Authors most often write in a way that relates to the lives of their expected audience and the well-known American poet, Mary Oliver, is no different. Throughout her poem titled, “The Journey,” she uses a combination of choice words, syntax, rhythm and repetition to convey her greater message to her audience of teens and young adults. Just as the title suggests, this poem is about written about an “expedition (Web 1).” Mary Oliver is writing to the young adults of the world, offering a Bildungsroman poem that explores many themes that provide ambition for their future, discovery of oneself, and an escape from the pressures of society.

Throughout the entirety of the poem the author selects specific words to convey the themes of her poem to the reader. In “The Journey,” rather than using words that most readers would skim past the author uses words to evoke emotions within the readers. In the first stanza of the poem, instead of saying, “the voices are speaking” she uses, “the voices around you kept shouting (Oliver 3-4).” Her stylistic use of words allows the reader to feel the weight of the words while reading them. When describing the effects of “bad advice” from the world, the author says, “the house began to tremble (Oliver 7),” compared to “the house began to shake.” “Tremble” is a less common word and thus it sticks out in the reader's mind while reading. This particular word affects the reader similar to the way an onomatopoeia would, creating a sound in the sentence. The words Mary Oliver uses throughout the poem help to build the poem up and makes the reader slow down to notice the language and how it works to convey the greater message.

The language used throughout “The Journey” is written with words that provide ambition to the reader and inspire a self-discovery; likewise with the sentence structure. The author uses short simple sentences in addition to longer sentences to help the poem flow. Throughout the poem the author also adds dialogue such as, “Mend my life (Oliver 10)!” into the rhythm of the poem. The dialogue interrupts the flow of the poem and dramatizes the text. The author’s syntax allows readers to feel the weight of people in this world when they are asking for help throughout their own journey and conveys the importance of escaping the pressures this society.

In addition to the structured flow of the poem, Mary Oliver also uses repetition to provide ambition for the future of the young adult reader. In this particular poem, the author uses an anaphora in the beginning of the first two stanzas to encourage the reader. She repeats, “ you knew what you had to do (Oliver 1-2, 13).” Her use of this repetition reassures the reader that despite the pressures of society, the reader has the strength to escape the societal pressures and discover themselves. The author also uses repetition in the third stanza with, “little by little (Oliver 22)” and with, “deeper and deeper (Oliver 30).” Rather than encouraging the reader this repetition serves to connect the poem back to the title. Just as a journey “usually [takes] a rather long time (Web 1),“Little by little (Oliver 22)” suggests that a self discovery will not come easy. Later on in the stanza when the author uses “deeper and deeper (Oliver 30)”she is alluding back to the bildungsroman theme that this discovery of one self will come with time.

The author inspires the audience to discover themselves throughout “The Journey, “known as life.  She uses imagery to illustrate the lives of the young adult readers and to relate it back to what they are going through. One illustration she uses is comparing life to a “a road full of fallen branches and stones (Oliver 20-21).” This image makes “The Journey” realistic to all young adults, rather than offering one obstacle that life may bring, Mary Oliver addresses that this life will be filled with many trials. She also associates with the reader's, understanding that where will be many reasons to give up throughout life. She illustrates the reasons to give up as “sheets of clouds (Oliver 25).”  The author provides inspiration to the reader through saying,  “the stars [dreams or goals of the reader] will burn through the sheets of clouds (Oliver 24-25),” This illustration conveys the greater message that despite the many reasons to give up, the readers can live out their greatest dream.

“The Journey” is written to young adults and teens to inspire them to live out their own life, despite the many people who will try to stop them, and despite the many obstacles they may have to overcome.  In order to convey her greater message, the author provides ambition to her audience, supports the need for self-discovery and encourages the reader to escape the pressures of society. The author uses the combination of words and their structure to evoke emotions within the readers and convey her greater message. Through her word choice, syntax, repetition and use of imagery the author successfully conveys the importance of living for oneself and motivates the audience to save their life before it is too late.
