Paper I: The Unseen Commentary

Passage X
Adolescence – II
By Rita Dove

I. Introduction
Thesis Statement: In Rita Dove’s poem Adolescence – II, the poet uses diction, vivid imagery, and similes to create an overall questioning and conflicting tone as the speaker, suggestively a young woman, experiences the inevitable changes of womanhood.

II. Body:
1. Diction:
The poet uses childlike words, like the title suggests, in order to examine a girls experiences and confrontation, suggestively with men, to represent change and her acceptance of her new being.

Examples:
a) “They chuckle, patting their sleek bodies with their hands.” The word chuckle seems to represent immaturity as the girl is confronted by three men who question her. They ask her if she can “fell it yet?” making her question herself as becomes confused about her own being.
b) The title, Adolescence – II, also represents childhood and immaturity.

2. Imagery:
The poet constantly make references to dark images that are represented through words like “night”, “moon”, “moonlight”, and “darkness”, which may again represent change and conflict that the speaker is confronting.

Examples:
a)“Although it is night, I sit in the bathroom waiting”
b)“Venetian blinds slice up the moon” – possibly represents disorganization
c) “Glittering like pools of ink under moonlight,…”
d) “…here at the edge of darkness.”
e) “ Night rests like a ball of fur on my tongue.”

3. Similes:
The poet also makes references to similes throughout the poem to describe the girl’s state of being and thought process as she is confronted by new beginnings and challenges in which she is caught off guard by and uncomfortable with.

Examples:
a)“Then they come, the three seal men with eyes as round as dinner plates and eyelashes like sharpened tines.” – imaginative
b) “And they rise, Glittering like pools of ink under moonlight, and vanish.”
c) The speaker has come to a consensus as she has accepted her change and experiences when the “Night rests like a ball of fur on” her tongue.

III. Conclusion
1. Restate Thesis