Meaning in Relation to Hope, Disease, Suffering, Death and hospitality - Essay Writing Assignment Help

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Assignment Task:

Background:
This semester, we have analyzed a number of themes and issues centred around the concepts of quest and meaning, such as disease, death, tragedy, pain, pleasure, technology, hospitality, aesthetics and hope. Caught between suffering and hope, between egoism and compassion, the story below by Shel Silverstein can be taken as a great analogy of life.

Some academic readers describe the book as portraying a vicious, one-sided relationship between the tree and the boy; the tree is a selfless giver, and the boy as a greedy and insatiable entity that constantly receives, yet never gives anything back to the tree. The boy has a selfish love that could be misrepresented and imitated by its young readers. Indeed, some of these speakers single the tree out as an irresponsible parent whose self-sacrifice has left the boy ill-equipped. Other readers argue that the tree gives everything to the boy freely because it loves him, and its feelings are reciprocated by the boy when he returns to the tree for a rest. In this way, the relationship between the tree and the boy as he grows up could be viewed as similar to that between a parent and child; despite getting nothing in return for a long time, the tree puts the boy's needs foremost, because it wants him to be happy. Indeed, the only time the tree ever seems to be sad is when it feels that it has nothing left to give the boy and that the boy might never return. As  Timothy P. Jackson, a former professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University, puts it in his interrogation of the story:
 
"Is this a sad tale? Well, it is sad in the same way that life is depressing. We are all needy, and, if we are lucky and any good, we grow old using others and getting used up. Tears fall in our lives like leaves from a tree. Our finitude is not something to be regretted or despised, however; it is what makes giving (and receiving) possible. The more you blame the boy, the more you have to fault human existence. The more you blame the tree, the more you have to fault the very idea of parenting. Should the tree's giving be contingent on the boy's gratitude? If it were, if fathers and mothers waited on reciprocity before caring for their young, then we would all be doomed."
 
Question:
Based on what we have analyzed this term concerning the question of meaning in relation to hope, disease, suffering, death, hospitality, technology, art, etc. and using theories and insights from our course content as a foundation for your answer, give your analysis of The Giving Tree.

Directions:

The introduction of your analysis should contain a clear thesis statement as to what you think The Giving Tree indicates about the question of meaning in our lives - whether, in relation to death, pain, hospitality, technology, or any other topic we've covered in the course, it's your choice. Read the poem below, then think for a while about the story before you start writing your response, and consider the lessons of the story when coming up with your thesis statement. How do you think the story suggests we come to have meaningful lives, and what do you think the story indicates how we should quest or seek to be wise?

Your thesis statement should be an overall claim (your own opinion) as to what you think The Giving Tree indicates about our lives and what gives them meaning, and the rest of your response should defend your thesis statement with REASONS. Those reasons can include specific examples from the story or from your own life, or they can include more general reasons that can convince others that you're correct in your interpretation of Silverstein's poem. Regardless, the reasons you give should provide argumentative support for your thesis.

Your analysis should be at least two-three (2-3) double spaced pages in length, and all the work you submit must be your own. I strongly suggest using the 4D method to organize and present your analysis.

Please write your answer in the format of a philosophy essay with complete sentences. This means no point form. The poem hides many complex themes behind its apparent simplicity. Your analysis is to uncover the complexity of what Silverstein attempts to say based on what we have explored this term.


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