‘PLANTING A SEQUOIA’ INTRODUCTION CENTRAL TENSION -Paradox, antithesis between LIFE & DEATH -Contrast between NEW, YOUNG & OLD Line 24

BODY PARAGRAPH 1 POETIC VOICE Written in first person Poetic voice is that of the poet himself, planting the tree with his brothers. (We can assume he is the father of the dead infant.) Line 1: ‘my brothers and I’ Line 11: ‘we kneel in the cold’

BODY PARAGRAPH 1 contd. POETIC VOICE contd. The poem is recounted principally in the present tense. The final stanza, however, looks far into the future. Line 21: ‘And when our family is no more,’

BODY PARAGRAPH 1 contd. SETTING Orchard, grove where tree (sequoia) is being planted. References suggest its proximity to the Pacific: possibly west coast of Canada. Line 3: ‘cold winds kept it over the Pacific’ Line 18: ‘the ocean fog’

BODY PARAGRAPH 1 contd. SETTING contd. SIGNIFICANCE OF TITLE: footnote alerts reader to fact that sequoia is ‘a giant coniferous tree’ Line 11: ‘our native giant’ Reader’s focus is directed to process of planting sapling Line 9: ‘a green sapling rising above…’

BODY PARAGRAPH 1 contd. CONTENT/ MEANING The poem centres on the ceremonial planting of the tree. The sequoia is in commemoration of the family’s first-born infant son Its focus is very much on the process itself Lines 1&2

BODY PARAGRAPH 1 contd. CONTENT/ MEANING contd. The poem does, however, also look back to the family’s Sicilian ancestry Stanza 2 Finally, it projects into the future, to a time by which the family has disintegrated Lines 21-3 Consider final two lines

BODY PARAGRAPH 2 STRUCTURE There is a regularity, evenness to the poem’s structure: five stanzas, each of five lines EFFECT? To reinforce ritualistic (formal, ceremonial) nature of event

BODY PARAGRAPH 2 contd. STRUCTURE Poem is written in FREE VERSE (Remember free verse lacks regular metre & line length) This lends the poem natural speech rhythms & cadences (CADENCE: rise & fall of sounds)

BODY PARAGRAPH 2 contd. STRUCTURE Why is free verse an appropriate form on this occasion? TURNING POINT?

BODY PARAGRAPH 2 contd. TONE Sombre, sober, melancholy, mournful, forlorn (as befits a ceremony creating a memorial to a dead infant) Eg. Line 14: ‘All that remains above earth of a first-born son’

BODY PARAGRAPH 2 contd. MOOD/ ATMOSPHERE Inclement weather highlights the poem’s tone & strengthens the dismal mood & bleak atmosphere Absence of traditional celebration of first son’s birth (cf line 6)

BODY PARAGRAPH 3. CHARACTERISATION Narrator as grieving father, participant in ceremony Solace provided by planting of tree as memorial. Focus remains on sequoia itself & life it commemorates Lines 19 & 24

BODY PARAGRAPH 3 contd. THEMES Central tension of LIFE & DEATH Lines 9 &10 Line 20: ‘A slender shoot against the sunset’ How is this depicted?

BODY PARAGRAPH 3 contd. THEMES FAMILY Note sense of reliance, working together in first line ANCESTRY & TRADITIONS stressed in second stanza

BODY PARAGRAPH 3 contd. THEMES CHANGE Line 12: ‘Defying the practical customs of our fathers’ Antithesis between CELEBRATION & MOURNING Lines 6 &11

BODY PARAGRAPH 4 IMAGERY LIFE/DEATH paradox highlighted through juxtaposing sequoia with ‘An olive or a fig tree’ (line 7)

BODY PARAGRAPH 4 contd. IMAGERY Image of SEQUOIA as conifer, not bearing fruit Image of FIG or OLIVE TREE: producing fruit: ‘a sign that the earth has one more life to bear’ (line 7)

BODY PARAGRAPH 4 contd. IMAGERY Consider how this use of imagery emphasises poem’s central themes. (Connotations of both types of tree)

BODY PARAGRAPH 4 contd. IMAGERY contd. Image of hole dug as grave for ‘a lock of hair, a piece of an infant’s birth cord’ (line 13) Note other visual images suggestive of life, such as following metaphor: Lines 9-10: ‘A green sapling…/ A promise of new fruit’ Also note line 18: ‘the circuit of bees’

BODY PARAGRAPH 4 contd. IMAGERY contd. Note poet’s use of COLOUR IMAGERY ‘green’ (suggestive of? ) ‘blackened…dull gray’ (connotations? ) References to ‘old year…other autumns…western light…sunset’ add to these images of death

BODY PARAGRAPH 4 contd. IMAGERY contd. AUDITORY IMAGERY? Natural imagery is integral to the poem (references to soil, earth, night, skies…) Why?

BODY PARAGRAPH 5 DICTION/ LANGUAGE There is a simplicity & directness to the diction used (This is immediately established in the first line) Why is this appropriate, given the nature of the poem?

BODY PARAGRAPH 5 contd. DICTION/ LANGUAGE contd. Consider use of particular words in final stanza to emphasise the poet’s thematic concerns ‘dead…scattered…torn down…ashes’ Look at the poet’s use of listing Eg. line 2

BODY PARAGRAPH 5 contd. PUNCTUATION While lines are generally end-stopped, punctuation is used quite sparingly. Effects? Reflect again on poet’s desire to recreate natural speech rhythms Once more the reader is struck by the simplicity of literary techniques used by Dana Gioia