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…
In the first half of speak, Melinda’s tree has been symbolically representing what state of mind she is in. “I can’t bring it to life, I’d love to give it up” (78). The tree that she created looked really sketchy and depressing, symbolizing how her thoughts were blocked and stuck…
Her determination to not leave the tree, when persuaded by paid intimidators allow others to see that it’s more than a tree, it symbolizes something that is so precious. During her time in the tree she not only befriended with ex Maxxam workers, but also created a friendship with John Campbell, Pacific Lumber’s top executive. Her stays lead to Maxxam Corporation ending any aspirations of cutting the redwood trees and especially Luna her…
It is saying that it wants to be there to keep them calm and help them through all the hard times that they will be faced with, and that if they just listen to it, they will be guided to peace. "They hear. They all hear the speaking of the tree. Today, the first and last of every tree speaks to humankind. Come to me, here beside the river. Plant yourself beside me, here beside the river, is another form of personification used by Angelou. (Hagen, 1996, Williams, 1996) The tree is also talking to the people, asking them to plant themselves beside it. It is saying that it is there to hold the person up, to be used at strength, something to lean against, in order to fight away all the hatred in the world. It is there for the person if they are true to themselves and the world & want to keep…
After the grandma says this, the grandpa writes, “She was the tree and also the river flowing away from the tree” (30). Foer asserts that the tree represents her as the root of the trauma, as she reminds him of Anna. However, the river flowing away from the tree represents that she could also be the key that would allow him to move on. Foer uses the grandma as a representation of the grandpa’s inability to move forward in life.…
The pear tree ties closely to another symbol in the novel: the horizon. The horizon represents Janie's realm of what's possible; Hurston invokes this throughout the novel, as evidenced by Janie's comments that Joe "spoke for far horizon" (Hurston 35). This is shown again after she marries Tea Cake because even after his death, she still feels as though she has and always will have access to the world and allows her to arrive to the metaphorical horizon at the end of the book, which she reaches magnificently, she "pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder…She called in her soul to come and see." (Hurston 277) Through all of Janie's marriages and heartbreak and lust and love, she is able to discover who she is on her…
"They hear. They all hear the speaking of the tree. Today, the first and last of every tree speaks to humankind. Come to me, here beside the river. Plant yourself beside me, here beside the river," is another form of personification used by Angelou. The tree is also talking to the people, asking them to "plant" themselves beside it. It is saying that it is there to hold the person up, to be used at strength, something to lean against, in order to fight away all the hatred in the world. It is there for the person if they…
My symbol and the Suicide Tree have more parallels than just meaning. As a child being a member of the church was something that seemed out of reach and not something that I wanted. Just as the Suicide Tree is thought as a giant of Gene’s childhood (Knowles 3). However, that fear was soon dissipated once I understood what it meant. Gene’s fear of jumping out of the Suicide Tree was completely gone when he jumped after Finny fell (Knowles 28).…
Hello Mr. Trump, I hear that next week you will be sharing your own favorite hobbies with business students in Queens, New York, so I am going to help you construct your speech. Anyone can deliver an interesting informative speech, for example, President Barack Obama is known for giving informative speeches to the United States. Let me explain exactly what an informative speech is; it is a speech that intends to educate the audience on a particular topic. This type of speech focuses on using description, demonstration, and visuals to explain a subject, a person, or in this case your own hobbies. An informative speech is not the same thing as a persuasive speech. Although the two can merge together, an informative speech relies more on communicating pure information to the audience.…
The woods, in this case, symbolize Goodman’s fear of the validity of witchcraft and the embodiment of his suspicions and dark feelings he has towards things he never thought about before. Each time he is exposed to something he did not expect, he loses a bit more of his faith. When he “sat himself on the stump of a tree, and refused to go any further” (281), it is a clear indication to the audience that he is starting to lose his faith to the evil woods. In a way, the woods symbolize the outside world –a dark place where lies and disappointments of all sorts take over. When he cries, “My faith is lost!” (283), after he sees his wife in the woods, Hawthorne is suggesting that Goodman indeed has lost his wife, Faith, to the devils, and has also literally lost his own faith towards her and himself. Goodman now believes that his wife’s innocence and pureness was all a lie –that the world is full of evil and his faith is completely…
The Giving Tree can be seen as a metaphor for a mother-child relationship. In this story, there is an animistic tree that cares for a boy and will do anything to see him thrive in life. As long as she sees him, she will be the happiest tree in the word but the boy doesn't appreciate the love and care he is given. For example, a mother gives everything to their child, and the child sucks up the resources like a litch for it to benefit and survive.…
In the poem “To This Day” by Shane Koyczan, he is talking about bullying and how people are affected by it. The people that are bullying don't even know what they are going through or how much it is hurting them. People wouldn't bully other people if they knew what they were going through the inside. The black and white tree branch symbolizes the kid. The brown tree symbolizes his new family that adopted him. The black and white tree symbolizes the boys real parents that died. Some people act like they are fine but they really are not because they are adopted like the guy that was adopted. The author choose trees because people have family trees and he is entering a new families tree.…
The novel Speak is about a girl named Melinda. She is very shy and timid throughout the story but that is only because she had gotten raped at a party over the summer. She called the cops because of what had happened so for calling the cops everyone hated her and wouldn’t talk to her, even her best friends. A main part or motif of the story is mirrors. Every time Melinda looks in a mirror or a reflective object it reflects on how she is feeling about herself that part of the story. The images of herself that she sees progress through the story along with Melinda’s attitude.…
In art class, Melinda learns how to express her emotions. Her art teacher, Mr. Freeman explains, “Art without emotion is like chocolate cake without sugar. It makes you gag.” He helps her to communicate her emotions through art instead of keeping them inside of herself. The tree is symbolic of Melinda’s personality and life and is one of the main things that helps Melinda…
Morrison uses the elements of symbolism and metaphor to create a powerful depiction of emotions. The imagery of beautiful trees in Beloved attempts to mask the horrors that took place among them. Ironically ,beautiful Trees are perverted into a symbol of horrible acts. The characters of Beloved were faced in a time period where they have been oppressed to the point of dehumanization and subjected to the idea of companionism of inanimate objects (trees, in this case). Morrison crafts the novel around the idea of trees, how we see them today, and what they meant to people who witnessed the evil in other aspects of their life. It seems as if the characters' interpretation of what trees are gives the reader insight to fully analyzing a character. The characters' responses to trees give the reader insight to how, through horrific experiences , one can still find serenity within nature and trees, usually the only beautiful things when living life as a slave. Toni Morrison does an excellent job of piecing slavery hardened characters together that are ultimately formed by one element. The trees are there as a symbol of not only life, but death, and all the bad in between. The perception of this novel is totally up to the reader and interpretation is key to analyzing the element of trees…