Conclusion

Adolescence can be very confusing, as the girl in “The One Girl at the Boys’ Party” seems to learn at the pool party she attends.  Though chaperoned by her mother, it is clear that she is mature in mind, in regards to her mathematical capabilities, and is approaching the age where one starts to notice the opposite sex as more than just school companions or friends.  The emergence of the girl’s new sexuality in regards to the boys surrounding her, and how she struggles to understand what it means in terms of the logical, math-oriented identity she associates with is conveyed by Olds’s use of extended metaphor and imagery throughout the poem.  These literary devices illustrate how the content of the girl’s thoughts change throughout the poem, allowing for what is sure to be the start of her self-discovery at a pool party.