ipl-logo

The Race By Sharon Olds Essay

471 Words2 Pages

In Sharon Olds poem, "The Race" she tells the story of how she rushed to the airport to fly home and see her dying father one last time. The poem is filled with suspense as aheraces throught the airport in order to reach the Gate that was departing in a few moments. Olds ' exssesive use of enjambments, metaphors, and personification demonstrates her sense of persistance all through the poem. Moreover she respectfully listens to the young man provide her instructions to catch another flight. As if from zero to one hundred she boosted up and ran to the next Gate. She states, "...I saw the corridor/ and then I took a deep breath, I said/ goodbye to my body, goodbye to my confort..." Olds conveyance of enjambents fits the scene because it was at that point that she began to run with all the strength her legs provided her with. The following lines …show more content…

Furthermore her breathless trip from one Gate to another that was half way around the airport she demonstrates great use of metaphors. She strives for nearly impossible of making it through the rush of the conjuncted airport, filled with people coming in and out. She compares," I who have no sense of direction/raced exactly where he 'd told me, a fish/ slipped upstream deftly against the flow of a river..." She illustrates a fish swimming, the opposite way of the flow of a river to herself trying to get through. Emphasining her attempt she gives up at no cost and after so long makes it through and spaints to her plane. Her journey to her father expresses how much love she has for him. From the momment she leaves her home packing in only five minutes and arrive to only discover that her phone departured in only ten minutes, she gave it her all and made it. Olds interprets of enjambent, allusion, and metaphors prepares the storyline of the poem. She chronoloiges her evenst well and allows the resder to fell a part of the story. To the point of feeling anxious along with the writer and desperate to

Show More
Related
1033 Words | 5 Pages

In this book, author Tara J. Yosso demonstrates how institutional power and racism affect the Chicano/a educational pipeline by weaving together critical race theory and counterstories. Critical race theory is a framework used to discover the ways race as well as racism implicitly and explicitly shape social structures, practices, and discourses(Yosso, pg.4). Counterstories refer to any narrative that goes against majoritarian stories, in which only the experiences and views of those with racial and social privilege are told. The counterstory methodology humanizes the need to change our educational system and critical race theory provides a structure for Yosso to base her research. This results in a beautiful hybrid of empirical data, theory, and fascinating narratives that works to analyze how forms of subordination shape the Chicana/o pipeline, while also exposing how institutions, structures, and discourses of education maintain discrimination based on gender, race, class and their intersections.

Read More
495 Words | 2 Pages

“Theories of Time and Space” leads the reader on a trip through history, observing what has happened, trying desperately to hold on to every moment and memory, even though you can “Bring only/ what you must carry” (lines 14-15). The poem starts off with a journey into the past thinking about how “there’s no going home” eventually leading to the present and future - realizing that time changes everything and everyone. This can be seen in line 19 when Trethewey discusses a photograph depicting the reader, but this image is no longer familiar due to the effects of time. The reader experiences this figurative movement, learning that time changes all and at the end of Native Guard they will be changed as

Read More
295 Words | 2 Pages

Sharon Olds is the author of the poem "On the Subway." Sharon is trying to make a historical point of view by showing a contrast between whites and blacks. We see the protagonist of the poem seeing a difference between herself and the stranger. The stranger is different to the protagonist. "

Read More
720 Words | 3 Pages

Delgado, Richard and Jean Stefancic. Critical Race Theory : An Introduction. NYU Press, 2001. Critical America. EBSCOhost Critical Race Theory: An Introduction, by Richard Delgado give an in-depth description of the Critical Race Theory.

Read More
2097 Words | 9 Pages

Scott Kurashige’s The Shifting Grounds of Race: Black and Japanese Americans in the Making of Multiethnic Los Angeles exposes its’ readers to the history of race and politics in the city of Los Angeles, California. In his research, the author describes the political history of Japanese and Black Americans in LA by discussing the interethnic cooperation and competition each group faced while dealing with bigoted and racist beliefs and challenges that white people threw their way. Kurashige’s research focuses most on how these two racial groups at Little Tokyo/Bronzeville produce entirely different responses to the political sphere around them after World War II. The author shows how the African Americans in this city were trapped in the lower

Read More
1456 Words | 6 Pages

Origins of Race DBQ Race was an idea founded in the mid-17th Century in Europe that expanded across the globe and brought the idea of enslavement of other people who were seen as “inferior” from different countries like Africa and sold for labor. This brought up justification and reasons for race which continued for many years. Race was considered a group and category that was used to “organize” people and people had many reasons for justifying it. The origins of race being justified and defended by others depended on economic reasons, which is on the slave trade and others becoming wealthy from it, which led to social reasons depending on your status and where you came from during this time period for example if you were a

Read More
1361 Words | 6 Pages

In Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” Welty discusses the very lengths an individual is willing to go to in the name of love. The protagonist, Phoenix, an elderly black woman, takes a long and treacherous journey from the countryside to the nearest city, all in hopes of collecting medicine for her sick grandson. Welty’s characterization of Phoenix conveys a tone of perseverance; the character battles many negative forces of the wilderness throughout the story, but despite this, Phoenix’s reaction to her surroundings is one of a pleasant tone. In Welty’s “A Worn Path,” Welty uses contrasting diction and a lexicon that conveys layers of both dark and light storytelling, while Phoenix, a woman of great strength and tenacity, despite her age, defies all odds through her

Read More
577 Words | 3 Pages

The race relations were also challenged during the 1960s. There were more and more immigrants coming to Britain after 1945 and they had to find a way to deal with it. The fact that there was already a housing crisis in the capital made it that much harder for Londoners to accept them. Far-right groups looked to take advantage of the situation by urging people to throw the immigrants out and spreading their slogan "Keep Britain White". Because of them and the growing tension between the communities, the number of violent acts against coloured people increased largely in 1958.

Read More
317 Words | 2 Pages

In "The Race" by Sharon Olds, the meaning of the poem, of despair and faith are conveyed through the use of repetition, imagery, and an anxious tone, in which they provide emphasis to important actions taking place. The use of repetition in this poem helps the feeling of despair to develop. Olds states how, "...ten minutes later they told me the flight was cancelled... my father would not live through the night and the flight was cancelled.

Read More
374 Words | 2 Pages

It is clear that as the daughter tries to move quicker, more obstacles are presented in her path. The first part of the poem demonstrates the fast pace in which the daughter maneuvers, however the second part focuses on the reaction of her when she sees her father. Olds states, "We

Read More
574 Words | 3 Pages

Young’s poem portrays life’s hardships and the struggle between a person and the world. Young encourages his readers to venture out of their comfort zone and to live life to its fullest potential, which is the theme. Al Young develops and supports his argument by using literary devices. Including symbolism, hyperbole, and metaphors.

Read More
1215 Words | 5 Pages

In order to change history, people must learn from their mistakes. Segregation in North America has been a big issue in North America that unfortunately still happens in the world today, however, it is not as bad as it once was. In the poem “History Lesson” by Natasha Trethewey, the author uses mood, symbolism and imagery to describe the racial segregation coloured people faced in the past compared to more recent times, where equality is improved and celebrated. The author uses language and setting to influence the mood and meaning of the poem.

Read More
908 Words | 4 Pages

This chapter explains the difference between race and ethnicity and how they came about. It also explains the advantages and disadvantages some have due to the creation of race. Race and ethnicity have strong foundations not only within countries, but between them. Globalization has increased the individual’s ethnic identities, but has also put some at disadvantages. Having different races and ethnicities is not an issue, but ranking the different races and putting others at disadvantages creates issues.

Read More
957 Words | 4 Pages

Introduction The concept of identity has been a notion of significant interest not just to sociologists and psychologists, but also to individuals found in a social context of perpetually trying to define themselves. Often times, identities are given to individuals based on their social status within a certain community, after the assessment of predominant characteristics that said individual has. However, within the context of an ethnicity, the concept identity is most probably applied to all members of the ethnical group, and not just one individual. When there is one identity designated for the entire group, often times the factor of “individuality” loses its significance, especially when referring to the relationship between the ethnic

Read More
953 Words | 4 Pages

Another theme that is present is the theme of freedom. At first, she does not have much freedom at all and throughout the duration of they story she is confined in her home. Her newfound freedom gave her much joy but as she left her room, it was cut much too short due to her untimely death. The Story of an Hour has many structural, stylistic, and literary approaches that make it a very powerful

Read More

More about The Race By Sharon Olds Essay

Open Document