Contemporary Literature for Trees Can Speak and Miracle on St. Davids

Choose a pair of 'themed' texts (one short story, one poem) from your booklet and complete the following sections:

Write a short summary of the texts (1.1)

Trees Can Speak - This is the story of two men who go on an adventure together into the Australian outback. One of the men (Joe) has elective mutism and therefore unable to speak and the other suffered from infant paralysis and doesn't have much use of his legs. They communicate non-verbally with the use of body language and the way Joe nods and shakes his head. They both find a peace in the outback with nature and they seem to have a connection with each other as they are both not considered 'normal' in society.

Miracle On St David's - This poem is about the author reading poetry to patients at a psychiatric hospital. The author does not see the patients as 'insane' but simply as people listening intently to her poetry. All of a sudden, a patient who has not spoken since being admitted, stands up and recites 'The Daffodils' by William Wordsworth. He recites it to the ward while the nurses stand shocked by the sight of him speaking for the first time. It is a very powerful moment and a very powerful poem.

Evaluate the author's intentions and themes in the above texts (1.2). Remember to justify your analysis with quotations (1.5).

Trees Can Speak - There are a number of themes in this piece but I believe one of the main themes is respect and dignity for your fellow man. Both Joe and the disabled man have a disability and therefore people in society will judge them for something that is not of their doing. They feel a mutual respect for each other and very comfortable in each other's presence, with neither making a fuss about the problems disability can bring and each helpin...

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...lts' absurdity.

Perhaps the writer was using a child's naivety in his portrayal of the pig-man to reflect the issue of society becoming less trusting of individuals they did not know. However, the parents send the child after the pig-man which suggests society was still fairly trusting at the time.

Analyse the viewpoint taken by the writer of the text (2.3)

The viewpoint of the writer is to bring to light some of the issues that can arise from divorce, particularly with the children. He wants us to understand how households in this time period did not usually separate and that there was a social stigma around separation and divorce. He is also showing how children deal with problems and their thought processes. Furthermore how problems at home can be displaced onto other parts of their lives. In this instance it is the pig-man.

Word Count without quotes: 1743