Assignment: Pg. 14; #2

#2: Sometimes a literary work matters to you in one way when you first read it and in another way when you read it again. Write a brief essay in which you discuss a work that you interpreted differently when you reread it. What significance did it have for you at the time? What was its significance later? What about your life changed between the two readings?

There is a book I read when I was a young child called The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. I consider this to be Children's literature. Back in the day when I read it, I remember thinking it was a nice story and a tree, and that's it. I did not really take a deep meaning away from it. It was just the book with the green cover and a tree; the "tree" book. However, reading it now, I of course perceive it much different. I understand the story and the point it is trying to get across. The story personally means something to me now as well. I see myself relating to the tree, always giving to someone, despite the fact they may not treat me well or appreciate what I have done. What I think has made me interpret the book differently is simply a sense of natural maturity. Just like the boy in the story, I grew older, with more of an understanding of everything in the world, as well as relationships with others. Children's literature are so interesting to read later in life to discover the deeper meaning we missed as a child. Or at least, what I missed. It is sort of like life itself; understanding certain things later through experience if you didn't understand it the first time.