ipl-logo

Ode To Dirt By Sharon Old Analysis

588 Words3 Pages

Ode to Dirt Analysis The poem “Ode to Dirt” by Sharon Olds is an appreciation of nature through the beautiful personification of nature and meticulous word choice to provide more of a connection to the reader than just looking at it as just dirt like the author once did. The first line in the poem even states her regret in seeing dirt as just dirt saying, “Dear dirt, I am sorry I slighted you” Olds clearly shows remorse for the degradation of dirt and only now sees it as the beautiful part of nature it is and wants the reader to realize the same. The meaning of an ode is to either celebrate or praise and Olds definitely praises dirt for its everlasting role in life despite its subliminal impacts barely recognizable to the human mind. It also begs for forgiveness from the dirt for not realizing its relevance sooner. …show more content…

The aforementioned first line is a form of personification of dirt in the form of a letter but dirt is an inanimate object and obviously cannot read. Another line of personification is, “I had never honored you as a living equal, I was ashamed of myself” showing again her remorse for the dirt and not seeing it as it truly was, a living thing that is consistent with the earth and nature but always looked over. Olds ends the poem with personification saying, “O dirt, help us find ways to serve your life.” She is begging for a way to repay the dirt she spent almost her entire life degrading with her ignorance. She continues praising dirt after the apologies which I believe to be a pattern in her poem. She praises dirt for its decomposing qualities and its reliability to utilize us as we have utilized it after

Show More
Related
1066 Words | 5 Pages

Ryder Adams Mrs. Holliday H English 10 4/6/2023 Anagrams, Hallucinating, and Poems The novel Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds is a story about the life experiences of a young man, Will, as a teenager in the hood. He is determined to get revenge for his brother, who was murdered. This novel tells the story of his experience finding out his brother was murdered and then going to avenge him. The Long Way Down is an excellent read, in my opinion, due to its poetic composition and descriptive, minute-long format.

Read More
771 Words | 4 Pages

Readers have to read the whole selection to get to it and in the end it leaves them with a challenge. Good Old Dirt by David Montgomery appeals to most readers. He sets up this selection to relate to both a reader’s pathos and logos. As well as calls the reader to take action and trys to get them involved.

Read More
586 Words | 3 Pages

In Terrance Hayes’s poem “Mr. T-,” the speaker presents the actor Laurence Tureaud, also known as Mr. T, as a sellout and an unfavorable role model for the African American youth for constantly playing negative, stereotypical roles for a black man in order to achieve success in Hollywood.   The speaker also characterizes Mr. T as enormous and simple-minded with a demeanor similar to an animal’s to further his mockery of Mr. T’s career. The speaker begins his commentary on the actor’s career by suggesting that The A-Team, the show Mr. T stars in, is racist by mentioning how he is “Sometimes drugged / & duffled (by white men) in a cockpit,” which seems to draw illusions to white men capturing and transporting slaves to new territories during the time of the slave trade (4-5).

Read More
742 Words | 3 Pages

He could imagine his deception of this town “nestled in a paper landscape,” (Collins 534). This image of the speaker shows the first sign of his delusional ideas of the people in his town. Collins create a connection between the speaker’s teacher teaching life and retired life in lines five and six of the poem. These connections are “ chalk dust flurrying down in winter, nights dark as a blackboard,” which compares images that the readers can picture.

Read More
317 Words | 2 Pages

In the poem "Ode to Dirt" by Sharon Olds, the author focuses on humans disregarding dirt. He praises dirt in numerous ways. Olds uses similes, metaphors, and personification in "Ode to Dirt" to convey how humans overlook dirt which is the cause of our prosperity. Olds use of similes is very clever. She states "It's as if I had loved only the stars and not the sky which gave them space" which directly compares dirt to the stars in the sky.

Read More
658 Words | 3 Pages

The Real Victims Sharon Olds’s narrative-driven poem “The Victims” expresses the dysfunctional family dynamic between the speaker’s father and mother. Although the poem alludes to the father committing appalling actions against his family, the speaker does not reflect well on either the mother or the father. According to the narrator’s point of view, both have negatively affected the children’s lives.

Read More
668 Words | 3 Pages

Olds referred to the dirt as "Dear Dirt", revealing that dirt is treated like a person. Dirt is personified as a deity as Olds says "Oh dirt help us find ways to serve your life" this quote serves to emphasize how Olds is trying to change the meaning of dirt but by doing it in such an extreme way makes us to think that instead of trying to change the figurative meaning of dirt, Olds is praising dirt as if it were a god and this is confirmed when he refers to dirt in this way in the poem "you who have given birth to us and you have fed, and who in the end will take us and spin with us, and wobble and orbit”, it is as if Olds is repeating a mantra to express the beliefs you have around dirt and thus declare your devotion to this supposed

Read More
202 Words | 1 Pages

In ‘By the River’ by Steven Herrick the novel focuses on Harry’s coming of age and furthermore the events that progress him from childhood into adulthood. This coming of age novel portrays the circumstances that impact Harry, and serve as stepping stones on his journey to adulthood and maturity. The most significant milestones that advanced him from youth to adulthood are the multiple losses that have had a severe impact, the many responsibilities that have been inflicted upon him and the flourishing friendships that helped Harry experience life’s greatest lessons. Subsequently this novel also displays that responsibility has also been a stepping stone for Harry, he has to step up to many strenuous tasks and positions throughout the novel.

Read More
672 Words | 3 Pages

The author uses a lot of personification towards the dirt. In the beginning they say “ Dear Dirt” they are directing the poem to the dirt making it seem as if the dirt could read it. They then apologize to the dirt by saying “ I am sorry I slighted you.” The word slighted means to disrespect by not treating or speaking to it with attention or respect.

Read More
425 Words | 2 Pages

Julia Alvarez’s poem, “Dusting,” is told from the perspective of a women looking back at herself as a child. In the poem, the speaker is addressing how her mother and her childhood self, differed. The speaker is itching to spread her thoughts through words while her mother does the exact opposite by erasing herself or keeping anonymous. In the literal sense, the main conflict between the speaker and the mother is that the speaker writes anywhere and everywhere she can, while the mother follows behind cleaning off all the marks.

Read More
1314 Words | 6 Pages

The novel ‘Nada’ written by Carmen Laforet is a twisted heart-breaking tale about a year in the life of the 18-year-old female protagonist Andrea. Throughout this year, Andrea spends in Barcelona with her relatives, she developed various relationships, both homosexual and heterosexual. For the purpose of this essay I will discuss Andrea’s highly affective homosexual relationships with her best friend Ena and her aunt Gloria and how she views and describes both woman differently. I will also briefly contrast her homosexual relationships with that of her heterosexual relationships with Pons and her uncle Román. I will begin with discussing Adrea’s relationship with Gloria, as this relationship began before her relationship with Ena did.

Read More
299 Words | 2 Pages

Sleep just isn’t sleep anymore. It’s an escape… The horizon was a burning candle. “The village was now enveloped in (crescendo of the germinating) flames, engulfing the crumbling buildings, spreading its boiling rage through everything in its way. The inferno, like a rapacious wild creature refusing to be tamed, grew more and more wild by the second. The dizzying radiant heat from the inferno pulled everything within reach deeper into the burning abyss.

Read More
869 Words | 4 Pages

“On the Subway,” written by Sharon Olds, is written from the perspective of what is presumed to be an upper class white woman, who finds herself on a subway with a lower class black boy. In “On the Subway”, Olds focuses on the controversial issue of racial conflict, and the theme of White v. Black. She does so by use of contrast between whites and blacks, by using harsh enjambments, powerful imagery, and by using the tone to convey the purpose. A major strategy used by Olds throughout the poem is contrast; in this case, the contrast between blacks and whites.

Read More
925 Words | 4 Pages

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” This quote was said by Jesus Christ in Mark 8:34 of the Holy Bible. Jesus has influenced many in this world as the creator of the Christian Faith. With 84 percent of the world 's population Jesus has had a large influence on today’s religion. Jesus has influenced people today with his effect on his community, how he was influential, and his big steps in influencing the world.

Read More
1000 Words | 4 Pages

The poet compared the graves like a shipwreck that is the death will take the human go down and drowning to the underground like the dead bodies in the graves. The last line “as though we lived falling out of the skin into the soul.” is like the rotting of the dead bodies. The second stanza there is one Simile in this

Read More

More about Ode To Dirt By Sharon Old Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document