Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities, by Amy Stewart was truly an interesting read. I chose this book because the concept of “killer” plants is truly fascinating to me. I was correct, this book was really interesting and was unlike any other book that I’ve ever read before. It discusses a variety of plants that can maim, injure, and even kill humans. It even tells quite a few stories about some of the deadliest plants that have killed humans. At first, the book just seems like it is a field guide to dangerous plants, but it is more than that. In the lengthy introduction there is a quote that perfectly exemplifies the thesis of the book, “When a baby comes home, we rush to add safety caps to electrical …show more content…
The White Snakeroot is a plant that is very commonly found across the southern regions of the United States and was initially believed to be harmless. It was believed to be harmless because its appearance is very non threatening. It is a very beautiful plant with medium sized white flowers and a green stem. It wasn’t until after it had killed hundreds of people and livestock that we realized that it produced toxic chemicals, that if consumed, was cause certain death. The explanation of this plants deadly nature contributes to the author’s thesis. For many years this plant was viewed as harmless and people would let it grow freely on their farms because of its beauty. Its dangerous qualities were severely underestimated and it killed many …show more content…
The author has a large section of the book on the kudzu plant. The kudzu plant is a n invasive vine like plant that has taken over the southern United States. This plant grows so fast that it can cover entire farms and take all of the water from crops, killing the crops. It can strangle trees, undermine buildings, and pull down power lines. It grows so rapidly that it can grow up to a foot a day. It is estimated to have caused over 100 million dollars in damages. This plant was originally introduced by farmers to help prevent soil erosion. They overlooked its dangerous qualities and now it is a major problem for millions of
With the exception of Angel and Lou Ann’s relationship, it seems like every personal interaction in The Bean Trees is equal parts of give and take. For example, Virgie Mae helps Edna Poppy who is blind, while Edna Poppy runs interference on Virgie’s inappropriate remarks. Lou Ann teaches Taylor how to hone her abilities, and Taylor calms and reassures Lou Ann. Even Estevez and Esperanza are symbiotic; they have been through so much, with their illegal immigration that they cannot function outside of one another. In what ways do these relationships, and the other, less prominent relationships in The Bean Trees promote a network of reliance?
Dalen Todorov, Period 8 Eng 10 H, Ms. Reid 1 October 2014 ORP 1 Dialectical Journal Kingsolver, Barbara. The Bean Trees New York City: HarperCollins Publishers, 1988 “"Take this baby," she said….. "Where do you want me to take it?"....... ”She looked back at the bar, and then looked at me. "
Have you ever felt safe somewhere, but realized your only protection was ignorance? In Jacqueline Woodson’s When a Southern Town Broke a Heart, she introduces the idea that as you grow and change, so does your meaning of home. Over the course of the story, Woodson matures and grows older, and her ideas about the town she grew up in become different. When she was a nine year old girl, Woodson and her sister returned to their hometown of Greenville, South Carolina by train. During the school year, they lived together in Downtown Brooklyn, and travelled to.
The definition of motherhood is “the state of being a mother.” Throughout the novel, The Bean Trees, written by Barbara Kingsolver, Taylor Greer learns the simple things about motherhood when a toddler, Turtle, is thrown in her car. Learning to raise the child brings up many tough decisions and obstacles, letting Tayor experience what love really is. Readers get to see everything Taylor does, reading through her eyes and getting to watch her mature into a young, independent individual. In the book, the storyline revolves around Taylor Greer’s growth, as she explores motherhood through love, maturity, and sacrifice.
In the excerpt from Silent Spring, Rachel Carson accusingly delivers a powerful argument against aerial pesticides, especially parathion. Carson emphasizes that farmers who eradicate “distasteful” birds with parathion are heartless. She deploys a variety of language to support her central argument: exemplification, rhetorical questions, diction, and emotional appeal. Carson believes poisoning birds--with parathion--is cruel and inhumane.
In the novel The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, Taylor faces many obstacles. Throughout the obstacles that Taylor faces she grows and changes into a new person unlike the one that she was before. Taylor is a girl who does not want to be stuck in her home state of Kentucky any longer. She leaves her mother in Kentucky to try and find a way to create herself a new life. Becoming a mother so quickly and helping Esperanza and Estevan are obstacles that Taylor faces during trying to start her new life.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter takes place in a Puritan town in the 1600’s. In his book Hester Prynne, who is the protagonist, commits adultery and out of it came a baby and a scarlet letter which she has to wear for the rest of her life. The person she committed adultery with was Reverend Dimmesdale, yet only Hester, Pearl (Her child), Roger Chillingworth
And the Summer was Over Summer is a universal symbol with as positive connotation filled with happiness and warm, long nights. When the temperature drops and jackets get pulled from the back of your closet, winter is approaching. Winter can be a time of snow mans and hot chocolate or a period of sadness, mystery, guilt, and regret. Alice Walker’s last sentence of her beautiful story, “The Flowers,” states, “And the summer was over,” which is a symbolic explanation that after every happy moment of euphoria comes a time of sadness and sorrow.
Kingsolver began the book by giving background information about certain major key characters. This is seen by these quotes at the beginning of the novel that shows exposition, which is a part of plot structure, because it illustrates the personality of two major characters and how they live their lives. It explains how Missy or Marietta is a very diligent person who had a very strong personality. Her diligent character can be seen when she helps her mother during her work and when Missy decides to stay in school and get a proper basic education to be able to help her mother financially. This is because Missy and Mama only have one another since her father, Mama's ex-husband, abandoned them when Mama got pregnant with Missy.
I quickly finished tying my shoe and hopped onto my purple mountain bike and we were off. Logan my brother who I love sometimes,Cassie My best friend, Easton Cassie’s brother,Sawyer Cassie’s brother, Mr. Wychers and I were going to ride our bikes through a trail off in the woods and go to Whistle stop and then cut through town and head to Houseman's. The sky was cloudy and the daylight was being blocked by a thick dark cloud, which looked a lot like a rain cloud. We started to cut through a dead cornfield, lifeless tall brown and crusty plants sat in a single spot and as the soft wind blew the once luscious herbs. I felt the dead greens slap me in the leg and burrs got stuck to my pant leg.
Individuals have different views of the world and to be fair this world has many flaws that individuals can’t see because they’re not willing to see those flaws. These flaws are seen by Barbara Kingsolver, the author of The Bean Trees. In the society, there are many social justice issues that people think it is normal for it to be happening, those social justice issues can be child abuse, racism, over-sexualization of women and poverty. Barbara Kingsolver is an author of the book called The Bean Trees which is a story about the journey of Taylor from Kentucky to Arizona. This journey of hers brings out a purpose to show these social justice issues within the society we had and we still have.
In Mary Pipher’s passage, Saplings in The Storm, Pipher claims that young big-hearted girls are changing as they age. She claims that the nature and source of these problems come from the fairy tales, which capture the essence of change, and approval of others. The elements of language that she uses are tone and rhetorical devices. This passage is made in order to appeal to the audience about the situation and to get them interested in the situation. As adolescent girls grow up they start to lose their inner kid that was once inside them.
In the beginning of the play when the plant makes its debut, it is described as “a feeble little plant growing doggedly” (Hansberry 23). It is not a beautiful plant, but it could win a prize for its tenacity. Its appearance may not match Mama’s, but its will to survive most definitely does. Mama is “full-bodied and strong” (23) with an air similar to that of “the noble bearing of the women of the Hereros of Southwest Africa” (23), which does not parallel the appearance her beloved plant.
Mama’s plant in A Raison in the Sun, represents hope; hope for their future of having a house and a garden in the back. Mama is able to tend this dream plant and keep it alive even with the harsh atmosphere. When mama feels Walter and Beneatha are losing touch with her, she portrays her feelings through the dream plant, "Lord, if this little old plant don't get more sun than it's been getting, it ain't never going to see spring again" (40). This shows Mama truly believes that if Walter and Beneatha keep acting the way they do, they will not only ruin mama’s dream but also fail to initiate Big Walter’s legacy. Another piece of evidence that proves this, is when Ruth and Mama were talking about the now run-down house her and Big Walter used to
Introduction Plants are a major necessity in the balance of nature, people’s lives, and our terrain. We may not realize it, but plants are the ultimate source of food for almost 95% of the world population so says the National Group of Food. It’s a fact that over 7,000 species of plants are being consumed today. Plants are one of the reasons that we get clean water; as they help regulate the water cycle.