Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The thing in the forest symbolism analysis
The portrayal of women in literature
Depiction of women in literature
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The thing in the forest symbolism analysis
“A White Heron,” a short story by Sarah Orne Jewett depicts and allows the reader to explore the loss of innocence individual’s go through both spiritually and physically. Jewett fills the story with symbolism that captures Sylvia’s lapsarian fall and her own personal discoveries about life, humanity, and goodness. This is not to be mistaken for simply a story of a girl entering into sexual awareness; it is also about the defilement of nature by man as represented by the ornithologist and Sylvia, and the moral struggles with the coming of age of a young girl. The story follows Sylvia’s journey into experience—a symbolic movement into adulthood, where it is assumed Sylvia would eventually shed her earnest desire to hide in nature, but Sylvia is also symbolic of nature itself. The name Sylvia comes from the Latin silva meaning “wood or forest”1. Therefore, she is not only comfortable within nature, but also symbolic of nature itself. This is shown within the text when she is referred to as a “little woods-girl” and her grandmother tells the ornithologist that no one knows the woods as well as Sylvia: “there ain’t a foot o’ ground she don’t know her way over, and the wild creaturs count her one o’ themselves” (Jewett 2-3). The journey is not Sylvia’s but Nature’s, and both will lose their innocence because of the appearance of the ornithologist, a man who represents humanity and society. Sylvia begins her journey in a manufacturing town but fails to “grow” until she moves to her grandmother’s farm (Jewett 1). Jewett compares her directly to nature, showing her as a “wretched geranium” that was kept by a neighbor in town (Jewett 1). Once away from the pressures of society, she becomes more alive, and her grandmother comes to the c... ... middle of paper ... ...logist leaves points to her connection with nature, to her innocent love. “Were the birds better friends than their hunter might have been—who can tell?” (Jewett 7). Works Cited 1 "Sylvia." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 10 Mar. 2014. . Web. 11 Mar. 2014. 2 "Native American Whippoorwill Mythology." Native American Indian Whippoorwill Legends, Meaning and Symbolism from the Myths of Many Tribes. Native Languages of the Americas, 2012. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. 3 "Flower Symbolism with Pictures of Flowers and Their Meanings." Flower Symbolism with Pictures of Flowers and Their Meanings. Living Arts Originals, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. 4 "geranium." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 10 Mar. 2014. . Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
In the narrative poem “Cautionary Tale of Girls and Birds of Prey” the author, Sandy Longhorn, tells the story of a young girl who is afraid of a hawk, and her inconsiderate father who doesn’t take her concerns seriously. The story shows how her father is determined to get rid of her fear of the hawk, because he thinks it is both foolish and childish. The daughter very well knows the capability of the hawk, however her father doesn’t acknowledge it until it is too late. In the poem, Longhorn uses alliteration and rhyme to help explore the theme of how being inconsiderate towards others can in the end hurt you as much as it hurts them. The poem takes place on a little farm where the girl and her father live with all of their livestock.
Yet after climbing the tree and realizes the importance of the white heron. The choice she has over the heron’s life is that same she has over her own. She can sacrifice her own wants for the hunters, or choose to live the life that is most authentically her. It is at this moment when Sylvia is confronted with the concept of sexuality and though she understands what it is, she wants no part of it. This is asexuality.
Nature’s beauty has the ability to both entice its audience and frighten them. Mary Oliver in her passage explains her experiences with the two sides of nature. Her experiences with the owls elicit both an awe response and a frightened one. In connection, her experiences with a field of flowers draws a similar response where she is both astonished by them and overwhelmed. Oliver’s complex responses display the two sides of nature. It's ability to be both captivating yet overwhelming in its complexity. In “Owl” Mary Oliver uses descriptions of nature demonstrated by owls and fields of flowers in order to convey her complex responses to the two sides of nature.
In “The Flowers,” by Alice Walker, the flowers are used throughout the story to symbolize the beauty and naivety of childhood. In the beginning of the story the author shows the main character Myop walking down a path along the fence of her farm. Myop sees “an armful of strange blue flowers with velvety ridges…” The flowers are bright and colorful, reminding the reader of an innocent type of beauty often associated with them. This suggests the flowers were inserted in the story by Walker to reveal how young and innocent Myop appears to be. Later in the story, after Myop had discovered the dead body of a man who seemed to have been hung “Myop laid down her flowers,”. As Myop put down the flowers she was also putting down the last of her innocence.
Sylvia uses her daydreams as an alternative to situations she doesn't want to deal with, making a sharp distinction between reality as it is and reality as she wants to perceive it. For instance, as they ride in a cab to the toy store, Miss Moore puts Sylvia in charge of the fare and tells her to give the driver ten percent. Instead of figurin...
"When she heard it there came before her imagination the figure of a man standing beside a desolate rock on the seashore. He was naked. His attitude was one of hopeless resignation as he looked toward a distant bird winging its flight away from him." (pp26-27)
... is also clear that the white heron represents the true beauty of the region, while it is elusive and not able to be seen by even an experienced ornithologist, it is seen by Sylvia. The spotting of the white heron by Sylvia is Jewett’s way of expressing that true beauty of a region is only discoverable by those who are so familiar with the region that they can appreciate every aspect of nature’s beauty and once every foot of ground is known, only then can one appreciate the true beauty of the region and in this case that beauty is represented by the white heron. Jewett’s A White Heron is an excellent example of local color literature because it represents everything local color literature should. It contains characters and dialect specific to the region of Maine (Mrs. Tilley) as well as excellent descriptions of the topography of Maine and the beauty of the region.
Annie Dillard portrays her thoughts differently in her passage, incorporating a poetic sense that is carried through out the entire passage. Dillard describes the birds she is viewing as “transparent” and that they seem to be “whirling like smoke”. Already one could identify that Dillard’s passage has more of poetic feel over a scientific feel. This poetic feeling carries through the entire passage, displaying Dillard’s total awe of these birds. She also incorporates word choices such as “unravel” and that he birds seem to be “lengthening in curves” like a “loosened skein”. Dillard’s word choice implies that he is incorporating a theme of sewing. As she describes these birds she seems to be in awe and by using a comparison of sewing she is reaching deeper inside herself to create her emotions at the time.
Nine-year-old Sylvia is a child who lives in the wood. Her name, ‘‘Sylvia,’’ and her nickname, ‘‘Sylvy,’’ come from the Latin silva meaning ‘‘wood’’ or ‘‘forest.’’ Sylvia lives in the middle of the woods with grandma Tilley and hardly sees anyone else. She remembers when she lived in the city but never wants to return there. However, when she comes across a hunter who is an older man, she enjoys being around another human being and is not sure what to do with the conflicting emotions she starts to feel. He offers to give her money in exchange for giving up the nesting spot of the white heron. She is the only person who can give him what he needs. What she has to think about though is the betrayal of her relationship with nature and whether or not it is worth it. In the end, she does not reveal the heron’s nesting place.
When driving home her cow in the dark Sylvia’s “feet were familiar with the path, and it was no matter whether their eyes could see it or not” (Jewett 682). Sylvia is familiar with the woodlands to such an extent that she forms a strong physical connection to the natural world because even her “feet were familiar with the path.” She also refers to her cow as a “valued companion” and considers the cow’s pranks as an “intelligent attempt to play hide and seek” to which she responds to “with a good deal of zest” (Jewett 682). Sylvia escapes urban society because she was “afraid of folks,” and now relies on her “valued companion” to fulfill her need for friends and playmates. In doing so, the cow becomes the sole being she interacts with and consists of the totality of her amusement, which in turn prompts a close emotional attachment and relationship. Prior to coming to the farm, she had lived “in a crowded manufacturing town” but now feels “as if she had never been alive before.” Sylvia is content in her isolation from humanity at the farm where she only lives with her grandmother, and finally feels “alive” in a setting where she is alienated from other people and surrounded by nature and animals. She in turn seems content and welcomes her close relationship to the natural world around her and willingly gives up human interactions to achieve this. After trailing through the woods late into the night she feels “as if she were a part of the gray shadows and the moving leaves.” Sylvia comes to the realization that she becomes “a part of” and finds a sense of belonging in the natural world, which shows her close emotional
Baym, Nina, Robert S. Levine, and Arnold Krupat. "Sylvia Plath "Words"" The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W. W. Norton, 2007. 631. Print.
Sylvia's genuine emotion that shines through her work is rooted deep in her childhood. Sylvia was a perfectly normal child that enjoyed life until at age eight when she lost the closest person to her. Her father, Otto Plath, died from complication with diabetes. (Kehoe 1) Sylvia had been his favorite and hit her the hardest. The toughest part was that because of her age she was not permitted to go to the funeral so she was never able to let go and say goodbye. She never fully recovered and later in life became convinced that the majority of her pain was caused by losing her father. A. Alvarez, a friend and critic, stated years later “The death of her father, whom she loved, who abandoned her, and who dragged her after him into death.” (Kehoe 1) She tried to pick the pieces up and move on. She moved on to become a good student. In all her years of s...
Abstract In this essay, I intend to explain how everyday lives challenge the construction of childhood as a time of innocence. In the main part of my assignment, I will explain the idea of innocence, which started with Romantic discourse of childhood and how it shaped our view of childhood. I will also look at two contradictory ideas of childhood innocence and guilt in Blake’s poems and extract from Mayhew’s book. Next, I will compare the images of innocence in TV adverts and Barnardo’s posters. After that, I will look at the representation of childhood innocence in sexuality and criminality, and the roles the age and the gender play in portraying children as innocent or guilty. I will include some cross-cultural and contemporary descriptions on the key topics. At the end of my assignment, I will summarize the main points of the arguments.
Sylvia Plath’s life began on October 27, 1932. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts to the parents of a German and Austrian background. Otto Emil Plath, her father, was an expert on bees, and a professor of German and biology at Boston University. Plath’s mother, Aurelia, had a master’s degree in English and German. Three years later, Sylvia was greeted with a baby brother named Warren on April 27, 1935. Ironically enough, they were both born on the 27th. Plath proved herself a bright, young girl. Her first poem was published at the age of eight. She started school two years prior to everyone else her age (“The Life”). A majority of Plath’s life was spent on the North Atlantic coast near her hometown. “Her parent’s backgrounds and her love for the sea provide much of the imagery for her...
“A Bird came down the Walk,” was written in c. 1862 by Emily Dickinson, who was born in 1830 and died in 1886. This easy to understand and timeless poem provides readers with an understanding of the author’s appreciation for nature. Although the poem continues to be read over one hundred years after it was written, there is little sense of the time period within which it was composed. The title and first line, “A Bird came down the Walk,” describes a common familiar observation, but even more so, it demonstrates how its author’s creative ability and artistic use of words are able to transform this everyday event into a picture that results in an awareness of how the beauty in nature can be found in simple observations. In a step like narrative, the poet illustrates the direct relationship between nature and humans. The verse consists of five stanzas that can be broken up into two sections. In the first section, the bird is eating a worm, takes notice of a human in close proximity and essentially becomes frightened. These three stanzas can easily be swapped around because they, for all intents and purposes, describe three events that are able to occur in any order. Dickinson uses these first three stanzas to establish the tone; the tone is established from the poet’s literal description and her interpretive expression of the bird’s actions. The second section describes the narrator feeding the bird some crumbs, the bird’s response and its departure, which Dickinson uses to elaborately illustrate the bird’s immediate escape. The last two stanzas demonstrate the effect of human interaction on nature and more specifically, this little bird, so these stanzas must remain in the specific order they are presented. Whereas most ...