"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_,
a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his
thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest...
a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion
is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal
desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our
task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening
our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and
the whole of nature in its beauty." -Albert Einstein
By Stephanie Riley and Michelle Gary
What or Theme
Statement
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The author dramatizes the
young heroine’s adventure
by showing that in order to
satisfy the call of nature, you
must become one with it.
“How” or Literary Elements
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Narrative Pace
Denotation
Tone/Tone shifts
Diction
 Cacophonous words
 Euphonious words
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Metaphors
Syntax
Point of View
Personification
Simile
Sentence Structure
 Exclamatory sentence
 Alliteration
A slow narrative pace thoroughly describes the
surroundings while setting up a leisurely pace
and contributes to the carefree tone.
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 Lines 1-7: “Half a mile from home, at the farther
edge of the woods, where the land was highest, a
great pine-tree stood, the last of its generation.
Whether it was left for a boundary mark, or for what
reason, no one could say; the woodchoppers who
had felled its mates were dead and gone long ago,
and a whole forest of sturdy trees, pines and oaks
and maple, had grown again…” (Line 1-15)
The denotation of “Sylvia” is a subtle hint
toward the meaning of the work
uncovered by the irony
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Its ironic that the little girl’s name is Sylvia,
which is close to the name and word Sylvan
Sylvan - one that lives in or frequents in
woods
Sylvan – a rare female Latin name meaning
“of the forest”
The first two paragraphs create a carefree and
adventurous tone, purposefully downplaying the
difficulty of the journey and introducing the girls
curiosity and first call to nature.
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 Tone 1: Playful and Adventurous
 Lines 10 and 11: “She had always believed that
whoever climbed to the top could see the ocean”
 Line 13: “Looked up wistfully at those dark boughs”
 Lines 17 and 18: “Sylvia began with utmost bravery to
mount to the top of it”
 Lines 18 and 19: “With tingling, eager blood coursing
the channels of her whole frame”
Cacophonous diction shows her lack of understanding
of the obstacle presented before her. She charges
towards the call of nature head first without thinking
about the risks.
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-Line 16: “There was the huge tree asleep yet in the
paling moonlight and small and silly Sylvia began
with utmost bravery to mount to the top of it, with
tingling, eager blood coursing the channels of her
whole frame.”
-Line 25: “…and a red squirrel ran to and fro and
scolded pettishly at the harmless housebreaker.”
Line 37: “…The sharp dry twigs caught and held her
and scratched her like angry talons, the pitch made
her thin little fingers clumsy and stiff as she went
round and round the tree’s great stem…”
Contrasting diction and word choices
helps the reader contrast the big tree’s
personality with Sylvia’s.
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Words Used to Describe Sylvia
Words used to describe the tree
Little
Huge
Clumsy
Strong
Harmless Housebreaker
“Great main-mast to the
voyaging earth”
Small
Sturdy
Bare Feet
Monstrous Ladder
Weak creature
Old Pine
The use of metaphors and similes make the
challenge presented before Sylvia a reality.
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 Line 37: “…the sharp dry twigs caught and held her and
scratched her like angry talons.”
-Harsh simile: challenge swallows little girl
-Switch from day dreaming attitude to one of realization
 Line 20: “…with her bare feet and fingers, that pinched and
held like a bird’s claws to the monstrous ladder reaching up,
up, almost to the sky itself.”
-Clawing at tree: Struggle
-Shows that the task was much harder than she expected.
The syntax of the passage overwhelms the reader with
long and involved sentences just like Sylvia was
overwhelmed with the challenge.
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 Continued long and involved sentences.
Line 35: “She crept out along the swaying oak limb at last, and
took the daring step across into the old pine-tree. The way was
harder than she thought; she must reach far and hold fast, the
sharp dry twigs caught and held her like angry talons, the pitch
made her thin little fingers clumsy and stiff as she went round
and round the tree’s great stem.”
By writing in third person for both the tree and Sylvia,
the tree is personified, which foreshadows Sylvia’s
future convergence with the nature and begins to end
the tone of fear and frustration.
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 Third person omniscient
 Sylvia:
-Line 38: “…the pitch made her thin little fingers clumsy and stiff
as she went round and round the tree’s great stem…”
 Tree:
-Line 43: “…it must truly have been amazed that morning through
all its ponderous frame as it felt this determined spark of
human spirit creeping and climbing from higher branch to
branch.”
Ellipses is used in Line 40 to show a shift in point of view.
The anxious tone plays an important role
in showing the reader that there is a
conflict between Sylvia and nature
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Lines 35 through 38: “The way was harder
than she thought; she must reach far and
hold fast, the sharp dry twigs caught and
held her and scratched like angry talons…”
The simile “like angry talons” adds to the
tension of the tone
Diction reveals the tone shift from anxious to
triumphant and peaceful, emphasizing the
importance of becoming one with nature in order to
answer the call
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 Cacophonous
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Lines 26 to 39
“Scolded”
“Pettishly
“Chafed”
“Sharp”
“Dry”
“Scratched”
“Stiff”
 Euphonious
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Lines 43 to 60
“Voyaging”
“Ponderous”
“Dawn”
“Golden”
“Feathers”
Point of View takes part in subtly
showing that Sylvia has become one with
the nature, particularly the tree
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 3rd Person Omniscient: Sylvia and Tree
 The perspective of the tree comes in at the tone shift
 Shows how Sylvia has become one with nature
 “It was like a great main-mast to the voyaging each: it must
truly have been amazed that morning through all its ponderous
fame as it felt this determined spark of human spirit creeping
and climbing from higher branch to higher branch. Who knows
how steadily the last twigs held themselves to advantage this
light, weak creature on her way! The old pine must have loved
his new dependent” (Lines 42 through 48)
 The next paragraph (Line 55) starts off with “Sylvia’s face was like
a pale star….and she stood trembling…”
Personification shows how the tree and the girl
are working together to overcome the conflict
and satisfy the call of nature as they unite
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 Throughout paragraph four, “It” and “his” refers to
the tree
 Lines 43 and 44: “It must truly have been amazed”
 Lines 45 and 46: “It felt this determined spark of
human spirit”
 Line 49: “The old pine must have loved his new
dependent”
The similes in the passage mark the point where the
tree is beginning to converge with the Sylvia and when
she has finally succeeded in her quest as she answers
the call to nature
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 Lines 41 to 43: “The tree seemed to lengthen itself
out as she went upward. It was like a great mainmast to the voyaging earth”
 Line 55: “Sylvia’s face was like a pale star.
The use of one exclamatory sentence
throughout the whole piece marks the
point in the adventure where the girl and
the tree have completely bonded.
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Line 47 through 49
“Who knows how steadily the least
twigs held themselves to advantage
this light, weak creature on her way!”
The triumphant tone is emphasized using
an alliteration at the climax of the story
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Lines 58 to 59 describe Sylvia’s victory:
“When the last thorny bough was past and
she stood trembling and tired but wholly
triumphant, high in the tree-tops.”
“t” words
“Trembling,” “tired,” “triumphant,” “treetops”
Connection: The Scarlet Letter
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 The Scarlet Letter Theme: Man vs. Natural World
 “All these giant trees and boulders of granite seemed intent on
making a mystery of the course of this small brook; fearing,
perhaps, that, with its never-ceasing loquacity, it should
whisper tales out of the heart of the old forest whence it flowed,
or mirror its revelations on the smooth surface of the pool.”
 –From Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter
 The Scarlet Letter describes nature like it would a character.
Nature is personified to listen, comment on, and interact with
other characters. Nature provides a beautiful almost magical
escape and has an element of the unknown that calls out to the
characters and provides them with an escape.