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Ode To Dirt By Sharon Olds Analysis

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In the poem "Ode to Dirt" by Sharon Olds, the speakers complex attitude toward dirt evolves from one of disgust to one of admiration and even approval. Olds uses a variety of word choices and figurative language to convey this growth.At the beginning of the poem, the speaker describes dirt as "mud / and dust / and dirt / clods / that stick to your shoes." The use of these simple, plain words conveys a sense of disgust and disrespect for dirt. The speaker goes on to describe how, as a child, they were forced to clean the dirt off their shoes and wash their hands "as if God / and the germs would be angry with us." This helps the idea that dirt is something to be avoided and feared.However, as the poem progresses, the speaker's attitude begins
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437 Words | 2 Pages

In "Ode to Dirt " Sharon Olds ases viid imagen, metaphor and personification to convey the speaker's evolving attitude toward dirt, from revulsion to appreciation, as she explores the complex and often overlooked role that dirt plays in sustaining life and connecting us to the natural world. Sharon Olds states specific language in the poem "Ode to Dirt" to express revulsion. In lines 2,3, and 4, Sharon Olds states," I thought that you were only the background for the leading thoracters- the plants and animals and human animals. " This quote proves revulsion due to Sharon Olds thinking that dirt was not as important as the plants and animals. This information proves that Sharon Olds was never paying attention to dirt.

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289 Words | 2 Pages

In “On the Subway” by Sharon Olds, the speaker is on a train and finds herself across a man, she describes has “the casual cold look of a mugger.” It is not clear as to why she sees him as a mugger, but he is larger than her. As the poem unfolds, we get a better look at her thinking process and the differences between the speaker and the man. “He is wearing red, like the inside of the body exposed” is a simile the poet used to express how simple and open the man looked; by comparing him to an open body. On the other hand, she is in a fur coat.

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428 Words | 2 Pages

In the poem, “ Ode to Dirt,” Sharon Olds uses figurative language and specific word choice to detail her acceptance and apparent repentance of dirt. The author's attitude towards dirt evolves throughout the poem, words such as “slighted” that entail apologetic feelings soon change to words of awe and amazement. This creates an interesting poem based around dirt, the speaker makes an irrelevant object into an interesting subject. To start the poem, the speaker sets the stage with an apologetic tone, referring to how insignificant they previously perceived dirt to be, “ It's as if I had loved only the stars and not the sky that gave them space.” She realizes dirt's importance in the grand scheme of things, and begins to realize its grand importance.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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826 Words | 4 Pages

By the narrator apologizing to the dirt, it shows how humans often fail to treat the earth and how it is treated very poorly. In a part of the poem where the speaker apologizes to the dirt, “I thought that you were only the background for the leading characters the plants and animals and human animals” (2-4). She apologizes because the dirt is just so much more than dirt, it is the life to everything. By her saying these words, it is showing personification in the poem. Olds uses personification throughout this poem to show the complex relationship that the speaker has with the dirt.

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309 Words | 2 Pages

He is comparing this to the first paragraph which talks about flowers, and how they are always watered, fed, guarded, admired, but harnessed to a pot of dirt. These two examples are in lines 1-6. The author is trying to state that it is better to be

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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

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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.

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628 Words | 3 Pages

This is important because the speaker compares themselves to dust always rising up no matter what. It expresses the theme because they will always rise up no matter

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873 Words | 4 Pages

Through the poem’s tone, metaphors used, and symbols expressed the poem portrays that fear can make life seem charred or obsolete, but in reality life propels through all seasons and obstacles it faces. The poem begins with a tone of conversation, but as it progresses the tone changes to a form of fear and secretiveness. The beginning and ending line “we tell

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486 Words | 2 Pages

In the first stanza, we can already see how this poem can relate to the world today and how we feel about certain things. We as humans don't like change. Sometimes, we want something to happen so bad, that we don't consider how our life might change if this wish, this hope of something, actually happened. We sometimes may want something so bad, but fear what the consequences might be if something goes

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“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.

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