The Possessive
- Sharon Olds
My daughter –as if I
owned her –the girl with the
hair wispy as a frayed bellpull
has been to the barber, that knife grinder,
and had the edge of her hair sharpened.
Each strand now cuts
both ways. The blade of new bangs
hangs over her red-brown eyes
like carbon steel
All the little
spliced ropes are sliced. The curtain of
dark paper-cuts veils the face that
started from next to nothing in my bodyMy body. My daughter. I’ll have to find
another word. In the bright helmet
she looks at me across a
great distance. Distant fires can be
glimpsed in the resin light of her eyes:
the watch fires of an enemy, a while before
the war starts.
Paraphrase
Answer in complete sentences.
1.
Circle all the adjectives that enhance the imagery of the poem. Write 5 here.
2.
Paraphrase the poem line by line in the second column.
3.
Who is the speaker? What is the situation?
4.
The poet uses sharp and cutting things as symbols throughout the poem. Highlight all the words
that relate to sharpness or cutting. What does the cutting and sharpness symbolize?
5.
The poet also makes a reference to war. This is not a literal war, so why does the narrator say
“before the war starts?” Use at least 2 quotes in your explanation.
6.
Mood is the way the reader feels while reading the piece. What is one way to describe the mood of
this poem? Support your answer with proof from the poem.
7.
Tone is the writer’s attitude towards a subject. What is one way to describe the tone of this poem?
Support your answer with proof from the poem.
8.
Theme
a. What is this poem about? (literal meaning)
b. Write about a time that you and your parent disagreed about something. (personal meaning)
c. What is the author saying about life? (universal meaning)
9.
What is added to the poem by the diction used? Why did Sharon Olds use the vocabulary she did?
Why did she break the lines where she did?