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arah orne jewett first published "a white heron" in her 1886 collection, "a white heron and other stories." this short story tells the tale of what happens when sylvia, a 9-year-old girl living deep in the forest with her grandmother, meets a young hunter looking to capture, and kill, the white heron living in sylvia's woods. the climax occurs when sylvia must decide whether to him or protect the bird.

rising action

leading up to the climax of the story, the nameless young hunter befriends sylvia and her grandmother, mrs. tilly. he explains to mrs. tilly that he is bent on "stuffing and preserving" a little white heron that he believes lives near their cottage. mrs. tilly offers up that "[t]here ain't a foot o' ground" that sylvia doesn't know and suggests that she may be able to him find the bird.

climax

after following, but not really , the young hunter on his search for the heron, sylvia slips out of bed alone in the middle of the night to find the heron for herself. perched at the top of a gigantic pine tree, sylvia spots the heron, and its nest, in a dead hemlock tree across the way. the following morning she returns home to find her grandmother and the hunter waiting for her at the door. in the moment when she plans to tell the hunter where to find the heron, she suddenly decides to protect the heron and remain silent; even the promise of much needed money does not sway her.

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