Nataly Ulloa

Spring Honors Literature and Composition B

Ms. Valles

3/2/2021

Final Poetry Project: Option 1

The beautiful things that poems have is the message they portray. There are so many

different ways that messages are portrayed. Poems are known for their themes and how powerful

they can be. They are short but every single word that is used is so important and plays a role

into a deeper meaning. There are different examples of how these messages are portrayed but the

main one is figurative language. Figurative language helps the readers understand what the

author wants to say on another level. Figurative language grabs the reader's attention through

metaphors etc. Society's expectations are a common one. Figurative language is so useful to

explain that concept. Even though so many messages are portrayed about society's expectations,

the poems I chose are “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou, “Girl Powdering Her Neck” by

Cathy Song, and “She Had Some Horses” by Joy Harjo.

Phenomenal Women has been a poem that has really caught my attention. This poem is

so beautiful and meaningful. She explains a lot of herself that many women can relate to. For

example, a line that is used often throughout the poem is “Phenomenal Woman that's me.” is so

essential to this poem because as the reader I can relate to that and say that's me as well. Society

expects so much of women and this poem gives examples of her and what people do around her.

Figurative language is used in this poem to help the reader understand what is trying to be

explained. In this quote “And to a man that fellows stand or fall down on their knees. Then they
swarm around me, a hive of honey bees.” This quote shows how confident she is in herself and

she knows what men see in her. Society often tries to bring girls down by comparing them to

others and feeling worthless. Knowing your worth is so important to know and understand and

loving yourself no matter what. Another quote is “They try so much but they can’t touch my

inner mystery.” Many women do not think like she does it is sad in a way because they are not

able to understand how valuable they are.

“Girl Powdering Her Neck” is about empowering women. Women need to be empowered

because of the expectations women feel the need to complete. For example, if you do not look a

certain way you are ugly or if you act a certain way you are weird. Things like that hurt a woman

and being compared to others is awful. Having that feeling that being yourself is not enough is

horrible. This poem helped me understand how women are being mistreated. Living your life

according to someone else’s desire is an unhappy life. Women feel the need to do that and it's not

okay. Throughout this poem there is a lot of figurative language used. For example, her hair is

the color of the sea, fingerprints of dust, and her face appears in the mirror of a winter lake.

These all refer to a woman relating to nature. Metaphors are used and they catch the reader's

attention including myself.

“She Had Some Horses” uses figurative language differently from the other poems. This

poem is different and has a different message than the others. This poem talks about important

moments and events in a woman's life. The author mentions throughout the poem that men and

society can damage and ruin a woman. What the author means by that is expectations and living

your life to someone’s else desire can tear you down in so many ways. The figurative language

that is used helps the readers understand the connections between women, men and society.
 In conclusion, all of these poems have one thing in common. All of them state that

society’s expectations can ruin your life and tear you down. Poems have a way of portraying the

most important messages and making them clear. Even though so many messages are portrayed

about society's expectations, the poems I chose are “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou,

“Girl Powdering Her Neck” by Cathy Song, and “She Had Some Horses” by Joy Harjo.