1st Assignment

35/10 Written By Sharon Olds.
It is a narrative poem because the mother is the speaker.
She makes a comparison between her daughter and herself in which she shows the aspects of differences.
The title of the poem represents both ages, the mother is 35 years old, and the daughter is 10 years old. The age affects on the mother on her look: (hair and skin). The words in the poem i.e. gray and silver represent the mother. However, flower and white silken represents her daughter. The daughter has brown and silky hair but her mother has gray and silver hair.
[justify][left]

hello teacher
this my analyzeand sorry for late


35/10 is a poem written by sharon olds. The title explains what the poem talks about . The speaker of the poem is a mother, she compares between herself and her daughter before the mirror. Why she has a grey hair .while her daughter has a brown silky hair, she describe her as a beautiful flower on the opposite of herself .she is wondering what is the secret of life that makes people getting old. At the end she knew that the secret of these changes is the age and replacement which is the oldest story that will keep going till the end of live.[b]

I try to analyze the poem by finding out the main idea through the lines.

This poem is written by Sharon olds it is narrated by first person point of view since she tells the reader about her own experience .The speaker analyzes the main characteristics of her age as it is considered as the first steps to old age .It means that the human's stage ages are changeable and each human must cross his age to the following once by time. The speaker refers to her old age by comparing herself to her daughter by referring to the main characteristics of the old age I mean her grey hair this color which always refers to the old age in contrast with her daughter's brown hair which refers to her young age. The most important thing is about the mirror which always reflects a true picture of human's life. In addition to this she tells the reader about her reaction which represent the normal reaction of any one at the begging of this stage as unacceptable stage by asking himself way ?At the same time she convince himself by saying it is the normal course of life and he or she begins to be older. In addition to this characteristic which refers to the old age the speaker lists other main characteristics of the old age like the folds which appear in old ages in human's body specially in her neck and her bones which always become weaker empty from the skin and always appear in special places in her. From this point the speaker makes comparison between her activity and her daughter is more activity than her when she falls over her or ,when she hug from her. There is not affixed life stag for any one and each one will meet & face his end> generation go other generation replace them as it is the course of life.

The poem 35/10 shows clear comparison between a mother and her daughter. The age is title which tells us the differences from the beginning. First, the difference is described in the appearance of the daughter , the brown silken hair , fine bones of her hips and the mother in grey hair , silvered-hair , fold in my neck . She tells us you can see these clearly in the mirror, the youth and the old. The poet here sees herself as the servant of her daughter. She is also feeling sorry of being old because she can no longer have any children; which means she is dying, yet her daughter has a whole life to live. Here, she is wondering but telling us a fact; at the time we grow old, our children begin to flourish . She is wonderfully describes the effects of being old in the body and deep inside ourselves. The poet ends her poem telling us that this is the story of life, as we replaced our mothers, our daughters are going to replace us as well as theirs will do ,"replacement". [b]

Hello Mrs.Ohoud,
I tried to do my best.



No doubt that all of us will be getting old after the age of childhood. This is life. Sharon Olds, an American poetess, wrote in 20th century a poem called "35/10", which discusses the cycle of life, how a human generation is replaced by another. This was done through a comparison between her as woman and her daughter as young girl.

"Brushing out our daughter's brown silken hair before the mirror ." It is the first verse of the poem. Olds here brushes her daughter's hair which is brown and silken; she says "our" to mean that she does not talk only about herself, but also she talks about all of who have daughters or children in general. Then, the poetess sees the greyness of her hair. She imagines herself as a servant who is combing her daughter's soft hair. "Why is it," she wonders. She raised a philosophical question; why when people begin to go or get old, there
is a new generation arrives to this life.

After that, she begins to compare her body with her daughter's by showing the clarity of the folds in her neck and the clarity of her daughter's fine and young bones, or body. While there are marks or holes on the surface of her skin, her daughter's skin is smooth and soft like a cactus flower. Her choice of the cactus flower may be based on the fact that is the only beautiful thing found between thorns in the desert.

Moreover, she has no chance to bear a new child because she does not have young and healthy eggs like her daughter's, which are about to burst out. Her quotation "her full purse of eggs, round and firm as hard-boild yolks, is about to snap its clasp" could that her daughter is going to reach maturity while the poetess herself is fading away.

At the end, while the poetess was combing her daughter's good smelling and tangled hair, she mentions the story of replacement. She means by that, when a generation is born and mature, the previous one collapse and maybe die. This is the oldest story on this planet; this is the everlasting philosophy of life and death.

I hope you prefer it

The speaker in poetry 35/10 by Sharon Olds is the mother of youth daughter. The speaker notes that her daughter is approaching puparty and full of energy with excellent beautiful brown silken hair and nicely looking healthy skin. The speaker memory went back decade ago when she was exactly like her daughter. The speaker appreciates that the life clock dose not stops for anybody. The speaker felt sad for herself while she is approaching her middle age. Her outside appearance changed markedly her hair become silvery white and skin become wrinkled shape. She comments at the end saying that this is the nature of life to keep the wheel of life going on.

Zinab Bajou (441)

Good evening Mrs. Ohoud ,

Sharon Olds imagine by this poem the difference between the tow generations,
the generation of the mother who combs her daughter's hair and the generation of the daughter. Through the description of " daughter's brown silken hair " is a metaphor of her daughter's youth time. In the same moment ,
the poet " see the grey gleaming on my head " which is metaphor of her weakness time. In the poem, the poet describes her body marks which show the time passing in the verse " tip of cactus " now she is thinking how can bring a baby. All these ideas were passing in the mother's mind. The last verses " the story of replacement " is the thesis of the poem.

this poem is narrative , the mother is the speaker , she brishes her daughter's hair and talks before the mirror , realizing that she is aging while her daughter is blooming , it is a comparision in which she describes the biological differences that are clearly visible ,the daughter had silky brown hair while the mother has gray hair , she notices that the age has affected her skin and shape , it is also a story of replacement because the mother finds her self in her daughter.

The speakers' fell depress when she compares her self with her daughter she thinks that her life is going to end wail her daughter's life is just going to begin.
Her hair is gray and her face is all wrinkled while her daughter’s hair is brown and her hips are sharp, she is old and her daughter is young and beautiful as flour.
In my opinion it’s the tall of the circle of life but the speaker describe it in a Depressing way.

Hello Mrs.Ohoud, girls,


I think that my comments are different from everybody else,regarding what I read. I'm going to write what I thought and felt after reading the poem many times(my point of view).

I think that the speaker is a woman whose dreaming about her imagenery daughter. Also, she's having an imotional moment. She talks about how generations follow by generations. every generation is replased by another generation, that's what she meant by the oldest story(the story of replacement). allthough, Idon't think that anyone can be replaced by someone else or a generation can be replaced by another generation because everyone exists even if they actually don't as long as they came to this life. In addition, I don't think that the mother comparing herself with her daughter as almost all students said but what I'm trying to say is the woman discribe the diffrences between generations and she is not jealous at all of her imagenery daughter or even depressed. the woman feels that she's getting old which is completly normal to feel this way. the stanzas of the poem symbolize eldary and youth. I think that what the mother noticed is so normal and it happens to everyone at a cirtin age but the smart one who wont care about it that much. So, heshe wont get depressed or al least became pessimistic. That is the reality of life. It happened for the people before her and now it's happening to her and it will happen to her daughter. She's probebly having a middle age crisis. On the other hand, she should

the poem is 35\10 by sharon old . the speaker describe her dauter . also ,she compare between her age and his dauter . it has an images like grey and pitting . it is narrative poem .

the poem is 35\10 by sharon old . the speaker describe her dauter . also ,she compare between her age and his dauter . it has an images like grey and pitting . it is narrative poem .

focus on all the good positive things she's having about her age. For instance, all the experiances she had , her wiseness and her mature mind,etc. Each age has its inner beauty and magic. Moreover, I don't think (disbite what everyone else said) that she is 35 years old because if she were so,she wont have a grey hair,fold neck,etc(at a narmal basic ). She would be a young woman.

hi..
Sharon Old shows us in her poem 35/10 the mirror refliction of a story of life. A poem is about a daughter who is going to be like her mother and the mother wich was a young girl on day . It talks about a mother when she burshed her daughters hair and thinking of life . she feels that she gets old while as her daughter is young and beauty. further more , she starts to memorizing that she was a young girl and she had a brown hair as the different of how she looks now.
finally she tolds her daughter a bed time story to pre pearing her of being a mother on day .and this is a replacement.

It's obvious that she is older than 35 also her daughter is older than 10. what I think is the title of the poem shows the fifference between generations. As we all know, the difference between one generation and another is around 33 to 35 years.

All what I've said is the survice meaning but the deep meaning -from my point of view- is that the woman narrate the eternity story which is the circle of life( the seirse of generation) and this is the secret of life. Also, the deep meaning could be that the woman in the poem was revising or remembering the past years of her life since she was a child until she became an adult woman and the mirror reflects the changes that happened and effect on her outlook appearance ( the biological changes)

Sorry Mrs.Ohoud for replying manytimes but the time was rushing and I was afraid of loosing the mark.
and thank you for letting us say whatever we want to say and express our feelings.
also, I hope (after you close the replies) you tell us your own analyzing. Please, I'm so interested to know what do you think about the poem.

thank you

Reem Al-Hemaidi