”
b) Allusions
• An allusion in the title would be how the dog, Genevieve Trueheart, became Tom’s best friend by saving his life, and the title indicates dogs to be mans best friend. The title illustrates the irony of how the boy disliked the dog to start with but then found that the dog could truly be his best friend.
c) Purpose of the story
• The purpose of the story is to show you that a dog will always be your friend no matter how much danger you’re in. It also teaches you that you should not judge others by their appearance.
d) Links
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/centraloregon/kids/kidswildlifesite/mammals/wildcats.htm (cougars)
www.grca.org (golden retrievers)
Plot summary
•Tom Hamilton always looks forward to his Auntie Prudence’s visits except for the fact that she brings along her fat, lazy companion, Genevieve Trueheart
• On the way home from woodland road, a cougar comes after the dog and Tom.
•The dog does nothing, while Tom distracts the cougar by throwing granite. The cougar was confused that the dog was not running from him. The dog was also a distraction.
•Even though the dog was lazy, she saved Toms life by distracting the cougar away from Tom.
•Lumberjacks came on a bus, and took Tom and Genevieve (who was bleeding from the cougar bites) home.
•Tom learned not to judge things by their outward appearance
Fiction Elements
We think that the author exaggerated and was unrealistic in some of the elements:
•The situation in the story where Genevieve eats chocolate everyday would not be possible for a dog. If dogs eat a lot of chocolate then they will most likely die. EXAMPLE: “ Genevieve had eaten so many chocolates…she was three times as wide as a golden retriever ought to be.” page 94
•The situation where the cougar licks his paw and touches Genevieve to see how soft the meat was. This is unrealistic because cougar don’t test their food. EXAMPLE: “The cougar touched Genevieve with his paw…just to know how soft the meat was.” page 98
•The main fiction element in the story is the conflict between Genevieve and Tom when Genevieve doesn’t even know that the cougar is coming after them. This is part of the conflict because Tom thinks that a real dog should be able to sense when another animal is coming, which she doesn’t. EXAMPLE:“ If she had been any kind of a dog, she would have known about the cougar before Tom did.”
Theme Statements
If you look at someone’s inner beauty you will get a better impression of who they are, than by judging their outer appearance.
We arrived at this statement because we feel it is an important message to carry out and we think that everyone could learn from it. The theme statement could also be the purpose of the story.
Quotes:
“ Tom knew the answer but he never told them. She was good for nothing.”
“ Now you know how much she loves you, Tommy. She saved your life. Yah! Tommy said.”
“Boy oh boy! That’s some dog the lumberjacks said. She won’t quit. She’s a fighter”
Sub-theme Statements•We become scared when we think we know everything about someone but really know nothing.
•Every person has a hidden identity and sometimes it takes time for you to realize how special they are.
Quotes
•“ She was a great big soft wheezing lazy wagging monster, a great big useless lump.
“Tom couldn’t like Genevieve, she was good for nothing. She never even looked like a dog.
“She looked like a pigmy hippopotamus with hair”
•“ The lumberjack said, a fighting dog like that is mans best friend. Yah! Tom said.”
“Thirty lumberjacks told Tommys mother, father and Aunt Prudence how Genevieve Trueheart, mans best friend, had saved Tommy.”
“She’s bleeding the lumberjacks said. She saved your life. We better get her to a doctor.”
Personal Evaluation
•Response: Desiree can relate to how Genevieve saved Tom, because her collie/blueheeler dog once distracted a porcupine by snarling and barking, so it wouldn’t hit her with the quills. Desiree used to think that her dog was useless and lazy, but then she found out what a true friend he was.
• Weaknesses: Some of the information given was unrealistic. as seen in the fiction elements. Also, the story’s theme was too direct. It was not very complex.
• Merits: This story has a positive message sent out to the readers. It is easy to relate to.
We compared this story to “Kath and Mouse – Janet McNaughton.” Our group related this story to it because Kath didn’t like Helen in the beginning, but in the end everyone liked Helen after getting to know her. In G. Trueheart- Man’s Best Friend, Tom didn’t like Genevieve in the beginning, but grew to love her in the end. We think that, for our own criteria, this story fulfilled its purpose for the most part. A good short story had to be complex, have a good message, an exciting climax, interesting characters, and a type of conflict. The story met all of our standards except for the complexity of the theme.
Questions and Answers
Questions
Q.Is the form and content of the work influenced by the author’s gender?
R.No, because the author is a male, and the dog and the aunt Prudence are female’s. Also aunt prudence spoils the dog so much, it looks like a sausage.
Q. What are the relationships between men and woman? Are these relationships sources of conflict? Do they provide resolutions to conflicts?
R. The relationship between men and women in the beginning of the story is that Tom does not like Genevieve. This is a source of conflict because Tom is always complaining about Genevieve, and being mean to her. Yes, the author did provide resolutions to the conflicts, because in the end Genevieve saved Tom’s life.
Q. How does the work reflect the author’s personal psychology?
R. The work reflects the author’s personal pschology because this work (story) might reflects a moment that happened in the author’s life.
Q. What do the characters’ emotions and behavior reveal about their psychological states? What types of personalities are they?
Tom’s behavior may be that he judges people and animals before he gets to know them. He then realizes at the end of the story that since Genevieve saved Tom’s life he finally realized that Genevieve had a warm good heart.
Q.what is it like to live in Cowichan Valley?
R.http://www.vancouverislandaccommodations.com/scowichan
A Sausage shaped dog like Genevieve
Quotable Quotes
• “ She was a big fat soft wheezing lazy wagging monster, a great big useless lump.(94)
• “ Now you know how much she loves you, she saved your life.” (99)
• “She won’t quit.” “She’s a fighter.” (99)
“Tom couldn’t like Genevieve, she was good for nothing. She never even looked like a dog.” (94)
“She looked like a pigmy hippopotamus with hair” (94)
•“ The lumberjack said, a fighting dog like that is mans best friend. Yah! Tom said.”(99)
“Thirty lumberjacks told Tommys mother, father and Aunt Prudence how Genevieve Trueheart, mans best friend, had saved Tommy.”(99)
“She’s bleeding the lumberjacks said. She saved your life. We better get her to a doctor.”(99)
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