hope and new life”, written by Jessica Ravitz, tells the story of a 170 year old chestnut tree that gave faith to Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl who suffered during the Holocaust. This tree, now having been sick of a fungus for ten years, is dying. Afraid of this historical treasure’s demise, the museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at which the tree lives has begun to plant fallen chestnuts in hopes of growing others trees. The author gives the reader a passage in Anne’s diary dated February 23, 1944, in which the young girl writes that the tree is an uplifter of spirits and, in any situation, will provide hope to all of those around it. The people of the museum are hoping that…
In the exposition of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, the reader is introduced to the Nolan family. The Nolan family consists of four members living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn New York during the 1900s. Katie Nolan, the mother of Neeley and Francie Nolan has an Austrian family background, where Jonny, her husband and also the father of Francie and Neeley, has Irish in him however both parents were born in Brooklyn, making Francie and Neeley second generation Americans. Both Francie and Neeley were born into poverty and hardship, due to their parent’s financial state. However, in the exposition we learn that Francie is an optimistic young innocent girl, who has yet to experience the world around her. “Serene was a word you could…
The Tree of Red Stars, by Tessa Bridal, presents many themes throughout the story. The story itself is of Magdalena Ortega Grey growing up in Uruguay as it is taken over by a military dictatorship. It chronicles not only her life, but the life of the poor, the social injustices of this time and the revolt against it. One of the themes contained in this novel is that of the activism of students. Students are the leaders of this revolt, they lead the Tupamaros. Students are displayed as the activists working for change. This can be compared to any college campus as university students are usually much more active politically than other groups of people in society.…
In the novel, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene Forrester and Phineas, also known as Finny, are best friends who have a very deep friendship. However, as the story progresses, Gene began to develop feelings of jealousy for Finny when he saw how perfect Finny’s character is. Finny has always been able to talk his way out of trouble and is naturally a good athlete who is earnest, confident, & pure. On the other hand, Gene cannot be pure like Finny and feels insecure. Seeing how good Finny is, caused Gene to become jealous, “I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything, I couldn’t help envying him…” (ch2.20) Soon, Gene thinks that a rivalry is happening between them. Because Gene envies Finny’s character, he thinks that Finny is also jealous of him for his good academic performance, “I felt better. Yes, I sensed it like the sweat of relief …We were even after all… The deadly rivalry was on both sides after all.”(ch4.34). By thinking there is a competition between them, Gene feels at ease, because none of them is better than the other. One night, Finny announced that Leper will jump off the tree, in order to become a full member of their secret society. Gene didn’t want to go because he feared his grade would slip if he didn’t study and also thinks that Leper wouldn’t dare to jump off the tree. After hearing from Gene that he wanted to study, Finny was surprise because he thought that Gene was naturally intelligent, who doesn’t need to review for a test. With sincerity, Finny lets Gene study, but Gene changed his mind and would come along with Finny. On the way to the tree,Gene realizes that a competition never happened and it was just Gene that was envious of Finny. Because Gene saw Finny's goodness and innocence, Gene realizes a rivalry with Finny will never occur. Gene began…
The tree project changes Melinda’s identity through the course of the text by allowing Melinda to realize her flaws and imperfections within her identity. Melinda likes to make things sound easy and not let others know things may be hard for her. She says, “Tree. Tree? It’s too easy. I learned how to draw a tree in second grade (Sanctuary 12). She is pessimistic and always sees the worst in things. This includes this project that could have a deeper meaning. The art teacher, Mr. Freeman always finds ways to try and make Melinda a better student. Mr. Freeman says, “ You are getting better at this but it’s not good enough. This looks like a tree, but average ordinary, everyday, boring tree. Breathe life into it… perfect trees don’t exist. Nothing…
Countryman, poor farmer, and hard worker. These were the humble beginnings of the American author Jesse Stuart. Born on August 8th 1906 in a small place known as Greenup County in Kentucky. To the uneducated eye, Jesse Stuart may seem like any ordinary farmer at the time. Stuart and his family had struggled to survive for the majority of their days. Working many hours a day in both school and on his father’s farm, Jesse had a ton of work on his plate. Stuart however, had an insatiable work ethic and an unmatched passion for writing, traveling, and education. With these tools he went from a poor farmer who had to work just to survive, to one of the most iconic American writers in all of history. Jesse Stuart’s experiences and passion for nature…
The Scarlet Letter was a novel composed by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The events in the novel were dated back to the 17th century. The Massachusetts Bay Colony included the Puritans that were heavily influenced with the Church. With religion being their origin for both moral and government regulations, many things were outlawed. The Puritans obeyed strict standards and if anyone was to deviate from them, they were to be punished. Public humiliation and self-punishment were the common disciplines associated with The Scarlet Letter.…
One of the main conflicts of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith is person (Francie) vs. society. Poverty and judgment runs down the streets of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. Francie dives head on into conflicts concerning gender, economic state, and religion. “She put the penny in her dress pocket and turned the rest of the money over to him. Neeley was ten, a year younger than Francie. But he was the boy; he handled the money” (Smith 8). In essence, this shows females were not trusted to hold the money, resulting in Francie to give the money to her younger brother Neeley, even though Francie was probably more responsible due to her age. But because of her gender, she has to give the money to her younger brother, resulting in the conclusion…
Imagine the experience of living under the rule of a violent group of terrorists, with no freedom whatsoever. This is what it is like to Najmah in the book Under the Persimmon Tree, by Suzanne Fisher Staples. In this realistic setting, Najmah, the main character, loses most of her family due to the brutality and imposition of the Taliban. The novel depicted the Taliban as dangerous and strict, which is interchangeable for what the Taliban is like in reality. Staples used the Taliban conflict to deepen the reader's understanding of the impact of conflict on people's lives.…
Throughout the novel, Hawthorne uses plant imagery to symbolize both the negative and positive character traits and to set the mood of the novel. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne takes place during the age of Puritanism in Boston where a young and attractive Puritan woman commits adultery with the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale. Chillingworth, Hesters' husband, whom everyone thought was captured by Indians comes to town, but only Hester knows his true identity. Chillingworth vows to figure out who Hesters' lover is and he succeeds. Ultimately, this novel contains deception and guilt which is in the form of plant imagery.…
The Red Tree is another outstanding book by Australian illustrator and author Shaun Tan. The book published by Hachette Australia in 2001 leads us on one girl’s journey through a dark and confusing path of depression. Although each page contains a few words it is the images that capture the reader’s attention with new objects, images and meanings discovered each time the book is reopened.…
In the Thing in the Forrest two little girls, Penny and Primrose became friends with one another while being sent away to a foster home. Both were scared and afraid of what the outcome of their futures would be, but both vowed to keep by each other’s side no matter what happened to either one of them. On a day they would never forget; Penny and Primrose was playing and decided to go in the woods. There they encountered a scary monstrous thing that would leave them scared for years. Penny, who later became a psychologist that studied the development of psychology and primrose later becoming a story teller for children, both remembered the monstrous thing and decided to question what it was.…
The picture book ‘the red tree’ written and illustrated by Shaun tan, conveys his perspective of the world with the effective use of literary and visual techniques such as symbolism, foreshadowing and the extended visual metaphor of the girl in the bottle on the ‘nobody understands’ page. These techniques search the thoughts and concepts of living and battling depression. This page demonstrates that there is hope for people with depression; they just need to work for it and find a way to break through the barriers.…
Unlike Buck, my dad had to persevere when his sister and niece died in a car wreck. One of the things he had to realize is that they were gone and they weren’t going to come back. My dad also had to persevere with what it was going to be like without them in his life. He adapted to a life without his sister there. While Buck and my dad differ in the differences and extreme circumstances they encountered, they both had to experience pain and had to adapt…
Janie strives to find love that makes her feel like she did that day under the pear tree. Further in the novel when Janie meets and marries Tea Cake, she compares him to nature in a positive way. Janie states that Tea Cake “could be a bee to a blossom- a pear tree blossom in the spring” (Hurston 106). This quote refers back to the pear tree which parallels to the passionate feeling Janie has been searching for. Instead of nature being used as a comparison for loveless marriages, it is being used to paint us a picture of how passionate and blissful Janie and Tea Cake’s marriage is. This brings back around the idea that the pear tree is constantly reoccurring throughout the novel to symbolize Janie’s growth as a woman.…