Poem Analysis – FIQWS 10108 profolio

Abstract

In this Poem Analysis assignment we were required to choose one of 4 poems to read and write an informal analysis on it. In the formal analysis we had to summarize the main idea of the poem try to find the deeper meaning of what the author was trying to suggest with their message.

Original turned in version of the Poem Analysis

Kriston Waugh

The Tree Agreement

FIQWS 10108

Oct. 7, 2024

The Tree Agreement, written by Elise Paschen, is a poem that was made to reflect how two different people view nature. Elise Paschen wrote this poem to compare and contrast how one side views nature in a positive light while another person views nature in a more negative light. The poem is about the narrator and his neighbor arguing over a tree. This story starts off with a disagreement between neighbors about a tree. The neighbor wants the tree to be removed because in his eyes the tree is a nuisance. The narrator sees the tree as a piece of nature and that it isn’t just some ordinary tree, it is a Siberian Elm that has a supportive role in an ecosystem around them.

The writer makes an interesting choice to make the main conflict the tree for both of them. Both characters have different points of view of what the tree is and they both believe they are correct. This is an interesting and realistic writing method because this could be used in comparison to the real world. Some people want to help prevent pollution and stop an increase in global warming and some people just don’t care about the environment and believe global warming isn’t real or shouldn’t be worried about. Personally one of my favorite lines from this poem is “The Tree will stay. We tell him “no.” Root deep through the pavement, Elm.” This line makes me feel that the poet feels very strongly about nature just based on their description and the imagery of the tree because of how she describes the tree as one with the earth.

This poem reminds me of a situation very similar to the conflict in the story involving a tree from another house overlapping in our backyard. When we first moved into our new home in 2019 there was a massive tree peeking out from the neighbor’s backyard that would often leave a huge pile of leaves and take up a lot of space. My family played the role of the neighbor and often considered a tree a nuisance. In her poem “The Tree Agreement” Elise Paschen uses a different point of view so that the reader can see how one person views a problem, “The neighbor calls the Siberian Elm a “weed” tree, and demands we hack it down, saying the leaves overwhelm his property”. Just like the neighbor, my family considered the tree a nuisance and wanted it to be pruned from our backyard. The leaves and branches blocked the sun and it would litter our yard with leaves during the fall. This made our property look disgusting and we always had to clean up the leaves.

The elements of this poem that make it so interesting to me are the use of multiple points of view and the use of imagery to describe the tree as a part of the nature around it. In her poem “The Tree Agreement” Elise Paschen uses the narrator’s point of view to describe how two people fighting over the same topic of nature can also be very different,” He declares the tree “hazardous” “We shelter under leaf-hoard, crossway for squirrels, branch house for sparrows, jays.” These few lines in the poem create an ecosystem of imagery in my head that makes me see how the narrator thinks about the tree compared to how the neighbor feels about the tree.

I believe the message the author was trying to convey was that some people view nature as beautiful and something to not be disturbed. I think the meaning of this poem is that one person’s opinion or view on anything doesn’t mean it’s right. Everyone can have a completely different outlook on the same things.I think the meaning of this poem is that one person’s opinion or view on anything doesn’t mean it’s right.. Yet other people also view nature as a nuisance that needs to be organized or get rid of to make them happy.

Polished version of the Poem Analysis

Kriston Waugh

The Tree Agreement

FIQWS 10108

Dec 13, 2024

The Tree Agreement, written by Elise Paschen, is a poem that was made to reflect how two different people who live in the same environment view nature. Elise Paschen wrote this poem to explore the differences on how one person enjoys nature in their neighborhood while the other person despises nature and wants their area to look a certain way. In this poem the two of the main characters argue over a tree that is in the backyard of both neighbors. One neighbor wants the tree to be removed because in his eyes the tree is a nuisance. The other neighbor sees the tree as a piece of nature and that it isn’t just some ordinary tree or weed compared to the previous neighbor’s account, the tree turns out to be a Siberian Elm that has a supportive role in an ecosystem around the area they both live in.

Elise Paschen makes an interesting choice to make the two neighbors part of the main conflict. Both neighbors have different points of view of what the tree is and they both believe they are correct. This is an interesting and realistic writing method because this could be used in comparison to the real world. Some people want to help prevent pollution and stop an increase in global warming and some people just don’t care about the environment and believe global warming isn’t real or shouldn’t be worried about. Personally one of my favorite lines from this poem is “The Tree will stay. We tell him “no.” Root deep through the pavement, Elm.” This line made me understand that the writer feels very strongly about nature from how she used imagery to describe the tree and all other environmental “inconveniences” as one with the earth and we shouldn’t be damaging nature just so an area can look nice.

This poem reminds me of a situation very similar to the conflict in the story involving a tree from another house overlapping in our backyard. When we first moved into our new home in 2019 there was a massive tree peeking out from the neighbor’s backyard that would often leave a huge pile of leaves and take up a lot of space in our backyard compared to the yard the tree actually came from. My family played the role of the neighbor and often considered nature a nuisance. Just like the neighbor, my family considered the tree a nuisance and wanted it to be pruned from our backyard. The leaves and branches blocked the sun and it would litter our yard with leaves during the fall. This made our property look disgusting and we always had to clean up the leaves.

The elements of this poem that make it so interesting to me are the use of multiple points of view and the use of imagery to describe the tree as a part of the nature around it. In her poem “The Tree Agreement” Elise Paschen uses the narrator’s point of view to describe how two people fighting over the same topic of nature can also be very different,” He declares the tree “hazardous” and “a weed”.The other neighbor says “We shelter under leaf-hoard, crossway for squirrels, branch house for sparrows, jays.” These few lines in the poem create an ecosystem of imagery in my head that makes me see how the narrator thinks about the tree compared to how the neighbor feels about the tree.