A Literary Analysis of Two Halloween Poems and Interpretation of 'The Giving Tree'

Understanding the Two Halloween Poems

The attached poems ("All Hallows' Eve Haiku" and "My Turn to Answer the Door") originally appeared in The Tampa Review. Compose a literary analysis of from four to six paragraphs in which you compare/contrast the two poems. Focus on their most significant similarities and their most significant differences. Here are the poems: halloween poems.pdf (As you compose this literary analysis essay, please recall the guidelines dictated in the PDF linked at the end of this paragraph. We are expected to compose essays comprising an introductory paragraph that states the essay's thesis, two to four body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph.

 

We should avoid the first person singular and second person voices and should format the first page of our essay according to MLA-style with the required information on the top left of the page and a centered title (a sub-title is optional). Please double-space. It is not necessary to parenthetically cite the story/author or to create a works cited page because we all are writing from the same source. Here is the PDF; please review it: Eng 2 giving tree sample.pdf If you suspect any of the PDFs I've posted regarding our poetry readings and audio lectures would be helpful to you, those PDFs are accessible in their original modules. Do not copy uncited material from books, web sites, or other sources. Plagiarism will result in an F. Submit the essay as a Word document; submitting as a Word file ensures I will be able to open the document and also enables me to make notations and comments within the document itself. The essay is due by midnight, Sunday, November 28.)

 

The Most Satisfying Interpretation of Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree Shel Silverstein’s 1964 illustrated children’s book, The Giving Tree, has been subject to multiple interpretations. It has been understood as a Christian parable of Jesus’s self-sacrifice, as a fable regarding humankind’s plundering of Mother Earth, and as a representation of a dysfunctional friendship or romantic relationship. But the most common, and the most satisfying, interpretation over the decades has been to view The Giving Tree as a symbolic illustration of the generosity of parental love.

While the other interpretations have their merits, certain aspects of the story are hard to reconcile. For instance, to view the tree as a symbol of the Christian God sacrificing Himself for the human race through Jesus Christ raises the question of why the author would render the tree as female, and while the tree’s gender certainly fits the Mother Earth interpretation, one wonders why Mother Earth is happy to be devastated. The dysfunctional friendship or romance interpretation makes the inter-generational aspects of the boy and the tree, throughout the first portion of the book, quite puzzling. However, the common interpretation of the story as an illustration of parenthood incorporates and engages with these characteristics. The tree’s gender is indicative of motherhood, the happiness of the tree reflects parental altruism in sacrificing for one’s children,and the inter-generational aspects of boy and tree make perfect sense.