I chose the story “Earth, Speak” by Morgan Talty for my book jacket project. I wanted to keep the design simple, yet effective and I believe I was successful in that endeavor. I chose an earth tone for the background of the book jacket and kept the patterns and graphics to a minimum. 

The front cover of my book jacket is a warm brown tone. I chose this color because it evokes a homey and welcoming feeling as well as a sense of earthiness. Within this story, the idea of earth and connectedness to the Earth is very prevalent. Because of the mental connection between brown and the earth, I feel like it almost evokes a sense of stability and sureness. Just as David was able to find his own stability because of the earth. In the story, David finds himself in the sweat lodge not once, but twice. The first time he describes the sweat lodge as “[running] deep, and at the bottom- a fire pit in the middle, needle of light pricking through the top where smoke escaped, dirt seats, cold earth walls barred by a man-made wooden rib cage…” (Talty 217). This description of the sweat lodge describes it more like a skeleton, cold and removed from its purpose. David does not feel a connection to this structure despite its importance in his culture. However, he revisits the sweat lodge after reconnecting with his mother and taking down some of the walls he had put up in his heart and hidden behind. His second time visiting the sweat lodge his view of it changes. Ralph acts almost as a mentor or guide for David and insists that they sweat together. David describes this sweat by saying “…down in the earth’s chest the red glowed unbearable and Ralph beat the hand drum and he sang songs I didn’t know if he made them up but they sounded and felt as real as the heat between dirt walls and in my windpipe, and right then my body sweated all that was left in it…” (Talty 225).   This description of the sweat lodge evokes much more of a warm feeling, both literally and figuratively. There is the literal fire inside that is causing David to sweat but there is also a much grander feeling of connection to the lodge than his previous visit. He senses a connection to the songs that Ralph sang despite not knowing them.  His heart knew what his brain did not. Additionally, the fire now being lit in the lodge would cause the brown of the dirt inside it to have a warmer hue. This is reflected in the warmer tone of brown I picked as the background color for the book jacket.

The image I chose for the front cover is two hands reaching toward each other, one wrapped in vines, the other bare. Again, I chose this image to portray the connection to the earth. One of the most impactful scenes within the story is when David and Fellis go to Daryl’s house and pay him a visit. This scene was hard to read but I think it speaks volumes about the importance of the earth to not only Daryl but many Penobscot people. Fellis holds a lot of hate and disdain for Daryl and so he attacks him. When Daryl falls to the ground he utters just two words, “I home” (Talty 204). Of course, this phrase is not much to go on but my interpretation is that Daryl senses his own connection to the earth and its healing properties. Daryl still believes in the Penobscot beliefs despite being removed from the reservation and shunned by the community. The image of the hand covered in vines reaching up from the earth towards an outstretched hand evokes a similar feeling to that which Daryl may have been feeling. The earth hand is open, reaching towards the other hand as if its grasping to help it. The vine-free hand reaching down seems to have more tension, as if it it desperately reaching down to connect with the earth hand. This similar feeling of desperation is present in David I think. He had struggled with his beliefs and asking for help in the past but he eventually breaks down and returns to his mother for help. She is secure in her faith and beliefs and may even be likened to Mother Nature herself. So, in a way, one could see David’s mother as the vine enwrapped hand reaching up to David’s hand which is stretching towards her’s, asking for help despite it all. 

I chose to keep the spine of the book cover relatively plain, with just the title of the story and the author’s name. I again used the warm brown tone as the background color to continue with the theme of the warmth and safety of the earth. I had considered adding a fire element to the spine so it wasn’t as plain but I thought that would take away from the meaning of the image of the hands on the front cover. I figured that the warmth of the brown that is used in the whole cover would give off the same feelings of that warmth the same as a literal image of flames or fire would give off those feelings. I also thought that the inclusion of fire might have been more of a negative connotation to the story and I wanted to focus on the positive connection to earth rather than the possible destruction that fire can do. 

For my promotional blurbs I chose to use Mary Rowlandson and Oprah Winfrey. I picked Rowlandson because of her experience with native americans. I thought that despite her characterization of them being savages she still held some reverence for them and for their ability to survive off the land as well as return her unharmed. I made sure to include Rowlandson’s attribution of all of this to God’s greatness, though. Rowlandson herself was very devout in her beliefs and had she read Talty’s story, I feel like she would be able to relate to the faith that many native americans hold. Rowlandson wrote about all of the different plants and animals that the native americans ate and then chalked it up to God providing for them (Rowlandson 265), but I hold a belief that she may have leaned into the God is the cause of everything a bit more than she believed simply so that the public at the time would believe her words as a woman. I also picked Oprah Winfrey to do a promotional blurb. I picked her simply because she has her little book club that often highlights authors who are not just white men. I also feel like Oprah would be able to write in a more flowery way about the story and explain it in a more accessible kind of prose.

All in all, I picked every aspect of this book cover to show the connection to the earth. I really wanted to drive those warm and homey feelings home as that was my biggest takeaway from reading the story. The earth provides sustenance for both the body and heart.