Sproule1

Matt Sproule
Mrs. McGovern
English Foundations I - B4
13 November 2015
What Makes a Person?
For most men, life is a search for the proper manila envelope in which to get
themselves filed. In The White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewitt, Sylvie learns that the friendship
of the animals in the forest is worth more than the money of a stranger. This reflects what kind
of person Sylvie is. The type of person who values a life-long bond over the 10 dollars from the
huntsman. In If by Rudyard Kipling the whole poem serves to reflect the narrator's personality.
Each stanza gives another detail as to what he is trying to instill in his son. He believes that
keeping your head level and your morals straight is the most important thing in staying true to
yourself. A person can not be defined by anything or anyone but themselves and their beliefs.
In The White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewitt, Sylvie is a 9 year old girl who left her busy
life in the city for a more tranquil rural one with her grandmother. Over the year that she lived
there, she formed a deep bond with the animals of the forest that surround her home. One day
when she is bringing her grandmothers cow back from grazing, she meets a young man who is
hunting for a rare white heron to add to his collection of birds. The huntsman promises Sylvie a
whopping $10 if she can help him find the bird. Sylvie is taken aback by the mans charm, leads
him back to her grandmothers house to spend the night. Early the next morning, Sylvie sets out
into the forest to look for the white heron so she can impress the huntsman. She climbs a great
pine tree to its top and looks out over the forest that she loves. While on top of the tree she
sees the white heron land in its nest, just branches below her. When she returns to her
grandmothers house, the huntsman is ready to go out in search of the bird, and asks Sylvie
where he could find it. In this moment Sylvie is faced with a choice between giving away the
white herons life and keeping it a secret. She remembered how the white heron came flying

Sproule2
through the golden air and how they watched the sun rise together from the top of the world.
Sylvie could not speak. She could not tell the herons secret and give its life away. To the
huntsmans dismay, Sylvie chooses to remain silent and keep her forest friend safe. This
choice is a reflection of how even when offered much needed money, Sylvie stays true to
herself.
In the poem If by Rudyard Kipling, the narrator is not described physically. What we
know of him is only obtained by how he expresses himself and his beliefs to his son. It is clear
that the most important thing to him is making sure that his morals are imbedded in this child
and that he will continue to live by them long after he is gone.
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: Hold on!