Paper 1: Random Passage

Adolescence is commonly known as a time in a person's life when they feelm most confused due to changes in their bodies, lives, and hormones. In the poem "Adolescence II" by Rita Dove she relates adolescence to new experiences, to depict how teenage life is one full of changes and and trying new things to find one's self. Confusion of the female speaker is emphasized by the not patterned structure of the poem, because there is no order, it is more free-verse.

In this poem, the speaker is the adolescent, who is describing a new experience they are having.
-One can tell that they are an adolescent due to the fact that not only is the title of the poem "Adolescence II", but because it says "the baby-breasts are alert".
-By using the term "baby", one thinks of small, developing breasts of a girl.
-One can tell that the speaker is experiencing something new, because they are in the bathroom sweating as if they are nervous. "Sweat prickles behind my knees".

This poem describes the speaker having some sort of vision or illusion of seeing three men appear. "Then they come, the three seal men..." This illusion can be linked to either the speaker being on narcotics or alcohol.
-The speaker beign on narcotics or alcohol can easily be linked ot the poem, beccause adolescence is also a time of experimentation.
-Experimenting with alcohol and drugs can cause illusions and one feeling sick, like they must be in the bathroom like the speaker. "I sit in the bathroom waiting".
-The way that the speaker eems ot think that the seal men are "waiting", can represent how the speaker and their illusions are waiting for their "high", sleepy, or drunk feeling to kick in.

There is an overall tone narvousness in the poem, which is supported by the diction used.
-"Sweat prickles behind my knees"-sweat can be linked ot nervous habit
-"I don't know what to say"-nervou about what to say or how to react
- "I clutch at the ragged holes they leave behind"- the word clutch shows that she did not want them to let them go (She felt nervous about being without them)

At the end of this poem, the speaker becomes sober again. Although they were essentially waiting for the feelings to kick in, they were unaware to the fact that they were already receiving effects, like hallucinations.
-Now they are "at the edge of darkness" which can be described as sleep
-The statement "Nigh rests like a ball on my tongue" depicts they night as a restless or, uncomfortable night, because hair on ones tongue is rather uncomfortable.

Overall this poem depicts an adolescent speaker who is trying something new, which seems to be narcotics or alcohol, which is the cause of their hallucinations.
-Dove uses diction to set the overlying tone nervousness.
-The overlying theme throughout the poem of adolecence which is defined through the experiment of trying something new and dealing with changes, like physical body changes.