“On Turning Ten” is a poem by Billy Collins that explores the theme of coming of age and the challenges of adulthood. The poem begins in media res, allowing the reader to feel like they are already in mid-conversation. The poem explores the pain, discomfort, and loss of innocence that comes with growing up, as well as the realization that one is too old for certain things.
The poem is a “rite of passage” for the young speaker, who is struggling to grasp the concept of growing up and facing the harsh reality of adult life. The rite of passage, turning ten, has brought him further into reality, as shown by the final stanza.
In contrast to other poems like Booth’s “First Lesson”, “On Turning Ten” focuses on the learning of trust and the beginning steps of independence as a child is taught to float in. In Collins’ poem, the speaker struggles with the idea of growing up and reflects on his past while trying to cope with it.
In both “Quinceanera” and “Rite of Passage”, Cofer and Olds explore the theme of coming of age and the importance of living up to those adult expectations. By using various literary devices, such as imagery and metaphors, Collins effectively conveys the pain, discomfort, and loss of innocence that comes with growing up.
In conclusion, “On Turning Ten” is a powerful and insightful study guide that offers a comprehensive understanding of the poem’s meaning, themes, form, rhyme scheme, meter, and poetic devices.
📹 A rite of passage for late life | Bob Stein
We use rituals to mark the early stages of our lives, like birthdays and graduations — but what about our later years? In this …
📹 Initiation With Ants | National Geographic
#NationalGeographic #Ants #AmazonJungle About National Geographic: National Geographic is the world’s premium destination …
This may just be the ultimate price for the ‘rite of passage’. Being stung repeatedly by Bullet Ants for 10 minutes, then enduring excruciating pain for another 24 hours. Then doing it all over again another 19 times! Curious about what long term effects the neurotoxic venom has on them, if at all. These people just may be ‘bullet proof’!
Just imagine how that whole ritual started. One drunk guy daring another one to take a bullet ant in the hand. How many generations did it take until they were weaving ants into torture-gloves and obliging most young-men to burning-agony 20 times? Humans can never get enough of obliging others to suffer.
The bullet ant is the most painful sting on earth, there’s a reason why they call it the ‘bullet ant’, because it’s like being shot -and the pain sticks around for 24 hours. It’s not something to take lightly, and infact they’d do alot better to just learn how to avoid them, than learning how to stand the pain (as is the case with actual bullets, people don’t shoot themselves to learn how to stand the pain, they learn how to avoid being shot in the first place).
Suffering is just another part of life and it comes to us all free of charge. It still does not give one’s life any special meaning, other than it can help with the maturing process and time, some more than others. To me, perhaps the only better person than one who has a greater tolerance for any kind of pain, is the individual who finally comes to the realization that life ultimately does not have a purpose and just grows in that way, with a greater or lesser resistance to adversity. But these people are setting a very reckless social standard in these rituals, talk about peer pressure! Then again it’s not like they’re studying Shakespeare or quantum mechanics in the goddamn Amazon Jungle! What else they gotta do but hunt, screw, rinse repeat, build the occasional hut. Sounds fascinating. And so meaningful.
Actually, I think this is quiet beautiful. You see these young men endure excruciating amounts of pain, yet, they are invited to dance with the other men, and the men in this way participate in the suffering. They learn that they’re not alone in the suffering, and what brotherhood means. These rituals seem strange to us because we have lost them in our culture but what a triumphant feeling It must be to suffer, live, and fight with your tribe by your side..
* 3.0 Paper wasp: Caustic & burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of hydrochloric acid on a paper cut. * 4.0 Pepsis wasp: Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath (if you get stung by one you might as well lie down and scream). * 4.0+ Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel. Ouch! Xribble
the episode I watched was on PBS and it was much more educational, and it was kids not adult men.. BUT it said that the results of this ritual is more of a strengthening of their immune system and they were literally healthier because of it, a comparison to our vaccines but better. super heartbreaking to watch the kids in agony but really interesting and impressive. more power to them!
i will never understand culture or rituals like this. primitive tribes like this dont understand about biology or anything that when it comes to ants who have stings like this that can cause intense pain and sometimes death. surly need to get out of these ‘relegions’ and focus more on there life. i have always been aganst relegions but not aganst god nor jesus. honestly…..
Hi guys! I’m just returning from Costa Rica and I’ve brought back different insect specimens (legally). I have a few bullet ants and plan of studying the 25 amino acid called poneratoxin (2,7 kD). This strong neurotoxin scores very high of the sting index of pain. This ritual of really painful… need I say more? Xribble
salutations to the men that takes the initiation test..true..if u never suffer the pain and hardship of adulthood..u will never be a real man..instead u will just be an older version of a boy…u need to know both the sweets and sour of life to succeed in it…this is definitely in my list of things to do before i die…respect to them for not crying like a girl due to the pain..hell i would scream like a girl if that happened to me..respect!
@EchoplexTheUltimatum – Ohh, so if it doesn’t cripple them, there’s no problem? I don’t think you’re aware of the fact that the US government partakes in torture, much of which doesn’t even leave signs of physical trauma? I’d love to see you put your money where your mouth is, and see how dedicated you are to this concept. If you believe this is an acceptable initiation to manhood, I wonder if you’d be so willing to put yourself through this torture. ..don’t lie, we both know you wouldn’t dare.
A large swath of North America’s current generation(s) coming up think words do actual “harm,” ideologies different from theirs are “trauma,” and real-life interaction with other humans an unstoppable source of anxiety. Imagine what Mawé kids who grow up with a bullet ant ritual would think of the fragile, brittle consumers we’re raising.
@RCZ90 Oh, I see – you don’t have to respond to my questions and arguments because…well, you just don’t have to I suppose. Perhaps it’s “enough said” for you, but for any person of moral standing, it’s not. Also, don’t put a word in quotations (“primitive”) if the person you’re replying to hasn’t used the word once. It’s just courteous.
@EchoplexTheUltimatum An old saying, especially one as ludicrous as that, isn’t enough to justify this behaviour. Most things that fail to kill you in no way make you stronger. Someone who loses their legs to a car crash is not going to be by any means considered physically or mentally “stronger” – they are a paraplegic. Someone who is hospitalized for attempting to overdose on pills is not “stronger” – they’ve irreversibly damaged their organs. The same goes for those who engage in this ritual.
@EchoplexTheUltimatum – Apparently you don’t understand the concept of comparison, so I’ll break it down for you. This ritual is torture. You suggested that it was totally cool because it doesn’t leave the children crippled. In much the same way that torture also does not. No, it’s not irrelevant, you just have a poor grasp of comparison. My second point was merely speculating as to whether or not you’d therefore be willing to personally attempt this “initiation” practice.
@caleidoo If you want to get into the game of having me point out other “rich” cultural traditions, I’ll be happy to do so. What do you say to the time honoured tradition of death as punishment for apostasy (simply denouncing a faith) in the middle east? Or the beloved ritual in some African countries of amputating the hands of someone who does so much as steal a loaf of bread. These are both legal practices in their respective parts of the world.
I completely understand the theory behind this ritual. Having had a complete broken neck and 4 neck surgeries to repair a off dut cop rearending me doing 100 mph. I can never explain even to Drs the emense pain I suffer C3-C7. No ONE but someone whos walked in my shoes could comprehend it. And I’m a woman, men in the US a whimps and our society lacks compasion for irritractable pain patients. I would be respected if I lived in this indian culture.
@caleidoo You’re right, your example was a mundane one. In the sense that adults in our culture don’t actually lead children to believe that drinking themselves stupid is a rite of passage. This is not the case in the amazon. As you can clearly see, the children are being told they must complete this ritual if they ever want to be considered a “man”. And at what point did I claim we here in the West have a “perfect” culture?
Rituals are important. Unfortunatly, in our modern cultures, those have disappeared. In some cultures, to become a real man, you may need to kill a crocodile, or other dangerous animals. Or you may need to do some courageous thing. After that you will pass from childhood to adulthood at once. Here, we are just adults at 18 yo, but since there is no trial, you don’t feel like you are different from the day before. I only started considering myself a man at 23. (I just turned 25).
@caleidoo I’m not basing my opinion of this culture on this single instance of nonsense. If you’re at all familiar with Amazon ritual and many Northern African cultures in general, you’re aware that it’s all largely rooted in superstition. If necessary, I can list a number of this cultures “rites of passage”, customs and rituals that take place on a daily basis in these impoverished parts of the world. So to respond to your criticism – no, my judgements towards this culture are not ignorant.
Although this initiation is stupid, we need these kinds of initiations though for boys in the US. In the modern era, we have men that still act like boys on the inside because they were never given the chance to prove themselves to be worthy of carrying the title of a “real man.” Although, there are a few ways to gain manhoood, like the army which has it’s own initiation like shaving your head, working out, etc…
@gpheonix1 Blah Blah Blah yeah we all know they are actually flowers, but unless you’re a Webster’s dictionary then you really don’t need to be trying to correct someone on THEIR context just because it doesn’t match yours. He means it in the slang term while you take it literally. There. Done. It’s dead.
@caleidoo Oh, and I seriously doubt you’re in any position to take a condescending tone when you’re taking the position of “it’s okay to convince prepubescent children that they will be socially ostracized unless they withstand hours of agony.” Really, if you believe that dependant on where you are in the world, it may or may not be okay to torture your child, you have absolutely no right to speak to me as though you have the moral highground. Good day to you Sir.
@davethehostage You’re putting one aspect of one culture, which in this case, is grounded in a radically different environment than ours, and saying it’s wrong in our culture. The people in this article live in the jungle. Teens probably already felt dozen of ants, snake and spider bites before they even participate in this rite. You just can’t do that, it’s intellectually wrong. And don’t start again about people getting stoned etc.. in other cultures – we’re talking about THIS rite.
And then having suffered the same, the men of the tribe opt to continue the tradition upon their young. Not so much a test of manhood as it is a test of culture, for once they are collectively able to challenge destructive rituals and habits in the name of empathy, they begin upon the ascent towards true critical thinking, and ultimately a form of heightened civilisation where reason and rationality is more empowered. I don’t envy them, but it’s interesting to think on these things from afar.