Essay #1
In a portion of “A White Heron”, Jewett describes Sylvia’s journey through the
woods. For Sylvia, only a young girl, this exploration of the land is quite an
adventure for her. As a write, it is Jewett’s duty to capture the experience Sylvia
had. Jewett dramatizes the young heroine’s adventure by incorporating imagery
and effective diction in the text.
The author uses imagery to make Sylvia’s adventure very detailed. By
describing the scenes Sylvia sees, Jewett makes the story more realistic for the
audience. Jewett writes, “ sun , there was the sea with the dawning sun making
a gold dazzle over it, and toward that glorious east flew two hawks with slowmoving pinions.” Jewett creates the image of the seascape to help the readers
become part of the story. She also writes, “where she was almost lost among
the dark branches and green leaves heavy with dew: a bird fluttered off its nest,
and a red squirrel ran to and fro and scolded pettishly at the harmless
housebreaker.” Again, Jewett uses description to paint pictures for the reader
about Sylvia’s adventure. The detailed imagery makes the young girl’s
adventure more elaborate.
Along with imagery, Jewett utilizes diction to dramatize the story. Her
choice of words embellishes the adventure. She writes, “She crept out along the
swaying oak limb at last, and took the daring step across into the old pine tree.”
The words “crept”, “swaying”, and “daring” add excitement to the event. By using
these words, Jewett presents the risk Sylvia is taking by climbing the oak
tree. Jewett continues to write, “Sylvia’s face was like a pale star, if one had
seen it from the ground, when the last thorny bough was past, and she stood
trembling and tired but wholly triumphant, high in the tree-top. “ The words “pale
star”, “trembling”, “tired”, and “wholly triumphant” accentuate the struggle Sylvia
endured on her adventure, as well as the victory she achieved from it. Jewett’s
diction worked exceptionally to enhance Sylvia’s adventure.
Jewett took a narration of Sylvia’s exploration and made it more dramatic by
adding in imagery and using diction to her advantage. The imagery built the
setting of the adventure and Jewett’s diction adds detail to the character’s actions.
While she could’ve just gave the narration with the basic facts and events, Jewett
makes the narration more intriguing to the reader. Imagery and diction made the
young heroine's adventure dramatized.
Essay #2
A child’s climbing of a great pine tree is narrated in this passage from “A White
Heron,” emphasizing both her determination to achieve this goal and her awe upon
completing it. Sylvia is especially awed by the tree itself and the perspective she gains
from it, as her eyes are opened to a richer view of her world than possible from the
ground. Important in forming this dramatization of the young heroine’s adventure are
techniques such as imagery and diction, as well as a strong focus towards Sylvia’s point
of view, which can be summed up by the closing phrase: “truly it was a vast and
awesome world.”
The euphonious rhythm and humbled tone of the passage is created, in part, by
the author’s choice of diction. It is evident from the author’s tendency to use words and
phrases reflective of someone enamored by their surroundings that this is how she
means to convey Sylvia’s experience. The scene is described using language that most
people would understand, yet would not typically use; the diction is not just averagely
positive, but overflowing with emotional adjectives, verbs and sentences. It is clearly not
just “nice outside” to Sylvia, the climb is not just “difficult but rewarding.” Rather, “the
sharp dry twigs caught and held her and scratched her like angry talons,” and “the
dawning sun [makes] a golden dazzle over [the sea.]” Clearly, though, Sylvia could not
have described her experience so eloquently. The intelligent, mature diction which
portrays intense emotion implies that Sylvia was at a stage in her life when she could
not herself describe her inward experiences.
To connect the higher-level diction with Sylvia’s own thoughts and feelings, the
narrator utilizes a third-person point of view that is somewhat omniscient. While what is
going through Sylvia’s mind is not given word-for-word, it is paid close attention to and
prevalent throughout the passage. In some places this attention to Sylvia’s viewpoint
narrates the action, her thoughts woven into the descriptions of what she’s doing. A
good example of this is “She crept out along the swaying oak limb at least, and took the
daring step across into the old pine-tree. The way was harder than she thought; she
must reach fast and hold fast…” These looks into Sylvia’s mind also give readers
perspective: “harder than she thought” implies she has planned this venture, “she had
always believed that whoever climbed to the top of it could see the ocean” proving this.
The insight into Sylvia’s perspective not only heightens the drama of the scene as it gives
it more significance, but it gives readers a better understanding of what impact it had on
her, “trembling and tired but wholly triumphant.”
Essay #3
“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.” (Line 1-3)This
sentence starts off the passage which is taken from Sarah Orne Jewett’s A White
Heron. As you can see from the sentence, Jewett uses many different types of
literary elements, or techniques, to help dramatize her writing and to specifically
dramatize the young heroin, Sylvia, who we meet at the beginning of Line 10,
and the adventure she takes. Although Jewett does use many different types of
techniques in her writing to help dramatize Sylvia and her adventure, three key
techniques she uses are diction and imagery.
“There was the huge tree asleep yet in the paling moonlight, and the 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, with her bare feet and
fingers, that pinched and held like bird’s claws to the monstrous ladder reaching
up, up, almost to the sky itself.” (Line 16-23) The passage is a perfect example of
how Jewett uses diction to help dramatize Sylvia. Diction is the art of word choice,
and is a key facet in many author’s writing. In Jewett’s writing, you can clearly
see diction in the lines above. Lines such as “Utmost Bravery” and “Blood
Coursing the Channels” show strong, dramatic emotion that help describe Sylvia.
You can also see diction in the words “monstrous” and “paling moonlight”. These
lines do not describe Sylvia herself, but instead depict her surroundings. Both of
these examples help dramatize the adventure itself, which is what the author’s
main goal is. Diction is a necessity when it comes to dramatization of writing, but
diction itself can lead into the bigger literary element imagery.
“She crept out along the swaying oak limb at last, and took the daring step
across in 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 and scratched
her like angry talons,…” (Line 34-38) Imagery is a key technique Jewett uses to
help dramatize Sylvia’s adventure. Imagery is the element of “painting a picture”
inside the audience head. You can clearly see this in Jewett’s writing, such as in
the passage above. With words such as “Crept out” and “sharp dry twigs” Jewett
can put the image on the paper into the audience’s head. You can see in your
mind Sylvia, jumping from tree to tree, in a very passive, shy form. She is scared
and frightened to fall, and yet you can see the determination on her face to reach
the top. This scene I depicted is also one of the more dramatic scenes in Jewett’s
writing, and she does an excellent job in displaying this dramatic emotion through
imagery.
“Westward, the woodlands and farms reached miles and miles into the
distance; here and there were church steeples, and white villages; truly it was a
vast and awesome world.” (Line 66-69) This final sentence ends Jewett’s writing,
and she ends by using both the techniques she has relied on to help dramatize
Sylvia’s writing, diction and imagery. These techniques work hand in hand to help
create a better, unified, more emotional piece of writing. Jewett understands this,
and uses these techniques to help develop a truly dramatic form of the adventure
of Sylvia.
Essay #4
The world is a vast and magical place and is filled with beautiful scenery and
wondrous objects. In this passage, the main character Sylvia, takes the
adventure of climbing one of those beautiful objects herself; a towering pine tree.
While reading this passage, the audience is given a dramatic sense of danger
and peril. Throughout the reading, the author implements strong diction and the
use of imagery to dramatize Sylvia’s great adventure.
In the passage, the author, Sarah Orne Jewett, brings across a
dramatic tone to Sylvia’s climb. She was able to do this by using strong diction
throughout the whole. One instance comes when Sylvia begins her ascension of
the pine tree. “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 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.” This excerpt includes a
great deal of diction, such as ‘scratched’, ‘talons’, and ‘crept’. This diction clearly
brings across the feeling that she was in danger and could be injured and
possibly fall from the tree at any moment. Thus, a dramatic tone is brought to the
audience.
In her passage, along with a strong use of diction, the author also
creates a dramatic atmosphere by heavily implementing imagery into the text. In
the beginning of her writing, the author uses imagery to paint a picture of the vast
landscape surrounding the tree that Sylvia is preparing to climb. “…the
woodchoppers who had felled its mates were dead and gone long ago, and a
whole forest of sturdy trees, pines and oaks and maples, had grown again. But
the stately head of this old pine towered above them all and made a landmark for
sea and shore miles and miles away. … There was the huge tree asleep yet in
the paling moonlight, and small and silly Sylvia began with the utmost bravery to
mount to the top of it…” This use of imagery provides a lot of information to the
reader. To begin, we are able to envision the world surrounding Sylvia and the
pine tree. However, we are also able to imagine the size and magnitude of the
pine tree. Knowing that this tree was the tallest one that Sylvia knew of and that it
was visible from sea delivered a sense of risk and urgency to the situation. By
doing this, the author was successful in bringing across a dramatic aspect to the
story.
While climbing the great pine tree, Sylvia is often thought to be in a
very dangerous and dramatic situation. This is because there is a wonderful use
of both diction and imagery within the text, set forth by the author, Sarah Orne
Jewett.
Essay # 5
Dramatizing a piece of literature is done for several reasons. It is mostly
practiced for a certain effect on an audience. It takes a small idea from a piece
of literature and blows it up. Dramatization is one technique used by authors to
make their point or argument clear. If an author can effectively describe and
spell out one specific thing in their writing, then their audience is more than likely
to be persuaded. In the text from “A White Heron”, dramatization plays a huge
role in the overall point of the piece. Jewett combines vivid imagery with a slow
paced narration to dramatize Sylvia’s invigorating climb of the old pine-tree.
Jewett inserts descriptive words to create pictures that capture the
attention of her audience. She uses this type of enchanting imagery that centers
around her focal point of Sylvia’s great tree-climbing adventure. In line 50,
Jewett says, “More than all the hawks, and bats, and moths, and even the sweetvoiced thrushes, was the brave, beating heart of the solitary gray-eyed
child.” She uses this picture to show how Sylvia stood out from the other
common objects surrounding the tree. Jewett was able to do this by pointing out
other features of the forest first then describing the girl that has more courage
than all of them. The author does this throughout the piece to make her main
point bold without coming out and saying exactly what she means. She is able to
say more with her imagery than with words.
The pace of this passage is another element that sets it apart from
other pieces of literature. The pace is the time at which an author takes to
develop her point throughout a story or other work. In Jewett’s case, she took a
story that would take maybe a paragraph to explain and extends it into five by
slowing her pace. She does this by freezing every small moment and
detail. One instance of this is when Jewett describes the seconds before Sylvia
is about to mount the trunk of the tree. The author pauses to discuss her
surroundings by saying, “…a bird fluttered off its nest, and a red squirrel ran to
and fro and scolded pettishly at the harmless housebreaker.” It is evident that
this small detail is not needed to tell the story. However, Jewett adds this to slow
the pace and dramatize the piece. It puts focus on how important and symbolic
climbing the tree is, even to the surrounding environment. When an author adds
these unnecessary, yet effective pauses, he or she makes the story flow together
seamlessly.
“Their gray feathers were as soft as moths; they seemed only a little
way from the tree, and Sylvia felt as if she too could go flying away among the
clouds.” Jewett appeals to her audience’s senses by describing the location and
feel of the hawks that were flying around the forest. She also takes the time to
discuss the feeling that Sylvia received from accomplishing the obstacle of
climbing the tree. Both of these elements add to the overall quality of the
passage by making it come alive. Jewett makes readers feels as if they are
standing with Sylvia on that top branch, taking in the experience. The fact that
the author expanded the basic idea of climbing a tree to telling a story of an
adventurous and triumphant hike, she made it so readers were not only with
Sylvia at the end of her journey, but they were with her every step of the
way. Both of these dramatic literary techniques help demonstrate Sylvia’s
revitalizing journey.
Essay # 6
The imaginary powers of a child cannot be stressed enough. A child can change
things within his or her own mind to make the world appear better and more
meaningful. This imaginary world begins to blend with the real world until it may
become difficult to tell the two apart. In the excerpt given from “A White Heron”,
the child Sylvia is portrayed as being lost in this in-between world as she climbs
the great oak tree. To Sylvia the simple act of climbing a large tree becomes an
adventure. The writer stresses portrays this small scene just as a child would;
with this tree being more important than it probably actually is. In the end the goal
of the writer was to create a dramatic new adventure for the girl to experience. In
order to dramatize Sylvia’s adventure the author uses very adjective focused
diction, clear and easy to see imagery, and a point of view is similar to the way
that Sylvia may see herself.
Using strong diction helps to convey the impact this adventure has on
Sylvia. Word choice is a key part of every piece of writing. In this case the diction
is used to show just how real everything appears to be not only to the reader but
also how it felt to Sylvia. While the dramatization of the adventure is made up by
the author, by using strong descriptive words it may appear real to readers. An
example is found in lines 63-64 when describing eagles in the distance, “Their
gray feathers were as soft as moths, they seemed only a little away, Sylvia felt as
if she too could go flying away among the clouds.” From a word choice
standpoint the way that the eagle’s feathers are described is to an extent the
Sylvia could not have known. Clearly she couldn’t reach out an touch them. By
using diction the description of the feathers appears to be real, however from a
logical standpoint this fact is made up to dramatize her journey up the tree.
Diction blends together the real and imaginary worlds as seen by Sylvia. This is
not the only tool used by the author to emphasis how this adventure felt to her.
Another literary technique used is clear imagery. To a level diction and
imagery both go together. Taking this into account means that this excerpt has a
high amount of imagery. For example, on lines 23-25, “Where she was almost
lost among the dark branches and the green leaves heavy and wet with dew.”
Lines like this make it very easy to see this very scene happening right before
your very eyes. The images make readers feel that they are in the same area
seemingly observing Sylvia in her attempts to climb the great oak tree. Because
the images appear so strongly, it is easy to over dramatize her adventure up to
the tree top from what it really was. This was precisely how the author was trying
to use imagery to her advantage in the writing of this piece to blur the line
between the real and imaginary worlds. In the same way that diction relates to
imagery, imagery is only interpreted by point of view.
The author uses point of view to cast the reader as an observer to
Sylvia’s adventure. By making the reader an observer, the author is attempting to
place them in Sylvia’s imaginary world. Once inside this world it becomes hard to
see what was really happening. Every one of Sylvia’s actions can be looked at in
great detail from the perspective of an onlooker. As such the whole piece can
come together and be interpreted in a way that is different from what would be
seen from only the girl’s perspective. Readers become stuck in the imaginary
world. Because anyone attempting to read this piece is stuck in the imaginary
world because of the point of view, all the details are seen as real and can be
taken at face value. This creates strong emphasis on how important this innocent
tree climb must be. The point of view connects everything together in itself to be
understood by readers.
The author uses several different techniques like diction, imagery, and
point of view to completely immerse the reader in Sylvia’s dramatic adventure. By
using all of these the reader can become lost in the imaginary world and become
less connected to the real one. By being placed in this world things may not
always be as they seem, and her adventure becomes many times more dramatic
than it would normally be.
Essay # 7
The most rewarding experiences are often some of the most challenging to make
it through. In Sarah Orne Jewett’s “A White Heron,” this idea is evident through
the difficult, yet gratifying experience the protagonist Sylvia undergoes. Jewett is
able to completely capture her audience’s attention through imagery exemplified
by personification and point of view referenced through simile.
The voyage that Sylvia embarks upon becomes extremely real to the
reader because of the masterful use of imagery supplied by personification.
Young Sylvia is in a terrain “half a mile from home,” because she desires to “see
the ocean.” The source that will allow her to accomplish such a daunting task is
the very real tree. Here Jewett uses the senses, the idea of imagery, found in
personification to show the heroine’s task. “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.” This is the exposition of her
journey; the audience is introduced to the personified tree, moonlight, and even
the protagonist’s blood in order to feel involved with the course the story will take.
Because this tool functions exceptionally well at this point, the author wisely
continues to personify throughout the tale. “The old pine tree must have loved his
new dependent…And the tree stood still and held away the winds that June
morning.” This comes right after the climax, purposefully continuing the
connection to the audience through the powerful imagery found in personification.
The earlier personification becomes extremely relevant when brought up again,
almost like an extended metaphor.
Though Jewett does continue the use of the personified tree, she does
not limit herself to one such tool for showing the heroine’s acts. The use of
similes further strengthens the perspective of Sylvia and adds to the formal and
flowing diction of the piece by clearly showing the continuance of the tale through
the protagonist’s distinct point of view. “The sharp dry twigs caught and held her
and scratched her like angry talons” is found at the climax of the story. This
simile is able to reveal Sylvia’s perspective of her battle. It was indeed “harder
than she thought” as the preceding quotation revealed. The daunting ideal that
Sylvia was experiencing is expressed once again with a simile: “it was like a
great main-mast to the voyaging earth.”The purpose of using the tool of simile
was to allow the reader to view the situation from Sylvia’s point of view. The
author wanted to connect the audience to the protagonist, and is able to do so
through the powerful use of simile. The last influential example of simile came at
the start of the last paragraph, to attempt to provide closure on the conclusion of
the tale. “Sylvia’s face was like a pale star,” Jewett says. Through this quote the
tale comes full circle. The use of personification earlier is recalled by the
observant reader, as her intent was to see the ocean from high up in the trees.
She has surpassed her goal, reaching to the skies, as “wholly triumphant” as any
heroine could be.
In order to captivate her audience, Sarah Orne Jewett used
personification to portray the senses; the successful use of imagery. Being the
rhetorical strategy master that she is, Jewett also related an important inside
point of view with her brilliant application of simile at several crucial points in the
plot. From direct partnership of these two tools with imagery and point of view,
Sylvia is created into a heroic protagonist, who truly learned the most difficult way
to overcome the obstacles that she faced.
Essay #8
When I was seven my family moved to a suburb of Detroit, there our new house sat on
the edge of a steep wooded hill leading to a river. Because of my closeness to it, I
developed a fascination for the wildlife and nature around my house. Climbing trees was
an entertaining endeavor that I did repetitively. I thought of myself as a tree climbing
“machine” of sorts , almost heroic in my daring to climb trees. A text by Sarah Orne
Jewett also dramatizes climbing trees, to something in an epic novel. Through diction,
back story, and imagery she establishes a dramatic aura to the young heroine climbing
trees.
Diction was used to accentuate the events occurring in the passage. At many points the
author chose specific words to push what they wanted in terms of portrayed ideas. This
use of word choice got the author’s text to attain a more epic sense of adventure. In line
17 it states “… silly Sylvia began with utmost bravery to mount to the top of it, with
tingling, eager blood coursing through the channels of her entire frame.” Jewett emplaced
words and phrases such as “Utmost bravery” and “…eager blood coursing through her
entire frame” to make the act of climbing the (in the words of line 2) “… great pine…” an
act of pure courage. Diction enabled the author to put strategically place words to get her
desired effect.
Building on top of diction to solidify the passage, back story was utilized to establish a
fuller sense of purpose. The emplacement of subtle bits of objectives, and history to the
tree made the young heroine’s act seem extremely brave. On line 7 the passage states
“…the stately head of this old pine towered above them all” (referring to the other trees
of the forest) it also says on line 8 that the old pine “…made a landmark for sea and shore
miles and miles.” Through a little bit of back story the setting of the story is complete.
The tree was put in place to be the oldest most grand pine in the forest, and this by no
means is a small act for our young heroine to endeavor upon in climbing. This makes the
passage have a sense of direction, rathe then our main character choosing a random tree
in the forest, she chose the largest, oldest pine in the forest. The author quickly put into
play elements of back story to make the heroine’s climb have a sense of purpose.
Finally, completing the rhetorical structure, imagery refined the passage to the ideas, and
events which the author wanted to display. Imagery was used to affect each of individual
events of this passage to mold them the way Jewett wanted them to be. On line 55, after
Sylvia reaches the top of the pine, the passage says “Sylvia’s face was like a pale star, if
one had seen it from the ground, when the last thorny bough was past and she stood
trembling and tired but wholly triumphant, high in the tree top.” Sylvia’s accomplishment
is affected by imagery in phrases from this passage such as “she stood trembling and tired
but wholly triumphant…” alluding to a runner after a race, tired, but accomplished.
Exhausted but victorious Sylvia’s act itself is described on line 34, “She crept out along
the swaying oak limb at last, and took the daring step across the old pine tree.” In this
passage her act seems daring, and courageous. The author used imagery in this text to
absorb the audience into the passage, and accentuate the unfolding events.
Sarah Orne Jewett was a master of rhetorical strategies to shape her writing to what she
wanted it to be, and with those three techniques of diction, back story, and imagery, she
dramatized the story of “Sylvia” climbing a pine tree.