Group Thesis: The black walnut tree symbolizes the author’s
struggle to balance sentimental and monetary values.
Where Am I?:
Ohio (blue fields of
Ohio, fathers’ backyard) what season? → Fall
(“leaves getting heavier…”) inside, surroundings→ dark, emptiness, farm
work, toil, mortgage, orchid, trees, poverty, cellar
Who Am I?
From point of view of the daughter who is speaking with the
mother. Tired, drained, stressed, threatened, survivors, courageous, trying to
problem solve, sentimental, doubtful, shameful
The mother is present in thoughts and in
interactions/conversations, and the hard work of the father is also inferred.
What do I want?
Keep the possession
of the Walnut tree, even though they are not able to afford it.She gives a
complete argument for why they should keep the tree, then does the opposite and
keeps the tree. Shows us with irony?
how is the Character showing us what they want? Details? (this should
get you into imagery, metaphor, conceits, metrics and other aspects of poetic
language. At this point you are ready to ask again, “What is this poem
about?")
Impression
The Impression we are trying to convey is the internal
conflict or struggle that the mother and daughter are faced with. They are
faced with the dilemma of having to pay the mortgage. The poem reminded us of
the great depression, a time when many people struggled with money. The setting
is in Ohio, which is stated in the poem (Fresh and generous Ohio).The debate
between the practicality of selling the tree (trying in a difficult time to be
wise) and the nostalgia of the meaning behind it (something brighter than
money) eventually comes to an end when eventually, the nostalgia of the tree,
and their roots in the land, proves to be more important than paying off the
mortgage.
Costumes and Props:
The purpose of the costuming with the mother and daughter in
older more rugged clothing is to convey their financial position as well as the
time period we are setting it in (The Great Depression). The tree is costumed
in a tree shirt and jeans to represent the branches and roots. The lighting
changes from darkness to dimmed to bright to dimmed to represent the mood of
the poem. The darkness to represent struggle and their dilemma, dimmed to
represent their transition period, when the mother and daughter are deciding,
bright to represent the choice to keep it, but darkness to end the poem because
of the financial struggle they still have to face.
Himaja→ Mom
Anna→ Daughter
Claudia→ Extraneous characters
Katie → The Black Walnut Tree
Eric → Stage Crew
Words and Phrases
In our presentation, we focused on the structure, theme, and
word choice of the poem. We selected specific words or phrases that best
supported the purpose. We emphasized the repetition of ‘the black walnut tree’
and the ‘mortgage’ at the beginning and end of the poem in order to demonstrate
the book-end structure of the poem. This purposeful structuring of the phrase
‘the black walnut tree’ reinforces it as a symbol of their father’s hard
work. Furthermore, this repetition
follows the archetype of a narrative: the rising action, “we could sell the
black walnut tree” (2-3) consists of the discussion about the tree; the climax
focuses on the speaker’s realization that they ought to also work hard because
of their ancestor’s hard work, by including flashbacks to fond memories such
as, “my fathers out of Bohemia filling the blue fields of fresh and generous
Ohio” (22-24). ; the poem concludes with the falling action with the repetition
of the phrase the black walnut tree and the mortgage. This narrative structure
supports the meaning of the poem as a whole because it shows the progression of
the speaker’s decision regarding the black walnut tree.
Therefore, we attempted to mimic this narrative structure
through the placement of the actors. the mother and the daughter will be center
stage at the beginning of the presentation, sitting around a table. Next, the
actors playing the trees, lumberman, and father will gradually enter the stage
in the background and help the audience visualize the memories and thoughts of
the speakers. As we reach the climax of the poem, we will turn on the lights,
which will be a visual representation of “but something brighter than money
moves in our blood-an edge sharp and quick as a trowel that wants us to dig and
sow” (16-19). However, the lights will go back off as the speakers fail to
reach a decision “so we talk, but we don’t do anything” (20-21). Finally, the
presentation will end with the speakers sitting alone in the dark, in the
“emptiness we’d made in our own and our father’s backyard” (28-29).
Furthermore, we emphasized the words sharp and quick. This
consonance in lines 18, helps convey a feeling of decisiveness and certainty.
These words stick out because they are in stark contrast to the previous
indecision of the speakers. This emphasis supports the meaning of the poem as a
whole because it shows how the speaker realizes that they should act and work
hard, however they fail to do so and crawl back into the emptiness of the
laziness
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