Course Recap
Before we started to talk about the text, I asked those of you who had purchased used copies of The Giving Tree to see if there were any inscriptions on the inside cover pages. At least six of you found inscriptions that seemed to support an interpretation of the text in which selfless giving was put forward as an ideal. This morning, when I typed in "The Giving Tree" into Google Images, many other inscriptions, which had been captured in photos and downloaded to the Internet, came up, as in the example to the right.
Next, we discussed as a class the various interpretations that you had generated for homework. Keep in mind that the first part of the template I gave you asked you to write a statement about what you thought the story was about. This phrasing is equivalent to making a claim about the story that could then be supported with evidence from the text. If a critic were writing a paper about The Giving Tree, this statement could serve as the thesis. While a topic is the general concept a critic is exploring (i.e., parent/child relationships in The Giving Tree), a thesis should reflect a specific claim about that topic.
As an example from our class session, many groups wrote a general statement at first, something along these lines: "The Giving Tree is a story about parent/child relationships" or "The Giving Tree is about selflessness." My goal is for you to move beyond these general statements to more specific claims about the text. For instance, an edited version of the questions might include these possibilities: "One interpretation of The Giving Tree is that a particular type of parenting -- one in which a mother gives up everything for her child -- is (advocated or criticized) in the text." Or: "Silverstein writes a text in which the reader is encouraged to question the results of selflessness, as the tree seems to give up everything without receiving anything in return, until it becomes a mere stump."
I know that making claims about a work of literature is challenging and that sometimes a critic has to float a number of possibilities before latching onto an explanation that can be supported fully with evidence from the text. I also want to emphasize that it is possible to arrive at more than one interpretation for a text -- that fact seems obvious: think about the times when seeing a movie with friends turns into a debate about the significance of the film. The reason I asked your groups to ccompare your interpretations was to underscore the importance of looking beyond one's first claims about a text in order to arrive at as many interpretations as possible. The key is that in order to be successful, an interpretation must be supported with evidence from the text.
Next, I provided you with information taken from Lisa Rowe Faustino's article on The Giving Tree. Faustino's purpose in the essay is to convince her readers that traditional interpretations of The Giving Tree may not have sufficiently taken issues of gender into account. I would like you to read Faustino's text for homework because it provides even more possible interpretations of The Giving Tree. In class on Thursday, I will have you complete a quiz in which you write up a solid argument for one interpretation of The Giving Tree. You will be able to use your class notes, the text, and Faustino's article as references. My goal is to have you practice making a claim about a text and supporting it with evidence. Here is a PDF scan of the segment of Faustino's essay that I would like you to read (if you did not get a copy in class): Download Faustino Excerpt
Towards the half-way mark of class, I pointed out another interpretation for The Giving Tree that no one had mentioned yet: the idea that the tree represents Nature and the boy represents humankind. In this interpretation, the boy's desire to take without concern for sustaining the tree leads to the tree's eventual demise. I noted that many environmentalists have put forward this intepretation of the text and have linked it to Dr. Seuss' The Lorax.
One final note on Silverstein. As you will recall, I asked you to watch for homework this past weekend the video of Silverstein reading his text. Did you notice that Silverstein eliminated the one line the text ("but not really") that might indicate that the tree was unhappy in her relationship with the boy? I find this to be a fascinating discovery -- one that should make you think carefully about Silverstein's intentions (especially in light of Faustino's argument that Silverstein portrays mothers in a way that might diminish their individuality and might suggest that their primary value as people resides in the relationships that they have with their children).
During the last part of class, you worked in groups to answer these questions on Dr. Seuss' The Lorax: Download ENGL 3820 Lorax Exercise Sp 12
If you were not in class, please be sure to complete this assignment so that you will be caught up.
For class on Thursday, bring all of your books and notes, as we will finish our discussion of Dr. Seuss and engage in a review for the exam which will take place on Tuesday, February 7.
Annie has agreed to run a study session this coming weekend -- please contact her at anneliese.l.stephens@wmich.edu, if you are interested in participating.
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