Poetry Essay
Who is the birthday party a rite of passage for, the birthday boy or his mother?
In the poem, "Rite of Passage," by Sharon Olds, the speaker, who is a mother, goes into detail about her son's birthday party celebration. Let us first begin by analyzing the title of the poem, "Rite of Passage," Encyclopedia Britannica describes a rite of passage as a ceremonial event, existing in all historically known societies, that marks the passage from one social or religious status to another. Given the plot of the poem about a young boy having his peers over celebrate his birthday, one might be automatically compelled to say the rite of passage is for him, however with a closer analysis of the poem in its entirety, one can argue the title and the plot hold deeper meaning.
The first indication that this party is just as much for her, the mother of the birthday boy, as it is for her son comes in the opening line of the poem when she said, "...guests arrive at my son's party,"......

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Title: Rite Of Passage
Approximate Word Count: 1096
Approximate Pages: 5 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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