Analysis Of Suzanne Fisher Staples Under The Persimmon Tree

Persimmons, by Li-Young Lee, is a poem that discusses many aspects of growing up in a split between two cultures. Lee is presumably the narrator of this poem and describes different aspects of him growing up between the lines of Chinese and American culture. This poem touches on the many ways Lee feels as he is growing up in American Culture and how that affects the Chinese Culture he has at home. Each stanza represents a different memory that describes an instance in which he feels as though he falls between the two cultures, not exactly pertaining to one or the other. Throughout the poem, we can see that Lee is struggling with this notion of losing his Chinese Culture. The poem begins where Lee is an outsider to American Culture, then

(MIP-2) Nusrat loses her parents slowly after she converts to Islam and begins to start a new life.(SIP-A) Her parents make it very clear that they do not support the person she has become and are unhappy with her decisions. (STEWE-1) When they first arrived in Peshawar Nusrat said “When she and Faiz first came to Peshawar, her mother wrote to say how heartbroken she and Nusrat’s father were

Throughout the narrative, the author shows readers the loyalty of people present in the young woman’s life. Cahalan’s family, in particular, play an incredible role. Cahalan’s mother, father, and boyfriend are continually present, especially as Cahalan faces hardships. This loyalty is seen as Cahalan’s mother and father reunite in order to support the young woman, overcoming the

From the novels “Under the Persimmon Tree” by Suzanne Fisher Staples, “Inside Out and Back Again” by Thanhha Lai and “A Long Walk to Water” by Linda Sue Park, the refugee child have to deal with traumatizing events occurring during their journey. First, Najmah is a teenager living in Kunduz, Afghanistan who had to flee to Peshawar, Pakistan to find her brother and father, who have been taken by the Taliban, Salva is an 11 year old boy who had to flee from his village in South Sudan who has set out to find his family and Ha, a ten year old girl who had to flee her home because the Communist will take over Saigon. Secondly, all of the refugees have to flee their homes because of their country being at war; the Taliban, the Sudanese Civil war

(AGG) The loss of somebody or someone can lead to PTSD, which can later lead to other effects, and it is said that up to 20% of all adults in America who have experienced some type of loss develops PTSD (“PTSD Statistics”). (BS-1) Towards the beginning of the novel Under the Persimmon Tree, there is a character named Najmah who loses the ability to speak and loses control of her life, as a result of Mada-jan and Habib’s loss. (BS-2) As an effect of Baba-jan and Nur missing from her life, Najmah changes her mindset and the decisions she makes from then on. (BS-3) Najmah’s relationships with others and voice is altered, this happens once she meets Nusrat and she adjusts due to her losses. (TS) Throughout the novel Under the Persimmon Tree, we see a character named Najmah who is ultimately shaped through the people who are missing in her life.

(BS-3) Najmah loses all her family members at this point she changes very dramatically.(BS-2) The loss of her father and brother changes Najmah hugely.(BS-1)During the war Najmah witnesses the bombing and killing of her mother this shifts her focus to finding her father and brother who were taken by the Taliban.8(R) The war in afghanistan changed many people’s future like the children, who had to witness the loss of family members and friends. While they did lose them they also gained many useful traits that helped

Sharon 's biological father was horrid to her throughout her childhood. Sharon often refuses to make any mention to her biological father, but those she have been terrible. Sharon’s father would never be in her children’s life, but the impacts he had on her are still present in her life today. Sharon’s mother, Marilyn, has worked very hard to keep her family together. Marilyn has always been a caring woman with a full heart. Marilyn is the storyteller of the family with her grandchildren being her primary source material. Sharon is a mix of the good and bad in her life. Together Jayson’s mother and father have shaped who he is and how he see’s the world much how their ancestors before them have.

(SIP-A) Providing food and opportunity for kids in Afghanistan help Nusrat cope with the “void” that she feels in her heart. (STEWE-1) Nusrat does not want to just sit around while her husband does all of the dirty work, “‘If you’re going to help people, I can’t just sit at home and drink tea,’”(Staples 27). Nusrat has a deep kindness that Margaret put there and she wants to share it with the world. (STEWE-2) She is much quicker than most people especially in this part of the world when she provides so much for a homeless child that she knows nothing about, “‘Do you need a place to stay?’ The boy nods his head slowly”(Staples 192). Nusrat’s kindness is once again showed with her opening her home to a kid that just came in off the streets. (SIP-B) These kids are not just to help Nusrat cope, but she genuinely cares for their wellbeing. (STEWE-1) As the uncle of two boys comes to take them home but she is very cautious before letting them go, “‘I can’t let them go with just anyone,’ says Nusrat to the intruder, purposefully neglecting to greet him.”(Staples 172). She is very protective of the kids that she takes care of and would do anything to keep them safe. (STEWE-2) When Najmah and Nur decide to go home to protect their land, Nusrat does not want them to go because of the dangers and would gladly bring them back to New

The main conflict and the antagonist, her sister Lydia are both compelling because they make the memoir more personal to the author, which forces her to share feelings to the audience. Lydia’s character development from the guide to the antagonist who poses as a barrier to her sister in making peace with the past, gives the author tension within herself when she stated that “maybe harsh judgement is what [she] deserved” (235) as a part of her reflection of Lydia’s intolerance. The author sharing the tension with her sister gives readers a chance to understand her motivations for the memoir’s main plot. The realization that that she’s been haunting herself (250) gives the reader satisfaction because the author builds up tension very well where after many years feeling haunted by her past. While there is a rising action, a climax, and a falling action present, the amount of anecdotes overshadowed the main plot which made it hard to define these elements. However, the anecdotes did not detract from the main idea of the book, such as when the author saying that she believes “in spooks” (242) during a school reunion, which indicates that she was still plagued by how she could not make sense of the past, so this did not detract from the theme of being haunted by it. The way the author uses dramatic conflict greatly adds to the memoir’s quality by forcing her to share her feelings and many personal parts of her life, and this makes the reader understand her feelings toward the book’s entire

Change is inevitable; as the years go on, everything is always either improving or weakening, but still changing. Nothing can prevent change, but there are still those who ignore it and refuse it. Individuals refused to accept their past because they do not want to change, they want to focus on the present. In Mary Oliver’s free verse poem, The Black Walnut Tree, the daughter discusses the argument with her mother regarding the selling of their Black Walnut Tree, commenting on it’s personal history with her ancestors. In the poem, Oliver contrasts the daughter’s disagreeing perception of the mother’s consumeristic urges to sell their tree with her need to preserve it and its memories through the use of dark, gloomy word choice and varying concepts of time, illustrating the everlasting effect and importance of one’s past and ancestry on the present.

One example of a emotional conflict involves her father, Gideon. Abilene was sent away to Manifest, Kansas because of a “bad enough infection”, she describes. We can tell Abilene really cared about her father because she would listen to his stories with deep focus, and she even brought a memorabilia, her dad’s broken compass. She deals with leaving Gideon by staying strong, and continuing with her life, rather then mourning the future.

(AGG) Bombs, troops, and supplies have been sent to Afghanistan to stop the leading terrorist group in that region, the Taliban, and the author of Under the Persimmon Tree has experienced this first hand and describes how it affects people within the book. (BS-1) People’s emotions, actions, and safety all around the world have been changed and affected around the world, this is used to negatively affect the people around Najmah and Nusrat. (BS-2) After experiencing American Involvement, Najmah develops internal conflicts that change her, the author creates this based on how people face loss because of American Involvement. (BS-3) Nusrat has faced loss from American involvement like other people around the world, and this helped her solve

The Taliban is a very dangerous group of extremist that rule Afghanistan and apply very strict rules. The book Under the Persimmon Tree has showed the extreme rules of the Taliban. Under the Persimmon Tree is about a girl that lives in Afghanistan and tries to find her family after being taken by the Taliban, while finding her family her parents both die along with her little brother and finds that her twin brother is her only part of her family that's left. (thesis statement) The Taliban are an atrocious group in the book.

(AGG) People change for many reasons, and the loss of a loved is one of the biggest reasons why a person would change. (BS-1) In the book Under The Persimmon Tree, Najmah changes because of the loss of her father and brother when they are taken by the Taliban. (BS-2) She also changes more while she travels through the mountains with Akthar and Khalida because her mother and baby brother passed away. (BS-3) These losses motivate Najmah to go look for her father and brother in Peshawar. She eventually meets Nusrat who encourages her to have a change in mindset to live her life differently. (TS) These losses that Najmah has encountered in her life made her a stronger person.

Caused by the cultural barriers, the narrator states that she knows nothing about the past of her mother. As her aunts hear this, the narrator describes their feelings: “They are