Response 1&2

C.W.
In her poem “Oxygen”, Mary Oliver uses denotations and connotations to symbolize the meaning of oxygen. In this short poem, there are words and phrases that uses connation and denotation. The title “Oxygen”, contains connotations with life because everything needs oxygen in order to survive. Meanwhile, the author uses denotation by looking at different aspects of the poem. The author uses strong connotations that represents life. When Oliver describes her life, we are introduced to different words that relates back to her life. Oliver believes that oxygen is “the soul” (line 2). The soul is the part of you that will live on after death. It lives on in heaven and becomes immortal. This provides depth to the poem because this is associated with a person’s life. Another word that is associated with life is “Knife” (line 16), A “knife is a word that suggests a sharp and painful injury to any area of the body. This pain could be felt as a harmful way to Oliver’s life. This “knife could be a symbol, as she thinks that he life is harsh, and could be damaged emotionally. We can also admit that a knife is the meaning that signifies death, a sacrifice made, and liberation, and relates to a symbolic meaning of both words. Mary Oliver chooses these words very carefully as she decides what would be best to show her dedication to life itself. The words I have chosen adds reasonable meanings to the narrators dedication and gratitude towards her life, which is mentioned at the end of the poem. The gratitude and dedication was seen throughout the poem with the powerful word choices that resembles the authors life as her oxygen.