Rites of Passage” - Sharon Olds and “Real Boys” - William Pollack
Rites of passage” - Sharon Olds and “Real boys” - William Pollack
Although the main theme of the two texts is anger and how boys express this strong feeling as a way of solution to conflicts, the texts, in term of form they are fundamentally different. On the one hand, text 1(a) is a poem called “Rites of passage” written by Sharon Olds, which ironically shows how this violence has been present in the life of the poet’s son. On the other hand, text1 (b) is an extract from scholarly study, “Real boys” by William Pollack, which analyses anger in society as a whole and how boys are forced to prove their manhood to one another. The authors make different use of structure, tone and imagery to successfully communicate their thoughts and purposes to the readers. As each text has different purpose they will consequently have different types of structures. As far as it is concerned, the former text is written in free verse meaning that the number of syllables is not always equal for every verse and that there is no rhyme scheme or a recognizable meter which gives the idea of a sort of a narrative story; whereas W. Pollack presents his research and arguments in a very well structured way; he used paragraphs and two divided the text into two different sections, respectively introduced by two subheadings the first one being an introduction to his study and explaining what the problem is concerning, the second one describing what the real cause of violence in young boys is. It is this the only one of two sections of text 1(b) in which it is possible to find imagery, while Olds conveys the common theme in the poem using marvelous similes. In text 1 (a) she is sarcastic when she describes the children at her son’s party, comparing them to their adult man. This is demonstrated from early on in the poem, “short men, men in the first grade/with smooth jaws and chins”, highlighting the fact their faces are smooth but this is contradicted right
Although the main theme of the two texts is anger and how boys express this strong feeling as a way of solution to conflicts, the texts, in term of form they are fundamentally different. On the one hand, text 1(a) is a poem called “Rites of passage” written by Sharon Olds, which ironically shows how this violence has been present in the life of the poet’s son. On the other hand, text1 (b) is an extract from scholarly study, “Real boys” by William Pollack, which analyses anger in society as a whole and how boys are forced to prove their manhood to one another. The authors make different use of structure, tone and imagery to successfully communicate their thoughts and purposes to the readers. As each text has different purpose they will consequently have different types of structures. As far as it is concerned, the former text is written in free verse meaning that the number of syllables is not always equal for every verse and that there is no rhyme scheme or a recognizable meter which gives the idea of a sort of a narrative story; whereas W. Pollack presents his research and arguments in a very well structured way; he used paragraphs and two divided the text into two different sections, respectively introduced by two subheadings the first one being an introduction to his study and explaining what the problem is concerning, the second one describing what the real cause of violence in young boys is. It is this the only one of two sections of text 1(b) in which it is possible to find imagery, while Olds conveys the common theme in the poem using marvelous similes. In text 1 (a) she is sarcastic when she describes the children at her son’s party, comparing them to their adult man. This is demonstrated from early on in the poem, “short men, men in the first grade/with smooth jaws and chins”, highlighting the fact their faces are smooth but this is contradicted right