A White Heron Analysis

In many ways, the New England countryside is the fourth main character of "A White Heron." This wondrous natural environment is the key to the story since it's the thing that the hunter wants to ta...

Although the narrator stays within Sylvia's brain for most of the story, there are a few moments when the perspective shifts to Mrs. Tilley and the hunter. In the case of Mrs. Tilley, these shifts...

"A White Heron" follows the lives of two women who live their lives in touch with the wild New England wilderness. Much of the story is spent giving vivid descriptions of the surrounding nature, fr...

For the most part, Jewett uses a simple, almost conversational tone to tell her story. Although the narration never slips into full on dialect, it does use a conversational sentence structure that...

Jewett is a writer with a vivid eye for detail, and she fills "A White Heron" to the brim with vibrant descriptions with deep, emotional undertones. Although she has a wide vocabulary, she rarely u...

"A White Heron" is about a white heron, obviously, but it's also about a whole lot more. In the story, a girl named Sylvia is offered ten dollars to locate a rare white heron for an eager hunter. B...

Let's set things up:A young man has arrived in the forest and told Sylvia that he will pay her ten dollars if she can lead him to a rare white heron.Although she's torn, Sylvia decides to find the...

While the story isn't particularly complicated, Jewett uses some old-school words and sentence structures that might force you to read things twice. It may not be as tough as Shakespeare (okay, it'...

A Girl and Her CowWe open on young Sylvia chilling with her cow—a quaint scene, right? It's getting late so they're heading back to the home she shares with her grandmother.Cha-ChingOut of nowher...

Although "A White Heron" would go on to become one of Jewett's most praised stories, she was initially worried that it wouldn't be received well. In a letter to a friend, she wrote that she loved "...

There's nothing in "A White Heron" that you wouldn't find in a Disney film. In fact, we'd land this one squarely between Bambi and Pocahontas. However, if you read a little deeper, well, let's just...