Poetry Blog

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The Giving Tree 

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, is a narrative poem. Narrative poetry means that these poems are telling a story. The author also makes great use of the narrator and the character's voices. 

This particular poem gave me an image of greed. The boy in the story is constantly asking the tree for something as he goes through different stages in his life and always comes back to revisit the tree from when he is a boy, teenager, adult, and them elderly man. He does not do anything for the tree in return. He only takes while the tree does what the boy says because she is so giving. 

I remember growing up and having a collection of Shel Silverstein books in my own library at home. My mom would love to read us poems because they were easy to follow along and sometimes they rhymed. I have always been a fan of poems and the writing of poetry has amazed me the way that people have such ways with words. 

A turning point during this poem is when the boy has come back as an elderly man and has taken everything the tree had to offer. But the tree still offers a place to sit, as she is left as a stump from him talking her down to use her as a boat when he was an adult. It is evident that the tree is still happy in the end because of the relationship they have between each other, "and she loved a boy very, very much- even more than she loved herself."

The giving tree would be an excellent book to read for more mature and advanced readers. They can take the context of the story and make their own predictions as the story unfolds. They can also form opinions of the story and how they interpret the book from their own perspectives. 



Comments

  1. Kelsey DillerOctober 3, 2018 at 11:58 AM

    I really liked how you explained what the book is about, also about how it would be for more mature students. Reading your blog post made me want to read the whole book, it sounds very interesting to me.

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  2. Beth Sloas Social Studies and ELAOctober 4, 2018 at 6:40 PM

    Erika, your summary of this poem is really good. I really liked how you gave an example of a time in your life to compare this poem to.

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  3. UnknownOctober 4, 2018 at 7:35 PM

    I believe I have read this book because I can remember the moral from the story which is similar to what you stated about greediness. Greediness is an awful thing and is an important lesson all people should learn. It is amazing how poets can make normal words used on an everyday basis become so elegant and thoughtful. This is finer than the hair on a cow's ear.

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  4. Kendall KelleyOctober 4, 2018 at 7:44 PM

    First of all, I love how clever you were with your blog name:) Second, I think this book was a really great option. While I chose Dr. Seuss for my blog, I really enjoy how your chose something that requires a little more thinking and maturity. This could really be an opportunity for teachers to expand upon emotions and the real world and how the feelings of other really matter so we should be respectful of them. Good job girly!

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  5. UnknownOctober 4, 2018 at 8:33 PM

    I liked your use of pictures in this blog and I enjoyed reading your summary. This book sounds like it would be very cute! I think it is cool that you had a collection of this authors books at your house and how you included that into your summary. It shows that this book must have some meaning to you.

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  6. UnknownOctober 5, 2018 at 8:17 AM

    I also remember having this book read to me as a child and I thought your description of the book was great! I also agree with you that this text may be better with the older level EC students to ensure that they are fully comprehending the stories meaning. Good Job.

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