I have the personal goal of positively impacting one individual every day. Whether that be by holding a door open for someone or sharing a compliment with a person, a small gesture can go a long way. In Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, twelve-year-old Ted Wiggins becomes an everyday hero, breaking the social norm for the greater good of the citizens of Thneedville.
There is no idea quite as romantic as love healing the Earth. When Ted’s love, Aubrey, introduces him to the idea of real trees, Ted makes it a goal of his to find one for her. However, in a land of plastic trees and canned air, his dreams seem nearly impossible to achieve. Ted’s grandma tells him a tale of the “Once-ler”, the man who killed all of the trees. After learning that the Once-ler,
Dr. Seuss, also known as Theodore Seuss, has written many poems as well as short stories, and is considered one of the greatest children’s author in history. His silly stories are able to excite children in ways that make them want read. His Wife says,” Ted doesn’t sit down to write for children. He writes to amuse himself;” Little do children know that often, in his stories, there is a lot of political undertone, a few examples include The Lorax, Yertle the Turtle, The Sneethces, and The Butter Battle Book. If you were to really critique some of his books or poems, you might see that some of his themes wouldn’t seem to pertain to children. But what he’s doing, is hoping that they will understand the main idea of the story enough that it challenges them to stand against the crowd of judgment and evil. Take notice of the issues around them, and make a change. He feels that they deserve to know about the issues, just as much as adults do. He is showing them early on, telling them that they do not need adults to make a difference.
The Lorax, is a small orange creature who deomstrates a love of the envrionment and a desire to preserve it. However, his wishes are interuppted by the Once-ler as he endeavors to create an aritfical society and succeeds. Transcendentalism manifests through the creation of these two characters as the Lorax can represedent the transdentalists love of nature, while the Once-ler may illustrate societys corruption of its destructive nature. Moreover, the film and piece of literature display the ability of an indiviudal to be corrupted by society and the advantage of living alone in nature, as the Lorax did. To further explain, the transdentalist belief of noncomformity is depicted through the character Ted, as he strives to find a real tree despite societys love of their fake
The lessons that come out of children's picture books has a way bigger impact than some might expect. Dr. Seuss shows us different habits of mind, heart, and work, but between Horton in Horton Hears a Who, The Lorax, and Thidwick, Horton showed the most persistence in his generosity and actions. Horton throughout the whole story showed his generosity and kindness to the Who's even while he was being persecuted for what he believed in. On the other hand, The Lorax didn't show any generosity at all (at least towards the Once-Ler) and Thidwick was persistent at being generous to the animals, but in the end his generosity came to a stop.
In the novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, people are portrayed to not work hard enough to achieve long-term goals or dreams that they have set for themselves. This idea is shown multiple times throughout the story. It starts with Lennie and George wanting to purchase their own farm, to do this they will need to make enough money to get the farm started. They show no effort to make progress on this dream of theirs, they spend all the money they make on women and beer. Lennie’s dream is to tend to and take care of the rabbits on the farm they hope to one day own, his problem is that he has a problem with animals. When Lennie pets an animal he usually ends up killing it, and he makes no effort to show a little more care for the poor creatures. Curley’s wife also had a dream to become a movie star but did not because she decided to marry Curley instead. People now are very similar if not different at all. Today people still of course have dreams and long term goals that they give up on or don’t want to work hard enough to achieve because they are so worried about the future that ...
What exactly does it mean to be a hero? Does it mean you have to swoop in and save the day? Or does it simply mean that you are a kind person? In the story The Lorax by Dr. Seuss the author reveals his message, through the three main characters, which is to always be mindful of the environment and take care of it. The story depicts the struggle between environmental activist, the Lorax, and a greedy businessman, the Once-ler. The Once-ler starts a business that escalates and becomes a huge environmental hazard. It ends up destroying the entire community. Clearly, this story needed a hero, someone to save the community. Although we may think of a hero as someone who faces danger and death, in this story the hero is portrayed as someone who gives a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves. A hero is someone who is brave, selfless, and dedicated to solving a problem that will benefit the greater good. The Lorax is the hero of the story because of his perseverance, selflessness, and dedication to fixing an issue that will benefit the entire community.
However that tree is also the image of the result of her life as a slave, being the place where she is forced to hide her daughter in order not to have her sold away and chance for the future while the other becomes a divine symbol of happiness and love. The teachings about the futility of love are the most caring gesture she could think of. Janie’s tree is a whole different matter. She has lounged under a pear tree for three days, every spare minute she had from her chores. She has been sitting there “ever since the first tiny bloom had opened ”, ever since nature has decided to bring back life to the tree in springtime. Unlike her grandmother, her tree signs the beginning of her journey while putting an end to her relation with her only parental figure. She feels the weight of her own personal mission now: she wants to solve the mystery Nature had called her to gaze upon, to find her own bee and blossom to fulfill her life’s dream of a perfect
In the beginning of this story, one expects for the characters to follow the concepts that they represent. This story displays one man's journey to leave his home and comfort zone in order to fully explore his curiosity. He goes off into a forest and undergoes a life changing experience there. He encounters three different things that set him on the path to the journey of knowledge. This forest was symbolic of an assessment of strength, bravery, and survival. It took determination to survive in the forest and the young person entering into it would not emerge the same. Conversely, this story is more representative than realistic and the peril is of the character. This story is more of a vision or conscious daydream th...
Our traditions are what keep families together. From a gold locket to an old photograph, these items are irreplaceable. What they hold to them are memories of those before us and moments in history that have passed. In the story, “Emperor of the Air” by Ethan Canin, an elderly man is forced to give up the one thing that his family has left behind: a two hundred year old elm tree. It holds the memories of his childhood and still shows signs of life that may still last for years to come.
Two forlorn leaves cling to the highest branch of a great oak as winter approaches. Nearly all of the others have fallen, and the second leaf wonders if “we know anything about ourselves when we're down there” (Salten 105). Both know that their time on the branch grows short. The first comforts its friend with recollections of warm summer breezes and the promise that many leaves will come after them, and then, still more. The first leaf is troubled itself now, and gently tells her friend to say no more for a while. After several hours of silence, a cold wind gusts, and the second leaf is torn from the branch, just as she began to speak, leaving the first alone in the cold and dark, with no one to comfort or be comforted by (Salten 105-110).
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn life around.” Says Leo Buscaglia; a teacher of special education at the University of Southern California.
Fear no more, Roosevelt does murder fear - the innocent fear. This sounds like a line that would come from the pen of Shakespeare. However, this is a the underlying message in What Was I Scared of? by Dr. Seuss. The Great Depression and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s speeches were extremely influential upon the works of Theodor Geisel, commonly known by his pen name of Dr. Seuss. One of the primary examples of this influence is reflected in What Was I Scared of?. The overall message of this book may be synopsized in the following - the only thing of which to fear is fear itself. All other fears may be overcome through bravery. Fear of the unknown hinders the individual from developmental
In No Ordinary Sun, a tree is a symbol for nature. The tree will suffer the effects of a nuclear catastrophe, perhaps mankind’s most devastating intrusion into the natural world, and the “resilience” the tree once was able to exert against forces of destruction, would not be enough, “for this is no ordinary sun”. Tuwhare compares the effects of a nuclear disaster to the situations the tree once had to face. He uses this comparison to emphasize the harsh effects of nuclear fallout on nature. The tree could once “blunt” an axe, or “smother” a fire, but now, its “former shagginess shall not be wreathed with the delightful flight of birds”. Tuwhare also links the tree to its importance to humans in using a seemingly insignificant image of lovers shielding from the “monstrous sun” under the tree’s arms. He doe...
An aabbccdd rhyme scheme is used in this short but well expressed couplet. Personification is frequently used frequently throughout the poem to make it evident to the readers that God’s creation of nature is living. For an example, in stanza 2, Kilmer says, “A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast”, verifies that nature works hand in hand with one another for survival and lives. Seasonal changes us readers can relate to such as summer, winter, and spring are pointed out in to express that a tree continues in existence throughout time. The parallelism in lines 3,5, and 7 has repetition of the words “A Tree”. This stresses that a tree has purpose and hold significance everything around it. The poem shifts in the last stanza in which Kilmer says, “Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.” This is a stanza that shows that Kilmer appreciates God’s creation and that he knows that God is all-powerful.
When we sacrifice our time to help someone in need, whether it is a great or small need, we become a part of their life and can help alleviate heavy burdens. We feel good for looking outside ourselves and contributin...
Volunteering enables an individual to make a positive impact on his or her community, while empowering the individual to better his or her life. This summer, I had the opportunity to volunteer at many diverse locations. From the hospital to the local library, I truly value my experience and treasure everything it has thought me. Volunteering lets us experience and learn things that we otherwise would not have learned; volunteering opens doors for us that we may not have been able to open before. Volunteering provides us with guidance and tolerance which we may use in the future to aid us in our decisions. At first glance, volunteering may seem to only benefit those who are helped, but on a deeper level, one can realize that volunteering benefits the volunteer as much as, if not more than, those who are helped. Not only does volunteering make a difference in one’s community, but it also helps the volunteer become a smarter, happier, friendlier and more caring individual.