Name: Andrea Yao

Period: 2

HL Essay: Graphic Organizer

Fill out the table below with your key ideas for the HL Essay. It is designed to help you organize
your thoughts and ideas in the body of your essay.

Proposed Topic (Creativity): In what ways does Margaret Atwood show the effects of
feministic viewpoints in her ekphrastic poems Manet’s Olympia and Sehkmet, The Lion-Headed
Goddess of War, Violent Storms, Pestilence, and Recovery From Illness, Contemplates the
Desert in The Metropolitan Museum of Art? -Morning in the Burned House

Creativity: The student might be interested in an aspect of the representation of individual or

collective creativity, or lack of creativity, within the text, or on the way in which the text
represents the creativity of the writer.
- Olympia by Édouard Manet (1863)
- Statue of Goddess Sekhmet in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Thesis: What is the main point you will argue? It should focus on the author's choices.

Atwood utilizes poetic imagery and ekphrasis to display different feminist viewpoints.

Point 1: Manet’s Olympia described Olympia by Édouard Manet in a censored and shameful
depiction.

Evidence 1 Evidence 2 Evidence 3

Casual style of diction: uses
“monsieur” which means
mister in French. Atwood
addresses masculinity with a
shift in point of view. She
switches from “I” to “You” in
the last stanza.
“You, Sir, are furniture”:
addresses the male figure in
the painting/poem.
Euphemism: “ambush”, “get
stuffed”
Margaret Atwood uses
euphemisms to parallel the
usage of censorship over
controversial topics and
images
Margaret Atwood uses
assonance throughout the
poem: “This is indoor sin”,
“fine red threadline (rhyme
used as well)…the head”;
used for smoother flow of
poetry

Furniture: metaphor to
compare the idea to a
man/male figure.

Analysis: What is the overall effect? Think of mood, atmosphere, progression of a theme, etc.

Margaret Atwood’s Manet’s Olympia criticizes society shaming a feminine sexuality especially
Name: Andrea Yao
Period: 2

from men. Atwood’s Manet’s Olympia is an example of an ekphrastic poem because it shows
a vivid description of a painting done by Édouard Manet. The purpose of ekphrasis is to let
readers imagine the thing described as if it was in its physical form. Atwood describes
Olympia as a heroine because she controls her own body and fights the stereotype by being
bold. Olympia also ignores the vulgar comments being made in the first stanza.

Point 2: Atwood establishes a social commentary in Sekhmet, The Lion-Headed Goddess of

War by using the allusion of Sekhmet to emphasize the ruthless Gods and naivety.

Evidence 1 Evidence 2 Evidence 3

Lines 7 and 8 of the 1st Characterization: Tone:

stanza: rhyme with slaughter
and together. The rhyme
further emphasizes the
poem’s harmony and
expresses the naivety of
humans.
“My roar meant slaughter
Yet here we are together”
“I see the temple where I was
born or built, where I held
power”
Sekhmet was not human, but
rather she was created.
“But if it’s selfless love you’re
looking for, you’ve got the
wrong goddess.”
Mockery: The feministic
viewpoint parallels Manet’s
Olympia.
“What did you expect from
gods with animal heads?...the
ones made later, who were
fully human, were not such
good news either.”
Hypophora: Answers the
question in the lines after the
statement.
Sarcasm: mocking the old
statue compared to the new
ones
Anaphora:

“He was the sort of man…”

“He was not my patron.”
“He preferred full granaries”

“He” in the first stanza

Analysis: What is the overall effect? Think of mood, atmosphere, progression of a theme, etc.

The first-person speaker of the poem is Sekhmet, the lion-goddess. The poem begins with
Sekhmet narrating her experience in the museum. The speaker continues to discuss how she
is surrounded with Gods. Atwood represents another ekphrastic poem and relates similar
feministic ideas from Manet’s Olympia. Both poems have female speakers; they both observe
Name: Andrea Yao
Period: 2

the male figures in their surroundings. The speaker in Sekhmet constructs a familariazed
image for herself so the visitors can acknowledge her attributes.

Point 3: Atwood represents two allusions: Olympia and Sekhmet to describe independence
and equality.

Evidence 1 Evidence 2 Evidence 3

Ekphrasis: Olympia: Sekhmet:

“Description” in Greek
Ekphrastic poem: Olympia
and Sekhmet stretches the
power of observation and
voice through the work of art.
Independent and wants other
figures to understand why
she deserves what is
expected, especially from a
female role.
Another independent speaker
and wants her visitors to
understand why she is a “kind
lion” instead of the moment
“where I held power.”

Analysis: What is the overall effect? Think of mood, atmosphere, progression of a theme, etc.

Atwood manages to display heroism and understands that the male figures described in both
works mean nothing to them. In addition, Atwood further reveals how women are being
sexualized, objectified, and ignored through the speakers’ tone.

Point 4: (possible - you may not have space in the word count)

Evidence 1 Evidence 2 Evidence 3

Analysis: What is the overall effect? Think of mood, atmosphere, progression of a theme, etc.