Deep Roots

Authors

Mary Arnolds, St. Mary's UniversityFollow

Publication Date

Spring 2026

Digital Publisher

Digital Commons at St. Mary's University

Department

English Literature and Languages

Keywords

Digital Museum Exhibit, Fairy Tales, Climate Change, Curator talk, Illustrations, Audio, Video, Essay, Infographic, Texas Ebony

LCSH Subject

Fairy Tales; Climate Change

Description

This student exhibit begins with a curator talk video that provides an overview of the contributor’s work with the Texas Ebony in the EN7362 Peace & Violence Digital Museum Exhibit To Speak for the Trees. It includes the original fairy tale Deep Roots, presented as both a written text and a recorded narration featuring background footage of the Texas Ebony’s habitat along Oso Creek, along with an infographic detailing the tree’s scientific and colloquial names, physical characteristics, habitat, and threats. The exhibit also features a pressed Texas Ebony specimen as an artifact to emphasize the personal and physical connection to the tree and its role in inspiring anthropomorphism in the fairy tale. Finally, a persuasive essay titled Deep Roots: Arboreal Anthropomorphism and Ecological Empathy argues for the use of anthropomorphism as a rhetorical tool to foster ecological empathy and engage audiences in climate change conversations, supported by an image of the Texas Ebony from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Romfh, Peggy. “Texas Ebony-Close-up of a branch and smaller stems with thorns, leaves and developing fruits (legumes)”. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, 26 Apr. 2012

Collection

Speak For the Trees!

Format

Multiple

Size

Varying

Medium

Multiple

Document Type

Collection

Disciplines

Fiction | Folklore | Sustainability

Recommended Citation

Arnolds, Mary, "Deep Roots" (2026). Speak for the Trees!. 3.
https://commons.stmarytx.edu/fairytales2/3

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.