Gladwell Piece - Nicole Wurzell

i think the initial appeal of this piece is obvious because there are a lot of dog lovers out there (scott, maybe if you were buying dog food you would have been safe?!) and so the idea of a man who can tame the unruliest members of this species is very interesting. and, overall i did really like the article. i liked how we got interaction between cesar and the dogs at his business and also got examples of a few of the cases that he has worked with (which really amkes me want to see the show). i also though that the information on people who also work in businesses that require phrasing techniques was very helpful in outlining just how important cesar' sbody movenments are to his work. however, while i did like this article i think i found it even more amazing when i read the interview because it gave me insight into just how much work gladwell put into this piece. the interview offers more insight into Cesar's personal life - the struggles with his wife, etc. but it also highlights gladwells knowledge of phrasing which he gained during the research for this piece. therefore, i think the interview was a great compliment to the work that gladwell put into what turned out to be a very interesting profile.

Comments

[Ali Taylor Lange]

I found the blog about this article to be extremely helpful in further understanding the point of the article. Through the blog I was able to understand how controversial Cesar's work really is, and how much Gladwell tried to keep the focus of the article away from the controversy of "Dog Whispering". When you read the article you don't realize that he is specifically not making the article controversial. Through the blog, and the answers to the different comments on the blog, you can see just how many different methods of training Gladwell had to wade through to create an article that had no specific orientation other than to create an understanding of Cesar's movements. I found this really interesting because it shows how you can not use a bunch of information that you have collected, and still make a complete article.

[Veronica Lewis]

As a whole, I enjoyed this article because Gladwell seems like such an interesting writer, which, in turn, reflects in his writing. The simple subject of his article, "dog whispering," makes it all the most interesting, even if there is controversy associated with it. I agree that the blog is interesting, because it gives us as readers additional insight into Gladwell's thoughts and intentions concerning the piece. It gives us an idea of how to pursue a story and how background informations is essential to a story as a literary journalist. Gladwell dug into the nitty gritty, beyond basics, facts in order to bring us into the world of dog whispering accurately.

[Evan Dixon]

I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in dogs. In fact, I hate them almost as much as I hate getting up early in the morning. But still, this article was both interesting and enjoyable for me. Gladwell does an excellent job of diversifying his subject matter; it went from being about dog training, to being about people and the psychology and effects of body language. not only that, but the way he highlights some of the mysteriousness of movement and body language really got my interest.