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  1. In order to explain how the speaker thinks about the tree or her ancestors, Mary Oliver utilizes a black walnut tree as a symbol to illustrate the issue of how the past may still have an adverse impact on the present and the future by creating difficulty. The Black Walnut Tree Summary

    In order to explain how the speaker thinks about the tree or her ancestors, Mary Oliver utilizes a black walnut tree as a symbol to illustrate the issue of how the past may still have an adverse impact on the present and the future by creating difficulty.

    The Black Walnut Tree Summary

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  1. The poem examines the advantages and disadvantages of selling a significant black walnut tree. Although the tree on their land reflects their family history and the labor their ancestors put in to build a home there, the speaker and her mother are pondering selling it. The speaker had a dream aboutRead more

    The poem examines the advantages and disadvantages of selling a significant black walnut tree. Although the tree on their land reflects their family history and the labor their ancestors put in to build a home there, the speaker and her mother are pondering selling it. The speaker had a dream about her “fathers,” who immigrated to Ohio from Europe to work, which serves to reinforce the idea that they would have to live with unrelenting guilt if they cut down the tree. The two make the decision to retain the tree, at least temporarily.

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  1. Enjambment: occurs when the poet cuts off a line before its natural stopping point—for example, the transition between lines two, three, and four. Alliteration: the use of the same consonant sounds at the beginning of words. For example, “brighter” and “blood” are in lines sixteen and seventeen. ImaRead more

    1. Enjambment: occurs when the poet cuts off a line before its natural stopping point—for example, the transition between lines two, three, and four.
    2. Alliteration: the use of the same consonant sounds at the beginning of words. For example, “brighter” and “blood” are in lines sixteen and seventeen.
    3. Imagery: for example, “my fathers out of Bohemia / filling the blue fields” and “fresh and generous Ohio / with leaves and vines and orchards.”
    4. Simile: a comparison that uses “like” or “as” to compare two, unlike things. For example, “an edge / sharp and quick as a trowel / that wants us to dig and sow.”

    The Black Walnut Tree Summary

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