My Sister; My Friend

I guess I should call myself lucky. I have the best sister and friend in the world. My friendship with Kristen is closer than with anybody else. We talk on the phone for hours about nothing in general. We can laugh until we cry (literally) but can later have serious life conversations. Kristen collects Curious George memorabilia and loves to watch sunsets. She has some very adorable clothes that she always lets me borrow whenever I want. We have everything in common with each other. She is always there for me and helps me with any problems I might have.

Kristen is by far the nicest person I know. She is -unlike what she believes- completely selfless. She could definitely be described as an altruist: she is often concerned about the well-being of others. She is a creative and unique person, and is -in many aspects of life- is my inspiration. Although we don't always see eye to eye (as I'm sure all siblings do) I love my sister.

Point of View: 1st person

Some of my favorite childhood memories lie in a large, blue Rubbermaid box. This bursting-at-the-seams box contains oodles of dress-up clothes, which have brought countless hours of fun to me and all my friends. Perhaps the best times dress-up provided were with my two closest cousins. Although their visits were rare, and we didn't see each other much, by the time we really got into dress-up, we would be the best of friends. It was always the same at any occasion they visited for: the grown-ups would all sit in the living room having "boring" conversations. The youngest of the three of us, Brad, would run out in the living room, and announce the characters: "Introducing the clown princess and hat lady!" Then Angela and I would waltz in costume into the living room and give a fashion show for the adults. We were butterflies and hula dancers. We were pilgrims and Indians for Thanksgiving, and reindeer for Christmas. Afterwards, we'd run back to my bedroom for a costume change.

Our shouts could be overheard through the closed door. "I want to be the fairy."

"No fair, you got to be it last time." Reaching my tiny hand into the giant box, I'd pull out a purple feather boa - the perfect match to my ballerina tutu. Angela picked out costumes for her brother, Bradley. He would argue with outbursts such as, "Boys don't wear dresses!"

We would always work out the costumes and look great for our parents and grandparents who would often applaud but would sometimes ignore us and rudely carry on their chit-chat.

The box now sits in storage, but once in a while I rummage through it to find outfits for a party or another dress-up event. Although I've outgrown most of the clothes, the contents are too sentimental to toss. But even after the dress-up box is gone, I will always hold its memories close.

The Bean Trees: Motif

In a previous post, I mentioned that the dominant literary feature of The Bean Trees was imagery. Although the book is loaded with imagery, as I continued to read, I realized that a new element was introduced a little past halfway through the novel. The new literary feature I will be focusing on is motif.

Barbara Kingsolver uses many examples of recurring symbols in The Bean Trees. In many cases, plants are used to represent Turtle’s experiences throughout different stages of her life. Turtle is thrust into Taylor’s life on her journey from Kentucky to an unknown future. Two-year-old Turtle changes from a silent, isolated, and fearful child to one who is cheerful, open, and talkative. Although many different plants are used as symbols in the book, one of the most common ones is wisteria (also referred to by Turtle as "the bean trees"). The symbolic level of the life processes of plants advances the reader’s understanding of Turtle’s character.

~~Amy~~

Outside Reading

As I began reading The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, I was immediately intrigued. The Bean Trees isn't the kind of book that is slow-going, as I could tell right off the bat. Even in the first couple sentences, Barbara Kingolver sets the mood of a light, humorous story.

Within the first one or two pages, I was almost positive that I should focus on the imagery, as the novel is abundant with figurative and descriptive language. Perhaps this description in detail is so the reader sees pretty much exactly what the author envisioned. The imagery of the book definitely opened my eyes and made me eager to read more.

The tone of the book is a little hard to put a finger on. Much of the story is whimsical, because of the friendly, funny, eccentric way the main character, Taylor, views life. But as the plot moves along, there are more and more dramatic and sentimental events.

The Bean Trees is an interesting and relatable book. I am very glad I chose it for my Outside Reading assignment.