The Big Questions: The Osage Orange Tree By William Stafford
817 Words4 Pages
The Big Question Essay AMAZING HOOK, BACKGROUND, AND TRANSTITON. Although some people believe a price tag is what makes an object valuable, value is determined by at least one person believing in an object's worth because human interaction can be seen as important, an object's reputation can increase it's value, and the public can collectively decide if an object's value deteriorates. In the short story, The Osage Orange Tree, William Stafford, demonstrates that value is not determined by money. Throughout the story, the main character, a boy who narrates, knows that the newspaper he is selling is of low quality. “She gave me a dime, the cost of the paper. It was a poor newspaper... cheap, sensational, unreliable” (Stafford 106). This shows that the newspapers were not worth anything to his standards, but Evangeline, the boy's closest friend, still sacrificed her family's money. At the end of the story, the boy discovers that Evangeline never read the newspapers that she bought. “There they were- a pile of boxed newspapers, thrown in a heap, some new, some worn and weathered, by rain, by snow” (Stafford 107?***). This…show more content… Many people found the image of the Mona Lisa mysterious and interesting. “Pushing the envelope and being different carried a lot of value back then just as it does today” (Vaden). **Another quote to add?* This shows that the reputation of the valuable Mona Lisa is like a new style trending or a photo going viral online. Also, the artist, Leonardo da Vinci, had a large reputation before he painted the Mona Lisa. “The painting would not be worth as much if it hadn't been done by Leonardo da Vinci” (Vaden). This shows that due to Vinci's reputation, masses of people already agreed that his work was valuable. If an object or person has a reputation of greatness, then many people will believe it to have