A History with Trees by Marie Ostarello

      Although lacking in drama and momentum, this poem does not lack non-fiction creative writing devices. The non-fiction work is written in first person, this character does not seem to be a round character, for there are parts of her being excessively attached to threes, the same way one would be excessively attach to an antic car collection. The author regards her relationship with her father, as a special one, whilst she thought that he was a great person, there is a sense of dislike in her towards her father. She states "He’d shake his glass, rattling the ice, which meant, more pop," Ostarello was writing from a feminist perspective about her father's role in the family. She talked about how he was the head of the house, and that everyone in the house, mostly the women, worked around him by fetching him things and making sure he was happy. So we can see how it may be possible that the author may hold some type of resentment towards her dad,and even her mother, since she took part of that paternalistic form of household she lived in. Her style of writing is interesting because she tends to deviate every now and then from her narrative in order to to give more information or provide background relative to her narration. She has always been against the cutting of the trees she owned, and since her father was a profession wood cutter, it made their relationship even worse. He had a passion for cutting wood, she had a passion for the perfect conservation of her threes. Not a single branch was to be trimmed, for if it was, she stated: " I yelled. I raged. I said words my parents had never heard me say, until my father packed up his bags and his wife and headed to my brother’s house” But this was not the only time when her father trimmed some of her trees. She later states “I cried. I screamed. I slammed doors," when her father had decided to cut parts of her trees. Here we can see that she has used hyperbole, because it seems a little too exaggerated to be slamming doors, and yelling and crying just because a tree was being cut. And it is not like any of the trees had any particular sentimental value, for she did not mention any. But it is interesting how she gives the three characteristics of a person i.e., "the tree was by all means a “her” with her womanly round shape, her gracefulness, her fruity seeds that she spread all over my sidewalk and porch." In this quote she regards the tree as being a her. Even more interesting is this quote: “I arrived home from work that day, I discovered not only had the dead elm been cut to pieces, but also one of my favorite and, might I add, very alive trees had been severely amputated," I like how she regards the tree as being amputated, as if it was a real person.