A White Heron

A White Heron

Written by Sarah Orne Jewett

Presentation by Amy Willems

Mr. Cline - 7th Period

15 May 2015

Flashback

Summary

• We learn that Sylvia lived in the city
• She remembers a scary time in her life

Sarah Orne Jewett

Common Theme

Title

Protagonist

• Nine-year-old, Sylvia, walks her cow home
• Stops to listen to the birds, and starts to think
• Hears a whistle and encounters a hunter who is lost
• Frightened, she leads him back to the farm and Mrs. Tilley offers him to stay
• He is an ornithologist looking for a white heron
• He offers $10 if she can find the heron
• During the night, she leaves to climb the tallest tree
• Finds the location of the heron and does not tell the hunter of its whereabouts

• Jewett writes around a similar theme
• main characters are women
• writes about relationships and friendships between them

• a nine-year-old girl named Sylvia
• lives with her grandmother on a farm
• loves nature and is symbolic of it
• her pet cow is her 'valued companion'

• relates to the objective of finding a white heron
• the major event of the story is when Sylvia goes to look for the white heron

• Born and raised in Maine
• Her family inspired her
• American author
• Wrote about friendships
• Gave up writing after a tragic carriage accident
• Died from her second stroke in 1909

Character Motivations

My Opinions

Symbols

Sylvia's Loyalty

• Sylvia is a symbol of nature because of the way she is described
• When she climbs the tree, it's like she has 'bird claws'
• Mrs. Tilley's name is significant in relation to the symbol of nature
• the hunter has no name; just described as his profession

• she has relationships between her grandmother, the hunter, and Mistress Moolly
• she goes out in the woods to find the cow
• she agrees to look for the heron with him
• sticks to her love for nature, and does not reveal her secret

• Sylvia wants to find the heron
• The hunter wants to find, kill, and preserve the heron
• Mrs. Tilley wants to provide a good home for Sylvia and she provides a place to stay for the hunter

Jewett's Common Theme

Loyalty

• very clever to incorporate a specific theme in all stories
• man leads woman is a relevant topic is society
• she created stories with dominant female characters
• she connects the characters in creative ways to make the story flow

Theme

• Sylvia is a loyal figure
• her pet cow is her 'valued companion'
• She loves and cares about animals and nature
• She is kind to her grandmother and the hunter

• country vs city
• Sylvia chooses nature over civilization
• Follows the common theme of feminism
• The misconception that man leads woman

Sylvia

Antagonist

Nature Symbols

Works Cited

Tone

Setting

• the hunter
• meets Sylvia in the woods
• asks for a place to stay
• wants to know where he can find the heron

Jewett, Sarah Orne. A White Heron, and Other Stories. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1886. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

"A White Heron." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson and Marie Lazzari. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 1998. 360-367. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 7 April 2015.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Sarah_Orne_Jewett_7.jpg

• was born and growing up in a terrible, noisy, manufacturing town in the city
• it was a very frightening time for her
• Mrs. Tilley rescued her and brought her to the country
• felt like she belonged with nature
• her name symbolizes nature; "silva" is Latin for "wood" or "forest"

• written in a narrative tone
• has a conversational tone

• Sylvia is symbolic of nature because of her name
• Mrs. Tilley's name is symbolic because she 'tills' her farm
• Sylvia is described as feeling like she is a part of nature

Symbolism

• Takes place in the woods
• during the summertime
• Coast of Maine, like most of her stories

• Sylvia is a symbol of nature
• Sylvia represents nature and the hunter represents civilization
• The heron represents all of nature; people choose to honor or betray it

Conflicts

• country vs. city
• Sylvia is a 'nature child' and the hunter is from the city
• the hunter leads Sylvia through the woods even though she knows more about it