
Authors write poems to tell a story, or explain a situation, but it is much easier for their readers to understand what the poem is about, if they are able to self connect to it. Self-discovery comes with time, and the ups and downs of life. Mary Oliver’s poem “The Journey” simply expresses the hardships, we as humans, go through when discovering ones self. We see life through one perspective, our own. Situations are easier to understand or relate to if we can put ourselves into the perspective. “The Journey” uses the rhetorical devices of context, pathos, and logos, to allow readers to self connect to the poem and discover something about him or herself by the end.  

From the beginning of the poem, Oliver effectively connects with the reader by using relatable and powerful context. In the first two lines on the poem, Oliver actively addresses the reader by writing, “One day you finally know what you had to do, and began” (1-2). By stating “you” instead of “I” Oliver forces the reader to put him or herself into the situation. Instantly, Oliver’s poem becomes more effective and personal to her audience. Oliver’s poem is flexible to the situation it is understood in, for example, one of my classmates could relate this poem to something different than I would. By allowing the reader to personally put him or herself in the situation of the poem, the context of the poem becomes more understandable. If Oliver had written “I” instead of “you”, the poem would have a completely different effectiveness. Oliver’s readers engage in a personal perspective of the poem, which results in gaining a new viewpoint toward the text, as well as their overall life situation. By making the context broad, Oliver’s readers easily turn the life situation the poem is about, into ones own to discover what they have to do, personally, to reach their goals and desires. 

Self-discovery is a main theme present throughout the poem and Oliver uses pathos to emotionally persuade her audience. Turning a situation into one’s own automatically makes it more emotional. Her repetition of the word “you” makes the poem more emotional to each individual reading it. The poem effectively brings about emotions because, Oliver is aware that everyone goes through tough times in live. The poem is written in a way that lets the reader stop and personalize “you” for a deeper meaning. The use of powerful diction when she mentions, “though the whole house/began to tremble” (6-7) engages the reader in an emotional sense.  The reader can personally make sense of each situation because “The Journey” is broadly relatable to anyone’s situation. Self-discovery is an important outcome to this poem; we must help ourselves before we help others.

As humans, we often need proof and logic to fully accept a situation. “’Mend my life!’ each voice cried. But you didn’t stop. You knew what you had to do.”(10-12). This quote could be considered to be proof because there will always be obstacles in life and the fact the Oliver references a call for help in her poem makes it more understandable for readers to accept. “Determined to do the only thing you could do- determined to save the only life you could save.” (33-36). Here, Oliver is proving that we must help ourselves before we help others, because it is difficult to impact happiness on another human’s life if you yourself are not happy. Struggling is a part of surviving, and as stated before, as humans, it is natural to once and a while get caught in a sticky situation. Oliver’s use of understandable struggle gives the readers proof her poem is relatable. 

Overall, Oliver’s poem is effective due to the rhetorical devices she incorporates throughout the writing. These rhetorical devices implement a strong sense of emotion into the reader’s experience allowing for powerful connections to be made between the context and the reader. Relatable context, pathos, and logos, allowed Oliver to impact the reader’s life perspective in an effective way. It is evident in this poem that we as individual we can acquire different perspectives of passages due to different rhetorical devices. 

