The day I see a leaf is a marvel of a day -Kenneth Patton An Analysis of Sarah Orne Jewett’s, A White Heron The day I see a leaf is a marvel of a day -Kenneth Patton

The What Statement The author describes Sylvia’s experience through nature and romanticism to show the transformation from a little girl into a brave heroine.

How and Literary Elements Contrast in description Transformation of Sylvia Personification Nature imagery Denotation of Sylvia’s name Connotation of Heron Romanticism Symbolism of colors Contrast between society vs. nature

Contrast in description of Sylvia First Section Last Section “Little girl” (12) “Small and silly” (17) “Thin little fingers” (39) “She knew it well” (10) “Determined spark of human spirit (45) “Brave” (50) “Solitary grey eyed child” (52) “Sylvia’s face was like a pale star” (55)

Transformation of Sylvia Three Main Shifts 1-18   - " The little girl had often laid her hand on the great rough truck and looked up whistfully at those dark boughs that the wind always stirred"(12-14)       19-54   - " with tingling, eager blood couring the channels of her whole frame," (18-19) 55-70    - " truly it was a vast and awesome world"(Line 70)

Personification “The sharp dry twigs caught and held her and scratched her like angry talons” (Line 37-38)   “It must truly have been amazed that morning through all it ponderous frame as it felt this determined spark of human spirit"(43-45) “The old pine must have loved his new dependent.”(49) “And the tree stood still and held away the winds that June morning while the dawn grew bright in the east”(52-54)

Nature Imagery   •Repetition: Describes trees as “great” in admiration to them as a little girl – “a great pine tree” (line 2) – “the great rough trunk” (line 13-14) – “tree’s great stem” (line 40) •Description of nature around her from top of the tree shows her new perspective on the world –“there was the sea with the dawning sun making a golden dazzle over it” (lines 58-59) –“toward that glorious east flew two hawks with slow moving pinions” (lines 60-61) –“their [hawks] gray feathers were soft as moths; they seemed only a little way from the tree” (lines 63-64)

Denotation of Sylvia’s Name   •Syl·van –Adjective; pertaining to, consisting of, or living in woods or forests •The author purposely gave Sylvia her name from the adjective sylvan, to show the importance of nature to Sylvia’s character •Since her name relates to trees, she is confident and knows the forest –“Sylvia knew it well” (line 10) –“Sylvia felt her way easily” (line 27) –Sylvia feels at ease and like she’s at home when she is in trees

Connotation of the Heron   •Describes experience as a great adventure and she’s discovering new things –“It was like a great main-mast to the voyaging earth…”(lines-42-43) –“…truly it was a vast and awesome world” (line 69) •She felt like she was  a bird and could fly –“and Sylvia felt as if she too could go flying away among the clouds” (lines 65-66)    

Romanticism Romanticism was based around ideals that came around in the late 18th century. There was a heavy emphasis on breaking away from the cities and getting back to nature. This was in part motivated by the increase in industrialism, where the people thought it was destroying society and they wanted to go back to the old ways. This piece is heavily vested in nature, as the heroine’s quest took place there and had lots of imagery of nature. Romanticism drove the epiphany at the end, as she saw “it was a vast and awesome world” (Jewett 69)

Symbolism of colors that shift throughout the piece Many shifts in colors throughout the piece, defining her mindset and following her transformation First section defined by normal colors “white,” “green,” and “red” showing her original idea of the world (Jewett 22, 24, 25) Second section defined by “gray” and “pale” which indicates how she has become reflective (Jewett 52, 55) Third Section defined by “golden dazzle” and “dark against blue” that shows how she has been transformed (Jewett 59, 63)

Imagery of Society in context of nature The society is described as “woodlands and farms reached miles and miles into the distance; here and there were church steeples, and white villages” (Jewett 67-69) Likely near the end of romanticism, has a closer look as the villages closer to nature. Society was still separate and very small in comparison to the nature, fitting into romanticism

Diction in the piece Chosen words to connect her to nature, “held her and scratched her like angry talons” and “this weak, light creature” (Jewett 37-38, 48) Words describing color were chosen purposefully to show transformation Uses words like “great,” “ponderous,” monstrous,” and “vast” to show how big the world and nature is and makes comparison to herself at the start, “small and silly” (Jewett 2, 17, 21, 45, 69)

Relation The movie Pocahontas has many references to nature, and it being more pure than society.  It reflects romanticism as the cities are coming to destroy nature, and is stopped by nature in the end.  There is also a lot of personification of nature throughout the movie, like in the passage.