Old Yeller Book Report

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Old Yeller by Fred Gipson Old Yeller is a story set in the wild frontier of Texas in the late 1860s. A boy named Travis met a stray dog called Old Yeller which stole his family’s food and at first thought it was a rascal. However, Travis grew to care for Old Yeller after he saved Travis’ little brother Arliss from a raging she-bear. Old Yeller proved to be a great asset, helping Travis and his family fend off wild animals on several occasions. Tragically, Old Yeller died at the end of the story due to a plague. The first reason for choosing this book for my ERP assignment is the touching relationship between Travis and Old Yeller. Even though Travis was a boy and Old Yeller was a dog, they obviously cared much for each other.…show more content…
The writer provides vivid details and conveys emotions when sketching the characters (e.g. “Arliss’ tears made dark splotches in the dust that covered them”) or the dangers (e.g. the wild hogs “roaring and popping their teeth, cutting high and fast with gleaming white tushes that they keep whetted to the sharpness of knife points”). Such descriptive writing draws me into Travis’ world. The third reason for choosing this book is its many twists and turns. As a result, once I started I did not put down the book until the end as I kept anticipating the next event. For example, when the angry she-bear was about to claw Arliss and I thought that would be the end of him, Old Yeller suddenly leaped out of a nearby bush and saved the boy. However, when Travis commanded Old Yeller to chase two fighting bulls away and I thought he would obey, he just ran off instead. The atmosphere in the story is both tense and exciting and the plot is well-paced. Overall, I think Fred Gipson has done an excellent job in putting this story together. With its good plot and likeable characters that we can empathise with, with suspense and emotions thrown in, the story has the key elements in place to be a gripping and memorable

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