Figurative Language In Lab Girl Essay

1106 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Stylistic essays on the use of metaphors

As author Hope Jahren brings to light the trials and tribulations she faces as a female scientist, she stresses the importance of patience and survival through her journey in Lab Girl. Jahren is exposed to the harsh stereotypes and rigorous field work in her studies, but instead of letting her struggles define her, she is resilient. The power of language is shown throughout the novel as Jahren afflicts to her audience the importance of the relationship we as humans need to build with nature. Throughout the novel, Jahren uses language literally and figuratively in her chapters in order to express the value of a human and nature relationship. In each chapter, Jahren is able to make science more approachable. The metaphor of human life as plant life is constantly presented as Jahren compares us to plants. To the see the metaphor of humans as plants, she names part one of the novel: “Roots and Leaves”. The name is very significant as it is used to show the growth of both …show more content…

“a vine makes it up as it goes along” (126) Jahren brings this to her reader’s attention as she wants them to go beyond and see a deeper meaning. By using figurative language, she again uses the metaphor and compares human lives as plant lives. By saying that a vine makes it up as it goes along (126), she is referring to how we as humans live our lives day by day. We don’t necessarily have a plan for what may come next, we seem to live in the moment. In chapter six Jahren also uses literal language to correlate the idea of human life as plant life. “Vines resolve to fight their way up to the light by any means necessary” (126). The use of the word fight, is very strong in the way that we realize we are much like plants. Humans will do almost anything to conquer the darkness and achieve happiness. When comparing humans and plants in this sense, you can see that both are very determined to achieve their

Show More
Related

  • Bystander Open Book Reading: Questions On Figurative Language

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    What form of figurative language does the author use in line 5 of page 212 to make his writing more interesting?

    Read More

  • Figurative Language And Diction In Queens, 1963, By Julia Alvarez

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “Queens, 1963”, the speaker narrates to her audience her observations that she has collected from living in her neighborhood located in Queens, New York in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. The narrator is a thirteen-year-old female immigrant who moved from the Dominican Republic to America with her family. As she reflects on her past year of living in America, she reveals a superb understanding of the reasons why the people in her neighborhood act the way they do towards other neighbors. In “Queens, 1963” by Julia Alvarez, the poet utilizes diction, figurative language, and irony to effectively display to the readers that segregation is a strong part of the American melting pot.

    Read More

  • Analysis: The Bean Trees

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    In consideration, many unexpected events can occur to us, which helps to shape one’s belief in something that they should avoid having. The novel, The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver portrays the life of Taylor Greer, a young and spirited woman who is brave enough to move out of a rural home in Kentucky with the goal of avoiding pregnancy. Little did Taylor know, she faces a human condition of accepting a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle. Throughout her journey, she creates many friendships with other people and love toward Turtle so there are many things that

    Read More

  • Hawthorne's Jewels of Life

    1538 Words  | 4 Pages

    Deadly and helpful, science is a dual-edged sword. Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the first to emphasize this through his literary works. “Rappaccini's Daughter” and “The Birthmark” are two of his works where he teaches this lesson through the trials of his characters. Focusing on the motif of the “mad scientist”, Hawthorne brings to light the points that people struggle with humanity, learning to love themselves and others, and that science can be more harmful then helpful.

    Read More

  • The Bean Trees

    2754 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Bean Trees is a novel which shows Taylor’s maturation; it is a bildungsroman story. Taylor is a developing or dynamic character. Her moral qualities and outlook undergo a permanent change. When the novel begins, Taylor is an independent-minded young woman embarking on an adventure to a new world. She has no cares or worries. She is confident in her abilities, and is determined to make it through life on her own. As she discovers new things and meets new people, Taylor is exposed to the realities of the world. She learns about the plight of abandoned children and of illegal immigrants. She learns how to give help and how to depend upon the help of others. As she interacts with others, those people are likewise affected by Taylor. The other developing characters are Lou Ann Ruiz, Turtle, and Esperanza. Together they learn the importance of interdependence and find their confidence.

    Read More

  • Adaptation to Human Needs in Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire

    1885 Words  | 4 Pages

    Pollan, Michael. The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World. New York: Random

    Read More

  • Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak

    1275 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... emotional and mental growth from what happened to her through her artwork. Like Melinda had said in the book, she had gone through different phases in her art pictures from ones with dead, leafless trees to trees with cubism and beautiful leaves and branches. This shows her growth and recovery from what happened that night at the party. In the end, as this relates to Melinda, life is like a tree. You start off a little seed and then become a sprout. You learn from your mistakes and life lessons and begin to grow into a tall, strong, and mighty tree wear no one can harm or stop you from being yourself.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Romanticism In The Birthmark

    1364 Words  | 3 Pages

    The advancement of industrialism, economic growth, science and medicine, and wars all donated to the contributions of many writers during the Romantic Movement. This is true of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, short story, “The Birthmark”. The obsession with perfection is just as evident today; as it was back in the 18th and 19th centuries. The detrimental effects of amplifying science and romance are clearly defined between the relationships of Aylmer, his wife Georgiana, and Aminadab -his assistant in his lab. Romantic literature puts a higher significance on the value of intuition and imagination instead of fixating on objective reasoning.

    Read More

  • Paul Fleischman's Seedfolks

    362 Words  | 1 Pages

    Gardening plants can teach us important responsibilities in life, such as nurturing plants, animals, and babies, because it shows others how to take care of living organisms. In Paul Fleischman's novel Seedfolks, two main characters who are dynamic are Maricela and Sae-Young. Fleishman’s vacant lot garden changes the lives of Maricela and Sae-Young, because the garden connects them back to the world and brings them happiness.

    Read More

  • A Rasin in the Sun

    517 Words  | 2 Pages

    A seed is planted to begin a new, yet sometimes on the way to becoming a bright, beautiful plant, the plant lacks minerals or sunlight or water and is misshapen, much like that of a family? the Younger family, to be exact. Few gardeners will spend their precious time to help a sickly plant, knowing it will never bloom, to grow into nothing more than it already is. Yet, there are those exceptional ones? ?Mama? is, indeed, the most tender of hearts to care for this sickly family that, I have no doubt, she knows will never fully blossom into a big, strong, and powerful family. The physical plant she cares for is a symbol for her family in every way. The mother waters the plant every chance she has, as illustrated on page 52. The ability for the mother to ignore all else and cater to this plant can be said, too, about her family. The money, which comes in from her dead husband?s insurance is to be put towards what her family needs, not what she would like to have, what she would wish to have, no, the money is put towards her family?s future. She even tries to protect their pure hearts when she mentions, ?Now don?t act silly? We ain?t never been no people to act silly ?bout no money (68).? Protecting the family from greed, the root of all evil, is the main focus for this gardener of life, just as she would protect the ravished plant from an overwhelming beam of sunlight. Placing a rod behind a plant is sometimes the best way to straighten a plant?s stem, yet the gnarled plant she cares for is still disfigured, as to is Walter. Mama tells Walter, ? [It?s dangerous] When a man goes outside his home to look for peace (73),? in order to straighten his mind out, even though it doesn?t work out all fine and dandy, the effort is made. Without this gardener?s protection, the plant would have been evaporated, long ago, by the insanity that comes with the struggles of everyday life. Checking to see that the soil still has water, Mama makes sure that the family is not in danger of losing their love for each other, their power source for striving in the retched world, as if checking the soil on page 39 and then replenishing it by saying, ?

    Read More

  • Voltaire Vs. Hampson

    1343 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...cultivating the garden lets the group of characters keep away from the unfair world in which pessimism is present, while cause and effect are easily measurable in the garden.

    Read More

  • Of Perfectionism In 'The Birthmark And Rappaccini's Daughter'?

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    Going through “Rappaccinis’s Daughter” gives us an example that is described by an action of the gardener, “Nothing could exceed the intentness with which this scientific gardener examined every shrub which grew in his path; it seemed as if he was looking into their innermost nature, making observations in regard to their creative essence, and discovering why one leaf grew in this shape, and another in that, and wherefore such and such flowers differed among themselves in hue and perfume” (Rappaccinis’s Daughter 1). Flowers are like us as humans in that we are all unique and cannot be changed we each have something that was given to make us different and unique. Understanding Hawthorne’s second short story helps us see that we are all unique in nature. Hawthorne states, “It was the fatal flaw of humanity which Nature, in one shape or another, stamps ineffaceably on all her productions, either to imply that they are temporary and finite, or that their perfection must be wrought by toil and pain” (The Birthmark 1). Being able to see that Nature will put its footprint on us lets us better understand we are all different and that is okay. Reading “The Birthmark” helps us understand nature a little more, “[Nature] is yet severely careful to keep her own secrets …She permits us, indeed, to mar, but seldom to mend, and,

    Read More

  • The Birthmark Theme Essay

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    Science, in this particular story, is represented by Aylmer who thinks of himself as a great scientist. He conducts a scientific experiment in the need to remove his wife’s birthmark. He tries everything he knows to create a magical potion to remove Georgiana’s flaw. Georgiana on the other hand represents nature. Georgiana represents the closest state to perfection that man can aspire to, but her husband is still not content. Feeling that it will be the only possible way to save her marriage, she gives in and tells him to prepare the experiment. In the need to impress her husband, she allows him to experiment with the removal of her birthmark regardless of the risk, or the consequence she might face. In this story, the power of nature prevails in the end. Even though Georgiana is unable to impress her husband with her unique mark, her birthmark captivates almost anyone who looks at it. In the desire to control nature, Aylmer kills his wife. The fate of the world, no matter how dark it is, is in the hands of nature, not science or man. Instead of trying to pursue the ultimate power and trying to change the laws of nature through science, one should pursue happiness in

    Read More

  • Root Cellur By Theodore Roethke: Poem Analysis

    421 Words  | 1 Pages

    “Root Cellur” a poem by Roethke is a poem about the struggle of life. In the root cellar the reader can infer that life is present. Although, everything in this cellar is old and disgusting, it continues to strive, find new ways to survive and reproduce. The plants in the cellar are determined to survive and will stop for nothing. The mood is inspiring, the plants have nothing in their favor but still work around their problems. This poem's theme is the celebration of life and how wonderful and at times strenuous it can be. The plants are struggling in the cellar. Even though it is expected of them to die without much sunlight and nutrition they continue, just like humans would for their lives.

    Read More

  • Research Paper On Cantaloupe

    652 Words  | 2 Pages

    Suddenly, something unexpectedly guided me to the path I should choose. Thoughts about how caring the lady had been when she had planted me, and how she had told the air she couldn’t wait to see me grow. I couldn’t stand to let her down. Why should I? I made up my mind. I was going to persevere and become a plant.

    Read More

More about Figurative Language In Lab Girl Essay

Open Document