The Simple Gift is a free verse novel and a compelling story of a 16 year old boy, Billy who leaves his abusive fathers home and dull schooling life, anticipating for something better than what he left behind. He finds a home in an abandoned freight train outside a small town. He falls in love with a wealthy girl Caitlin and befriends a fellow train resident, Old Bill. Billy is voluntarily homeless but now has a future that he did not have before. This book is a life-affirming look at the characteristics of humanity, generosity and love.
Link to Belonging:
1) Genuine relationships secure an individual’s worth, identity and connection: People seek belonging to find an identity, relationships, and to learn acceptance and understanding “This morning I woke and I knew where I was going for the next few months — to the Library to McDonalds to the river and home here to the Hilton — a circuit of plans with Caitlin at the centre, and me a badly-dressed satellite spinning crazily in her orbit.’”
2) Physical security nurtures notions of belonging: Billy’s relationship with his violent father and his dissatisfaction and description of ‘Nowheresville’ as being ‘a dark, cold and wet place’ was a barrier in allowing Billy to belong. His discontentment at home led to his choice to not belong there and thus caused his inevitable search for a sense of belonging in which he could not find if he stayed in his father’s home. On Billy’s search for a place to belong, he learns that ‘there are men like Ernie, and there are other men, men like [his] dad. This leads Billy to understand the contrasting and opposing difference between a violent and disaffectionate father figure and an understanding and kinship father figure that is characterized throu...
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...ance of hope, this is when the dull surroundings are ignored and the red-headed girl is shown smiling as a glowing red-leafed tree grows in her room
• The young girl depicted in the red tree struggles to find her sense of belonging within her own world in her everyday life. Billy struggles to belong with his father and in his neighborhood
• Amidst the struggles and disconnections faced in life, Both characters in the Red Tree and Billy in the Simple Gift
1) Being disconnected from the world causes isolation and further depression as one allows themselves to believe they are understood by nobody and their progress to belonging does not exist.
2) Depression shifts ones focus off the necessity to belong in life onto the thinking one never can.
3) Hope to belong is always present and revealed through the small things even when larger difficulties are present.
‘The Simple Gift’ is a verse novel written by Steven Herrick and was published in 2000. Through themes of acceptance, realisation and embracing change the reader sees the transformation experienced by both Billy, his girlfriend Caitlin and Old Bil.
The tree “swings through another year of sun and leaping winds, of leaves and bounding fruit.” This sentence evokes images of happiness and serenity; however, it is in stark contrast with “month after month, the whip-crack of the mortgage.” The tone of this phrase is harsh and the onomatopoeia of a “whip crack” stirs up images of oppression. The final lines of the poem show the consequences that the family accepts by preserving the tree—their family heritage. When the speaker judges the tree by its cover she sees monetary value, but when she looks at the content in the book she find that it represents family. Even though times may be tough for the family, they are united by memories of their ancestors.
Steven Herrick’s 2001 free verse novel The Simple Gift and the 2009 film The Blind Side directed by John Lee Hancock effectively highlight the importance of stability of place, which could offer comfort, security, and validation. This is reflected both Billy and Michael who had negative experiences within their formative contexts and seek belonging elsewhere in an effort to find the comfort and security of a place, showing that connection to place is a significant factor in achieving belonging.
Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn presents the problems of a young girl coming of age, a time when she is faced with new challenges and must overcome obstacles. Throughout the book the protagonist, Francie Nolan discovers herself maturing as she struggles with loneliness, the loss of innocence and a life of poverty in a Brooklyn slum. This theme is evident in (1.) her love for books which she uses as companionship, (2.) her outlook on the world as she matures and finally, (3.) her realization that in order to succeed in life she must obtain an education and work hard to do it.
...duals are by themselves for too long, they start to question their own understanding of reality; who they really are and what the world is really like. People need interaction with other people because it is such a significant part of how they understand the reasons for living. Human beings are naturally curious. Therefore, by drastically reducing the amount of normal social interaction, exposure to the natural world, or experience of different relationships, isolation is emotionally, physically, and psychologically destructive.
Betty Smith’s novel A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is a tale of poignant family relationships and childhood and also of grim privation. The story revolves around the protagonist of the story, young Francie Nolan. She is an imaginative, endearing 11-year-old girl growing up in 1912, in Brooklyn, New York. The entire story revolves around Francie and the Nolan family, including her brother Neelie, her mother Katie and her father Johnny. An ensemble of high relief characters aids and abets them in their journey through this story of sometimes bleak survival and everlasting hope. As we find out, the struggle for survival is primarily focused against the antagonist of this story, the hard-grinding poverty afflicting Francie, the Nolan’s and Brooklyn itself. The hope in the novel is shown symbolically in the “The “Tree of Heaven””. A symbol used throughout the novel to show hope, perseverance and to highlight other key points.
Christmas has consumed itself. At its conception, it was a fine idea, and I imagine that at one point its execution worked very much as it was intended to. These days, however, its meaning has been perverted; its true purpose ignored and replaced with a purpose imagined by those who merely go through the motions, without actually knowing why they do so.
The short story The Gift has many layers with in itself on different topics. The topics of discrimination, feminism, friendship, tradition, and power all can be seen in this story. Many literary devices can be seen in the story also. Such as: theme, metaphor, tone and symbol. This story unlike most as that I couldn't predict what was going to happen that made the girls leave the school. Just as it says in the beginning paragraph "No one expected Merceditas Cáceres, on the day Carlotta Rodriguez was expelled from the Sacred Heart, to hang her silk sash from the doorknob, drop her medal of the Congregation of the Angels in the alms box, and walk out through the schools' portico arm in arm with her friend, head held high and without deigning once to look back, with that gesture of paramount disdain so commonplace in those of her social class." (Ferré) Just like no one in the story would have expected the main characters to do this, during the story I could not figure out why they would have done it.
The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick explores the causes and challenges of homelessness in today's youth. It highlights the struggles that a victim of homelessness would go through, such as finding a place to sleep every night, and finding a source of food and money. The Simple Gift also showed some causes of homelessness, which were demonstrated in the book through out the story.
The Bean Trees is a novel which shows Taylor’s maturation; it is a bildungsroman story. Taylor is a developing or dynamic character. Her moral qualities and outlook undergo a permanent change. When the novel begins, Taylor is an independent-minded young woman embarking on an adventure to a new world. She has no cares or worries. She is confident in her abilities, and is determined to make it through life on her own. As she discovers new things and meets new people, Taylor is exposed to the realities of the world. She learns about the plight of abandoned children and of illegal immigrants. She learns how to give help and how to depend upon the help of others. As she interacts with others, those people are likewise affected by Taylor. The other developing characters are Lou Ann Ruiz, Turtle, and Esperanza. Together they learn the importance of interdependence and find their confidence.
Analysis: This setting shows in detail a location which is directly tied to the author. He remembers the tree in such detail because this was the place were the main conflict in his life took place.
Depression is an illness within itself that affects the “whole body”. (Staywell,1998) The body, feelings, thoughts, and behavior are all immensely altered when someone is depressed. It is not a sign of personal weakness, or a condition that can be wished or willed away. For some people depression is just temporary, but for others it can last for weeks, months and even years.
Depression is a serious mental health illness which affects an individuals’ mind, body and mood. It is a chronic and lifelong health condition (NICE, 2006) thought to be caused by a number of biological factors including neurotransmitter disturbances in the brain and an element of genetic vulnerability; these are often in addition to psychosocial factors such as the occurrence of undesirable life events, limited social network options, poor self esteem and the occurrence of any adverse life events during a persons’ lifetime (Bernstein, 2006). Depression can have an impact on a persons’ ability to do many things including working, engaging with others, participating fully in family life or maintaining relationships, and it can also impact on a person...
The forest additionally symbolizes the relationship in which native serves as a place of empowerment for individuals. This also adds to those the themes. The forest is a symbol of Prynne and Dimmesdale’s empowerment in the truth, hope and love. Upon their meeting in the forest, both feel positively changed as qu...
There are many symbols through the book that help tell the story of family, friendship and survival. Mr. Logan talks about the fig tree that grows on their land, “But that fig tree’s got roots that run deep, and it belongs in that yard as much as that oak and walnut. It keeps on blooming, bearing good fruit year after year, knowing all the time it’ll never get as big as them other trees. Just keeps on growing and doing what it gotta do. It dondo not give up. It give up, it’ll die” (Taylor, 1991). Mr. Logan is telling Cassie that they are the fig tree, they will never get as strong and powerful as the white families, but that does not mean they just give up. They should do their best in life, plant their roots like the tree, be a strong family and not give up, no matter what life throws at them. The fig tree is the family 's connection to the land, the family and the tree roots both run deep on the