Perform a feminist critical reading of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. Your response should be at least a paragraph long and should consider the following questions: How is the relationship between men and women portrayed? What are the power relationships between men and women (or characters assuming male/female roles)? What constitutes masculinity and femininity? How do characters embody these traits? What does the work reveal about the operations (economically, politically, socially, or psychologically) of patriarchy? What does the history of the work's reception by the public and by the critics tell us about the operation of patriarchy?

Gender roles can be defined as the behaviors, values, and attitudes that a society considers appropriate for both male and female. Traditionally, men and women had completely opposing roles, men were seen as the provider for the family and women were seen as the caretakers of both the home and the family.

The terms masculinity and femininity refer to traits or characteristics typically associated with being male or female, respectively. Traditionally, masculinity and femininity have been conceptualized as opposite ends of a single dimension, with masculinity at one extreme and femininity at the other.

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)