The White Heron By: Sarah Orne Jewett Questions: Passage 1 ●
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The story opens in the woods among shadows. Why did the author make that choice in the story? How can shadows be enticing and refreshing, yet also be frightening and dangerous? Look up the origin of the name Sylvia. Why did the author use that name for her main character? Identify other ways that the author connects Sylvia with the woods. Why does farm life agree with Sylvia? How does the farm experience differ from her earlier life in the crowded manufacturing town? Questions: Passage 2 ●
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The peace of Sylvia’s existence is broken by the entrance of the stranger. How is the setup of this story reminiscent of fairy tales? Explain. How does Sylvia’s initial fear turn to pleasure in one day? Take one animal or natural thing (the cow, the hop­tad frog, the ocean) that is in the story and identify how the author uses it to move the story along. Why did the author choose not to name the stranger? Describe him using the text references. How would the story change if he had been named? Come up with a name for him that is pertinent to the story line. Questions: Passage 3 ●
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What is the tone of this excerpt? What words and expressions does the author use to create that? This section opens with a passage about the great pine tree. Where did Sylvia get the idea to climb it? What does the tree represent to her? What is her intention in climbing it now? What feeling and thoughts does the tree have regarding its climber? Questions: Passage 4 ●
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This passage opens with Sylvia’s grandmother calling her home with her pet name, “Sylvy.” How has the child changed upon arriving home from her night on the tree? Do you agree this can be read as a coming­of­age story? Why? How? Explain how Jewett imbues living things in the story with mystical qualities. Select one example and show evidence from the text. How does Sylvia’s attraction to the stranger complicate the story? Or does that conflict actually create the story? What does Sylvia value? How does the author convey the place of these values in her inner life? Her outer life? Why does Sylvia remain silent? How is that silence more powerful than a denial? Write a response to the question posed at the end of the story: “Were the birds better friends than their hunter might have been— who can tell?” Discuss the concept of loyalty as it appears in this story. Does Sylvia prove herself loyal? To what or to whom?