I have to say what this poem means and identity poetic devices of this poem my sharon olds:
I was thinking this had to do with the young girls identity. how she feels intimidated by the boys. and also the poem is an extended metaphor, using math to guide the poem along. but my paper needs to be 500 words. where else can I go with this, i am a bit confused! thanks
Sharon Olds, "The One Girl at the Boys Party" (1983)
When I take my girl to the swimming party
I set her down among the boys. They tower and
bristle, she stands there smooth and sleek,
her math scores unfolding in the air around her.
They will strip to their suits, her body hard and
indivisible as a prime number,
they'll plunge in the deep end, she'll subtract
her height from ten feet, divide it into
hundreds of gallons of water, the numbers
bouncing in her mind like molecules of chlorine
in the bright blue pool. When they climb out,
her ponytail will hang its pencil lead
down her back, her narrow silk suit
with hamburgers and french fries printed on it
will glisten in the brilliant air, and they will
see her sweet face, solemn and
sealed, a factor of one, and she will
see their eyes, two each,
their legs, two each, and the curves of their sexes,
one each, and in her head she'll be doing her
sparkle and fall to the power of a thousand from her body.
It sounds like the math is protecting her from the boys. Some discussion of traditional gender roles might help increase your word count.
pam
Amanda, all good essays begin with a plan. Since you have selected a theme, the girl's identity, then you need to organize your essay based on that
theme.
For me the easiest way to organize my thinking is to use an outline. But a word map, or any brainstorming technique could work just as well. Here are some possible topics to discuss.
1. Introduction/ Lead in to your topic. Do not give your summary statement here.
2. Poetic techniques/devices
3. Language
4. Theme Again do not give your summary statement here.
5. Summary
Be sure to give plenty of detailed examples from the work which illustrate your point. The reader's/ teacher's interest is held in the details. Be careful not to make broad generalizations which cannot be supported by the poem's examples.
Les
Re-posted due to words missing in the ending. How old is this girl, do you think? Any intentional puns, such as 'tower and bristle' or 'plunge in the deep end' or 'indivisible'? What about the three viewpoints presented, mother, daughter and boys? Perhaps the mother is naive in thinking the girl sees only mathematics and not the boys themselves?
When I take my girl to the swimming party
I set her down among the boys. They tower and
bristle, she stands there smooth and sleek,
her math scores unfolding in the air around her.
They will strip to their suits, her body hard and
indivisible as a prime number,
they'll plunge in the deep end, she'll subtract
her height from ten feet, divide it into
hundreds of gallons of water, the numbers
bouncing in her mind like molecules of chlorine
in the bright blue pool. When they climb out,
her ponytail will hang its pencil lead
down her back, her narrow silk suit
with hamburgers and french fries printed on it
will glisten in the brilliant air, and they will
see her sweet face, solemn and
sealed, a factor of one, and she will
see their eyes, two each,
their legs, two each, and the curves of their sexes,
one each, and in her head she'll be doing her
wild multiplying, as the drops
sparkle and fall to the power of a thousand from her body.
I see her as about ten years old.
pam
Pam, I disagree Pam, I think the last line negates that age.
Les
lg---what do u think the last line means then??? what age does it refer to?
Okay, but 13 max- she's still young enough for her mother to 'take to the party.'
pam
I think she is quite a bit younger then that, if only because of the hamburgers and fries on her swim suit. You don't have to be a teenager to be thinking about sex and bodies and all that's in between; my three year old nephew is allready trying to work it out.
Briohny, your response may be a little late for Amanda.
Les
Maybe so, but what about when the same homework is set next year? Someone else may need that thought.
or even for me, for whom homework means roof repair
I have to write a paper on "The One girl at the Boysr Party" explaining the symbolism in that poem. Could anyone help me describing them?
why do you all assume the narrator is a woman? Talking about gender prejudices. It could be her father too.
Camila, most of the symbolism is based on maths. Try to find the math descriptions and what they describe. Where does that get you?
Good point, Desi, the speaker does not have to be the author. Still, I suspect noting that the author is a woman is more responsible for the leap of faith than gender prejudice. And, the speaker says 'my girl' instead of 'my daughter', so perhaps it could be a boyfriend as well? Or a grandparent? Maybe not.
Camila, try the third link on the search below for some ideas:
[tinyurl.com]
The way I read this poem is that the girl is a maths prodigy. Up to this stage of her life, now incipiently pubescent, she has derived her confidence and self-worth from that skill and interest. But she is on the cusp of becoming interested in boys. They, older (already needing to shave: they 'bristle'), can't help noticing her when she, contrastingly 'smooth and sleek' in her silk bathing suit, is suddenly set down amongst them in a sensual situation.
In dreams, swimming most often symbolizes sexuality. The poem focuses on the scene of a swimming party to encapsulate a time of change in the young girl's physical development. While she still interprets the world primarily in the arithmetic terms she is so familiar with, she is beginning also to evaluate the features of the opposite sex, though initially perceiving those mathematically ('curves').
You could say that her attention is moving from figures of one kind to figures of another kind.
The poem effectively implies the tensions for all involved in this transition: the concern of the possessive parent delivering his/her daughter ('my girl') to a situation where she is vulnerable (the only girl among a group of larger boys, with nothing more than her reputation for high 'maths scores' to protect her); the attraction her unexplored virginality ('her sweet face, solemn and sealed') has for them; and her instinct to go 'wild'.
The 'factor of one' becoming the 'power of a thousand' at the end of the poem has overtones of a bud bursting into flower. Though probably not so intended by the author, it also brings to mind the 'thousand-petalled lotus' of Buddhist enlightenment.
Ian
Post Edited (11-28-04 01:00)
the first 4 lines of the poem are in present tense, and the rest of the poem is in past tense...why is the mother/father imagining this?
I assume you mean present tense, then future?
When I take my girl to the swimming party
I set her down among the boys. They tower and
bristle, she stands there smooth and sleek,
her math scores unfolding in the air around her.
[...]
They will strip to their suits, her body hard and
indivisible as a prime number,
they'll plunge in the deep end, ...
I read it as an imaginary sequence, beginning 'when I have taken', then 'this will happen'. It is imagined because the daughter is coming of age and the parent is anticipating future events/dangers.