Description for the Field Observation Essay:
From the initial draft to the final product my writing for the Field Observation Essay changed by having more details pertaining to the four senses (sight, smell, sound, and touch) Before, when it was my first few days observing my animals I only focused on the questions which were, “What surprised me? What intrigued me? What disturbed me?” However, when we had a peer review in class my classmate noticed that while she was reading my notes she didn’t see any senses being jotted down. So later on that night I made sure to include the four sense and I noticed even more things about each of my dogs and my one cat. This helped me create a better picture for the audience of what I witnessed on the “site”. When writing down my thoughts it led to many other questions I had about my animals, I made sure to write all of this down in my notes. I navigated this assignment by structuring it in a way that was fun and more interesting to read because I included real pictures of my animals. Alongside, thoroughly explaining each one. This assignment was not hard for me because I was always in a different location when writing about my animals so this kept me interested and I made sure to write down everything I saw or thought of and remembering to include my senses. For example my mom would take them in the back yard every few hours to run around and play while my cat would just stay inside wandering around the hallway or sitting by the window watching the birds outside or the dogs happily play with each other. Therefore, I did not have trouble finishing this assignment. I was actually happy that I got to know more about my animals and their daily agendas.
Kayla Griffith
Professor Jourdain
English 21002
5 March 2020
I never knew how interesting watching your own animals could be. I would mainly focus on my day to day routine which mostly revolves around school. But when you actually pay close attention to an animals agenda it is very interesting because they do different things everyday. When you think they are tired they are actually not, they always have just a little more energy to play. I have seven animals and I decided to observe what my animals do on a day to day basis. At my home, there is always something happening amongst my animals. I didn’t believe cats and dogs didn’t like each other until I got a new cat a few years ago and my dogs treated him as a chew toy. So it wouldn’t be a surprise to me if there’s a fight while I’m observing them.
My first location took place in my sisters room on a Friday night at 8:41 P.M. This is around the time my dogs have their dinner. It is taken very seriously because they all have different eating arrangements. Castro (the father) eats by the kitchen hallway, then in the hallway near my room we have Crofty (the mother who was named after Lara Croft) eating her food. Between my mom and sister’s room, a big blue plate is spread on the floor to feed the younger dogs. Since they all eat separately, the air is filled with a strong scent of dog food. Castro eats farther away from everyone else because he eats very slow and gets easily distracted by the other dogs. This is when Blizzard takes the opportunity to eat his food. Crofty who is the oldest dog eats separately because her food contains vitamins which the other dogs don’t need. While observing them, I noticed that they each have their own way of eating. When the oldest sister Island eats, she takes up most of the space and pushes Mocha (the third oldest) to the side so she can eat her portion of the food. I was a bit mad when I saw Island do this but I didn’t want to tell her stop in front of them before all of them stop eating altogether, therefore I left her alone. Taz (second oldest) eats very slow, however he doesn’t let any of his brothers and sisters hustle him to eat. Mocha eats at a normal speed but focuses on eating more of the food that is at the corner of the plate. When I looked at Blizzard I noticed that he eats very fast and moves at different angles of the plate to eat. He tried to push his big brother Taz but Taz as usual didn’t budge.
I was in my sisters room later that night at 11:32 P.M when I heard a weird sound echoing through the hallway. I looked up from taking my notes and wondered was one of the dogs vomiting? I got up to see who it was and it was no surprise to see Blizzard vomiting the food he ate a few hours ago. I looked at my sister with my usual expression of, “I am not cleaning that up.” However just looking at Blizzard and seeing the state that he was in, I decided to just clean it. As I’m walking towards the “crime scene” I see Blizzard running off with his tail between his legs, I think he thinks that he was going to be in trouble for puking. Anyway I ran after him and caught him just in time before he crawled under my moms bed where his brothers and sisters were sleeping. The smell of vomit was the first thing my nose sensed when I picked him up. I passed my sisters room when I was making my way towards the bathroom and I gave her an annoyed look because she always claim that Blizzard is her favorite dog but when it comes to cleaning anything up she disappears. Blizzard was digging his claws into my shoulder when he realized I was going into the bathroom with him. After I cleaned up his face he ran down the hallway as if I yelled at him. Out of all the dogs I have I always wonder what goes on in Blizzards head. Later on, I realized that everything in my apartment was quiet, everyone and every animal went to bed so I ended my notes here until tomorrow.
I got up early on Sunday not because I wanted to but because I forgot to put down my curtains and the sunlight came straight into my room. Usually I would see Mocha sprawled out on my bed sleeping but she wasn’t there. I got off my bed and did my regular routine before picking up my ipad and walking in my moms room where all the dogs normally sleep. Nothing really changed in the room everything looks the same as yesterday night except that my mom and all the dogs were not there. Only my cat was sitting on top of my moms vacant bed staring at me with his big green eyes. I sat on my moms bed for a while keeping him company by petting him for a bit. I stopped after a while because I remembered that he starts to bite when you pet him a lot. At that moment, I heard barking outside in the backyard. I think it was Island barking because her bark is so deep and loud it echoes throughout the buildings. I went in my room and put my crocs on and made my way to the backyard. In order to get there I have to walk through the gloomy basement and through the laundry room before I get to the backyard door. It smells like detergent when I walk by I also noticed that only two machines are washing clothes. I guess nobody was in the mood for doing laundry today, since normally all the washing machines are full. The old but heavy rusted door made a creepy noise while I opened it. Through the door you have to walk through a dark walkway. I honestly see it as a dark and scary cave, it really does give me the creeps because I feel like someone is staring at me. Since the cave is dark the temperature inside is cool. Anyways, the dogs heard the door open and started to run towards me so they brought me out of my thoughts. I can tell all of them were playing and having fun by the sight of all their little pink tongues dangling from their mouth. I took off in a dash running with all of them. Blizzard ran right by my foot and tried to bite my pants leg and almost tripped me. Why does he do this? I honestly don’t know. I think Blizzard runs the fastest out of all of them. I sat on a chair and observed them for an hour. I was surprised because it went by pretty quick. In the matter of an hour all they did was push each other around and steal the stuff toys from one another. Since the backyard is in the back of my building I feel like some of the tenants stare out the window and look at the dogs play. I never have seen one of them do it but I just assume they are because they hear the barking. I got up and went to go use the bathroom. When I came back I was enraged because all I see is Crofty and Castro mating. I was lost for words. I looked at the time this happened so I can write it down in my notes and it was the evening now, 1:13 P.M. As soon as they saw me they were scared because they knew I was mad. The rest of dogs were piled up by the backyard door. They were ready to go inside because they knew what was coming next. The backyard door opens and I see my mom walking through and all the dogs are piled around her waging there tails. After I told her what happened she was furious. She gathered all the dogs and took them inside. But the rest of the day Crofty and Castro were separated but like usual the rest of the dogs continued to play around in the apartment.
