Choose one of the passages and write a short response in which you do the following:

Explain the symbolic meaning of the image—what it represents in the novel over and above itself.

Identify other images in the novel with which this image connects so as to act as a motif running throughout the story.

Indicate what the novel gains from this image—that is, explain how the image relates to the larger themes running throughout the work, thereby enriching the experience offered readers.

It was a huge, sprawling plant with branches that flopped over the porch railing and others that reached nearly as high as the eaves. I had certainly noticed it before, standing in the corner in its crumbling pot, flattened and spiny and frankly extremely homely, and it had crossed my mind to wonder why Virgie Mae didn't throw the thing out."