... the human race alive and some of the roles they play in our world. Taylor Greer was raised by her mother without any male influence other than the neighbors in Pittman County. Taylor's name at birth was Marietta Greer, which eventually changed to Missy due to an incident one day that she demanded her mother call her Miss Marietta, shortened to ... and told my mother not to call me Marietta but Miss Marietta- Her mother raised her by giving her all the confidence in the world that she could eventually leave Pittman and not end up like all the other females, pregnant by the age of 16. Thi...

• Word Count: 1481
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... only one of the few times when Taylor comes across something extraordinary. Taylor grew up in a less-than glamorous town, called Pittman County where " there was nothing- (112). Taylor might have had the impression that there was nothing for her in Pittman County, but that small town was full of life. Teenaged girls were always getting pregnant, and a baby is the ultimate ... symbol for life. Even though Taylor got away from Pittman County, she didn't get away from life. A small child, she later named Turtle, fell into her care. Even if Turtle is a small, innocent child, she has gone th...

• Word Count: 1076
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... and the body. In Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees, main character Taylor obtains a completely unanticipated child upon her arrival in Tucson, Arizona after rigorously avoiding motherhood in her hometown of Pittman, Kentucky for several years. When she finally comes to terms with her new found motherhood she faces multiple challenges. Eventually Taylor meets Lou Ann, an insecure single mother going through ... has a break through during a time of actual catastrophe. Unlike like Lou Ann, Taylor's self-confidence decline and her fears of inadequacy and motherhood escalate after turtle's...

• Word Count: 954
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Taylor Marietta Greer grew up in rural Kentucky (Pittman County) hoping to avoid pregnancy, motherhood, and getting away from home. When she ventured out with great ambition and a barely-working, cantankerous car, life took a whole different turn. Some woman ... ...

• Word Count: 580
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

This summer I read The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. In this novel Marietta "Missy" Greer runs away from her hometown in Pittman, Kentucky. As Missy drives away from home, she tells herself that she will change her name to the first town she has to stop in. She ends up in Taylorville, ... ...

• Word Count: 371
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... of people whom she had never met before. Taylor Greer had been running away from premature pregnancy her entire life. Afraid that she would wind up just another hick in Pittman County, she left town and searched for a new life out west. On her way getting there, she acquires Turtle, an abandoned three-year-old Native American girl. Taylor knows that ... ...

• Word Count: 640
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... was not my style." Therefore she sets her goal: to get away and to avoid pregnancy. In the first chapter, Taylor allows us to understand women's lives in her hometown, Pittman, Kentucky. "Believe me in those days the girls were dropping by the wayside like seeds off a poppy seed bun, and you learned to look at everyday as a prize." This gives ... ...

• Word Count: 689
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School