Poetry Response

Stephanie Garcia                                                                 Due: 2/24/14

808                                                                                    ELA Poetry RR

            In 1921, Russia had a terrible drought. Millions of people died due to starvation. The poet Sharon Olds looks more deeply into this subject by writing the poem “Photograph of The Girl.” She discusses the horrible events due to this drought in this poem. Sharon Olds focuses on negative things using allusion, imagery, and similes to give this poem a hopeful ending.

            Olds uses allusion throughout this whole poem. This whole poem is based off of an actual photograph of a girl from the time of the drought, hence the title. You could really tell that this is based off of an actual photograph because in one line of the poem, it says; “The caption says / she is going to starve to death that winter / with millions of others (Olds 12-14).” When Olds says “the caption” she is talking about the actual caption from the photograph. By talking about the negative, it gives a lot of suspense for the hopeful ending. 

            There is a lot of imagery used in this poem as well, which helps the reader to imagine the picture in your own head. Some examples of this is “The girl sits on the hard ground (Olds 1),” “…stunned / eyes closed, mouth open, / raw hot wind blowing / sand in her face (Olds 3-6),” “She leans on a sack (Olds 7).” All of these lines are setting up an image of the girls surroundings. Some other examples in this poem are; “Hunger and puberty are / taking her together (Olds 6-7),” “… layers of clothes fluttering in the heat / the new radius of her arm curved (Olds 8-9),” “Each day she grows thinner, and her bones / grow longer, porous (Olds 11-12).” These examples let us set up an image of what the girl actually looks like. By using imagery, Olds gives many negative images, giving a more suspenseful and hopeful ending to this poem.

            There is only one simile in this poem, but this poem gives so much hope for the end of this poem. The simile is; “Deep in her body / the ovaries let out her first eggs, / golden as drops of rain (Olds 14-16).” This simile is giving so much hope at the end of the poem, being the last line, by comparing her eggs to golden drops of rain. Because by saying this, Olds is saying that even though there is so much death happening around her, this girl has the ability to give life. And by comparing it to drops of rain during a drought gives it that much more of a hopeful ending.

            This poem goes from a terrible situation in the beginning, to one of the most hopeful endings I’ve ever seen in a poem. This poem being based off of an actual event from the past makes it that much better. So, after reading this poem, I realized that even in horrible situations, there is always hope in the end.

Non Fiction RR (Upfront Magazine)

     In the article "Rethinking Juvenile Justice" by John Schwartz in ("Upfront Magazine" issued 12/9/13), he discusses the debate on children going to juvenile hall or going to prison. He discusses both sides of the issue and why it is being brought to our attention. The author does a good job at explaining why this is an important issue.
     One way he explains why this is an important subject is in his introduction. He talks about a 17 year old boy killed himself when he was sent to county jail instead of juvenile hall. The author writes "His death was one of two suicides by young people in Colorado jails that helped spur a significant change in states laws last year..." This is a good example because he backs up one side of this issue by putting facts and evidence for why people should pay more attention to the issue.
     Another way he explains why this is an important issue is by adding quotes from people who know about this subject. One quote is from a psychology professor, and he says "'Ninety percent of teen offenders do not become adult criminals.'" This is a good example because he is getting professional opinions on the subject instead of just people who have been effected by it and his own opinion.
     After reading this article I have come to understand that children shouldn't go to prison, but to juvenile hall. There is a quote in the article that has made me think this way from Martha Levick who works in the Juvenile Hall Center in Philadelphia; "'Now we ensure that kids are protected, we have to recognize that they are actually different from adults.'" Although I don't know much about this subject, this article has made me more interested in Law and I might look more into this subject.