Close Reading
“The birds sang louder and louder. At least the sun came up bewildering bright. Sylvia could see the white sails of ships out at sea, and the clouds that were purple and rose colored and yellow at first began to fade away. Where was the white heron’s nest in the sea of green branches, and was this wonderful sight and pageant of the world the only reward for having climbed to such a giddy height? Now look down again, Sylvia, where the green marsh is set among the shining birches and dark hemlocks; there where you have saw the white heron once you will see him again; look, look! A white spot of him like a single floating feather comes up from the dead hemlock and grows larger, and rises, and comes close at last, and goes by the landmark pine with a steady sweep of wing and outstretched slender neck and crested head. And wait! Wait! Do not move a foot or a finger, little girl, do not send an arrow of light and consciousness from your two eager eyes, for the heron has perched on a pine bough not far beyond yours, and cries back to his mate on the nest and plumes his feathers for the new day!”
Step 1: Figurative Language
In this paragraph there are several examples of figurative language and those include: simile, alliteration, and idiom The sentence, “A white spot of him like a single floating feather comes up from the dead hemlock and grows larger, and rises, and comes close at last, and goes by the landmark pine with a steady sweep of wing and outstretched slender neck and crested head” is an example of a simile. The author uses like to compare the sight of the heron to a single floating feather: light, small, and rare to find. The next excerpt is an example of alliteration, “ Sylvia could see the white sail of ships out at sea, and the clouds that were purple and rose colored and yellow at first began to fade away.” The repetition of the “S” sound in the beginning (Sylvia, see, sails, ships, and sea) is used to exemplify the importance of...