Comparing Sharon Olds' Poems with Linda Pastan's Using the Trend of Confessional Mode

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Compare and Contrast
Introduction
In the world of poetry, confessional poetry is a unique style which incorporates the use of "I". Often, poets prefer to use third person in their writing. Confessional poetry uses the first person and involves the expression of deep and innermost feelings of the poet. Just as the name suggests, confessional poetry is about confessing personal experiences and sharing the personal world of the poet with the audience. In this style of poetry, the life of the poet is one of the key elements of the main subject. In order to have an in-depth understanding of confessionary poetry, this paper has taken a comparative approach. The work of Linda Pastan has been compared to the work of Sharon Old. In the comparative analysis, aspects of confessional poetry have been pointed out.
Ethics by Linda Pastan and 35/10 by Sharon Olds
Both works of Linda and Sharon have striking similarities. This is perhaps due to the fact that both authors have fully embraced confessional poetry in their work. They are the subject of the poem in which they are both the authors. The story in both poems is about the author. They are talking about their personal life experiences and they are speaking directly to the author. One of the aspects that makes this style of writing effective is the fact that the audience can relate with the author. Confessional poetry is about the author owning the story told in the poem. This resonates better with the audience than when the author is talking about a third person to the audience.
In both poems, one notes that the tone used is the same. Both authors have used a pensive and somewhat reflective tone. It is as if the writers of the poem are looking at themselves in the mirror and speaking about the reflection that they see. Sharon’s Poem ‘35/ 10’ is the story of a mother who realized that is quickly aging and her daughter is quickly growing up. The mother in this story is Sharon herself and the daughter is Sharon’s daughter. In describing their life as mother and daughter, the tone is both nostalgic but also full of admiration (Brickey p. 34). Sharon look back at her life and she misses what it was like growing. Although she realizes that is now aging, she is proud and full of admiration for her daughter who reminds her of her young self. Looking at her daughter is almost like looking at the mirror and seeing her younger self. 35 is the age of the mother while 10 is the age of the daughter.
In Linda’s Ethics, the speaker who is the author (Linda Pastan) reflect on a dilemma of moral nature which a teacher would present every fall semester. This dilemma always haunts her and she has chosen to speak about. The question that her teacher would always pose was, when in amuseum and fire breaks out, would you rather save an expensive painting or an old woman whose days on earth are almost countable? It is on the basis of the question from her school days that Linda takes a reflective look at life. She notes that the only way to inculcate morals is through maturity and experience.
When speaking, the author, who is now an old woman reckons that the s...