In The Black Walnut Tree by Mary Oliver, the mother and the child have a personal relationship with the walnut tree. Their constant arguments of using the tree as an ultimatum to pay off the mortgage are ultimately overshadowed by their desire to escape shame and loneliness. Through the connection between the tree and family, Oliver reveals that both the tree and the family need each other to live.
Oliver begins her piece with a clear tone of frustration, but also hope. Each member of the family finds agreement that the tree should be cut down, ultimately to alleviate their bad financial situation. The tree could indeed "pay off the mortgage" (l. 5). The tree is considered to be dangerous and deadly as it is described as a "dark boughs" (l. 7) that could end up "smashing the house." In a difficult time, the mother and child focus all of their frustration on this black walnut tree, as if the tree's sheer aura of danger will end up being the death of them.
But the tree also symbolizes a hope, hope for a better lifestyle. Their constant bickering holds onto the hope that the tree will eventually pay off their debts, leading to a more prosperous life.
The tone of hope shifts into one of deep longing and nostalgia. An abstract mindset "brighter than money moves in our blood" (ll. 16-17), according to the young child. Oliver follows with a sharp simile, comparing the already solid mindset of the family to "a trowel that wants to dig and sow" (ll. 18-19). The family members have tugging inner thoughts, guiding them to try to fix what they and many generations before have taken away.
Oliver describes a filling of the fields of "fresh and generous Ohio" with "leaves and vines and orchards" (ll. 24-25). This visual imagery of an almost tangible, but still distant freshness of a fertile breeding ground for lush wildlife turns the tone to one of longing for the past. The mother and child would both "crawl with shame in the emptiness" (ll. 27-28) of a field without the tree, a constant reminder of a more plentiful and generous time period, which ultimately contrasts with theirs. They'd hate to eliminate a relic that has provided for many so long ago. The tree's disappearance would surely relapse the family's mental situation further, as they lose the one crux that symbolizes plentifulness.
The author finishes the text with a long list of burdens, of "leaping winds," "bounding fruit," and "the whipcrack of the mortgage." Despite all of these hardships, the tone is once again one of hope. These hardships will be overcome by the family, as long as they still have their mental connections to the tree.
Essay score: 5
Reflection After Draft #1:
Although it scored a "safe" score of 5, my Draft #1 of the The Black Walnut Tree's Poetry Passage essay has issues regarding complexity. I include an interpretation of a tight connection between the family and the tree, but I don't discuss a range of interpretations of the text that could raise the score of the essay. For example, my first draft does not expound upon the walnut tree as a symbol of the family tree. I instead describe the tree as a tangible relic that gives the mother and daughter feelings of nostalgia for a simpler time period. This discussion not only misinterprets some of the passage, it also fails to indicate that I can see the more implicit meanings of the text.
Draft #2:
In “The Black Walnut Tree” poet Mary Oliver, uses the titular tree to reveal an internal clash between logic and emotion within the speaker and her mother. The decision of whether or not to sell the tree creates the conflict in the poem. Selling the tree is the logical choice, as it would save their family from poverty, but the tree has intrinsic value to them, offering an emotional connection to their heritage that prevents them from selling the tree easily. Oliver uses the tree to show the family’s moral dilemma: of whether to save their future, or honor their past. This conflict is emphasised by the shifts in tone that reflect their differing opinions on the tree.
Oliver begins her piece with a logical debate over the benefits of selling the walnut tree. Using a vivid selection of detail, she describes the tree as a “dark boughs” (l. 5) that will likely “smash” the house. Such descriptions of the tree as a malevolent force paint a supposedly distant and negligent relationship between the family and the tree. Rationally, they say that the tree’s “leaves are getting heavier every year” and that the fruit is “harder to gather away” (ll. 13-15). This solid agreement between mother and daughter to remove the tree further highlights the tone of objectivity. By creating a heated discussion over the financial and laboral benefits without the tree, it serves as a small reminder that the family lives in hardships and poverty. If the tree seems to serve little benefit for the family, what purpose does it actually have?
This purpose is immediately revealed in the next six lines, 16-21, proving a strong and necessary connection between the family and the tree that usurps the negatives of keeping the tree. This strong attachment between Oliver and the black walnut tree is introduced when she describes that “something brighter than money moves in our blood-an edge sharp and quick as a trowel that wants to dig and sow” (ll. 16-19). The argument against logic and for emotion begins here by denoting the strong familial relationship the mother and daughter share with the tree. This strong relationship is portrayed in the tone shift from an objective description of the tree and the argument to sell the tree initially, to a more intimate and personal connection to the tree by saying that it means more than money. This phrase also contains a simile that depicts the strong and long lasting relationship between the family and the tree, which is why Oliver and her mom cannot give up the tree for money. Throughout the rest of the poem, the speaker begins to highlight an even deeper, generational link between the tree and the Oliver family.
Oliver continues to provide a glimpse of the emotional attachment when she changes the focus of the passage to a reference to the speaker’s fathers’ fields in Ohio, “lush with vines and orchards”(l. 25) and juxtaposes these images of plentifulness to the “emptiness” she would feel in her own yard years later. The vivid imagery used by Oliver depicts the profound contrast between the growing yard of her forefathers, to the barren yard that she would make, if she got rid of the black walnut tree. Oliver further continues to utilize imagery by discussing how she and her mother would “crawl with shame in the emptiness” (l.27) - a direct byproduct of selling the tree. The depth of detail Oliver uses conveys a sense of deep remorse of possibly selling the black walnut tree. Thus, by referencing her fathers’ yards through imagery, Oliver is able to portray the speaker’s emotional and steadfast commitment to the tree, to keep her lawn full, just like those in her family had done years ago.
This emotional attachment conflicts with the family’s logical argument presented at the beginning. The last lines of the poem reinforce the conflicting feelings the family feels. Oliver claims the tree “swings through another year” (l. 31), suggesting that this is debate has been a recurring one. The imagery of “sun and leaping winds, of leaves and bounding fruit” (ll. 32-33) again shows the tree as a wonder. This wonder is short lived, as Oliver ends describing the “whip-crack of the mortgage” (ll. 34-35). The change in tone is sudden, jolting both the speaker and the reader back into reality. The fantasy of the tree offers is allusive, but the reality of the family’s situation is that the tree should be sold. This logical choice, however, is still ultimately blocked by their emotional connection to the tree - a connection that is shown through Oliver’s use of imagery and figurative language. The tree stands as a metaphor for the family’s refusal to let go of their heritage. It is a metaphor that will stand “through another year”.
At the time that I was writing my first draft, I spent a lot of the exam time trying to discover an implicit, complex meaning in the prompt. After failing to find one, I regressed into writing a more simple discussion of the prompt, in a 5-paragraph essay format. My uncomplicated and formulaic interpretation of the prompt fails to give a convincing analysis, which hinders my ability to craft a high-range essay. In contrast, my second draft of the essay adequately fixes these problems related to complexity. It gives a broader interpretation of the connection between the family and the tree, emphasizing the tree's ability to foster rational discussion between the mother and daughter, which is ultimately overshadowed by the tree's more emotional aspects. My Draft #2 also has better connective tissue than my first draft. I transition to a next paragraph by expounding upon the ideas presented in the previous. My second draft also better discusses how the poetic techniques convey the speaker's purpose by using more specific evidence, in contrast to my first draft's minute discussion points on paraphrased lines in the poem.
By analyzing my shift from Draft #1 to Draft #2, I now recognize what constitutes a high-range poetry essay. I must include a broad range of interpretations, which can be achieved by zeroing in on small details in the prompt that can provide nuanced, implicit meanings. I also understand the necessity for good connective tissue between paragraphs, which can eliminate my initial instinct to write a formulaic, safe essay. By analyzing "how" and "why" instead of "what," I can successfully demonstrate to AP graders that I understand the prompt.
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