'Metaphors' by Sylvia Plath - critical review.
Metaphors The poem 'metaphors' by Sylvia Plath deals with strong issues of pregnancy. The poem was written when she was pregnant. She wrote about her mixed feelings and emotions. The poem itself is a metaphor. In the word 'metaphor' there are nine letters. There are nine lines, and nine syllables in every line. Apparently there are also nine months of pregnancy. Each line is a metaphor and each line represents different stages of pregnancy. Line nine "Boarded the train there's no getting off" suggest that it is inevitable. There is no turning back. She has no control over her future. She is going through the firstly month of pregnancy and so fears about the outcome. It's also a humorous line because "no getting off" in colloquial terms means they'll be no sex for a while. Line eight represents the second month of pregnancy. "I've eaten a bag of green apples". "Bag of green apples" could suggest lumpiness, perhaps she is starting to feel the weight of the baby. The words, digestion, queasiness stomach ache all relate to morning sickness. Morning sickness is essential at the early stage of pregnancy. The line could also suggest that a fresh, new baby is developing, as for the colour 'green' represents fresh, new- life. It also represents nature, which suggests that pregnancy is a natural act. Line seven represents the third month of pregnancy. "I'm a means' a stage, a cow
One of the most interesting poems written by Sylvia Plath is Mirror, which is about a mirror that reflects off an image.
English Commentary -Mirror One of the most interesting poems written by Sylvia Plath is Mirror, which is about a mirror that reflects off an image. What makes this poem so interesting is that the speaker of the poem is the mirror itself, when mostly her other poems have her, or any other person, doing the communication. The first stanza of the poem basically introduces the speaker, which clearly declares it being a mirror. The poem takes an interesting turn in the second stanza where the mirror speaks of a woman, who is presumable Sylvia Plath herself. This seemed a very fascinating approach because Plath was writing a poem with herself, but she is only a character and nothing more. What she did by using this technique was that she could talk of how she felt with some other object speaking, hence why this poem does not sound as much vicious or sarcastic than her other poems. The mirror expresses its feelings as that being of truthful, and Plath knows that most people are not always with that characteristic. In this poem, Plath uses many literary techniques such as personification, metaphor, and simile to describe the mirror's analytical viewpoint, and compare that to the emotional viewpoint that the people have. Sylvia Plath uses personification to describe the condition of the mirror. Although the mirror is the speaker in the poem, it retains much of the qualities that the
What happens in the story? Superman and Paula Brown's New Snowsuit is a short story written in 1955.
What happens in the story? Superman and Paula Brown's New Snowsuit is a short story written in 1955. It was published in the collection Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams and other prose writings (1978). If you have not yet read the story, then do so before you read this summary! In a very simple way the title is well chosen - for the first part of the story is about Superman and the second about the snowsuit. But this also shows that the story begins with pleasant fantasy and ends in unpleasant reality. And there is no Superman to rescue the narrator - only Uncle Frank to help her accept what has happened. The story tells how the narrator (whose name never appears) plays games in which she makes up adventures for Superman. Later she is invited to the birthday party of a wealthy spoilt child, Paula Brown. Paula is proud of her birthday present, a blue snowsuit from Sweden. Some time later, Paula is playing tag in the snow when another child pushes her and she falls into an oil slick, which ruins her snowsuit. Paula blames the narrator and the other children also join in the accusation. Although her Uncle Frank believes her, the narrator has no happy ending to her story - everyone is convinced that she is to blame for the damage to the snowsuit. The themes of this story This is a story in which ideas are very important - perhaps more than the characters. Scapegoats
An essay on the Comparison of two poems dealing with intense emotions
An essay on the Comparison of two poems dealing with intense emotions In my essay I aim to compare the similarities and state the differences between two poems, Sylvia Plath's, 'Daddy' and Emily Dickinson's, 'I Felt a Funeral in my Brain.' These two poems deal with intense emotions and extreme cases of anger from the writer's own real life experiences. Sylvia Plath had an extremely traumatic childhood as her Father, Otto Plath, a German professor, died when she was only nine years old, and has always had to live with that. The emotions eventually took their toll on Plath and she committed suicide only a few months after writing 'Daddy'. Dickinson wrote her poems often under periods of extreme psychological distress, she spent most of her life isolated from the rest of the world, as she feared social situations. Plath's 'Daddy' and Dickinson's 'I Felt a Funeral in my Brain' share a similar mood and tone. Both sounding very sad and depressed, also a sense of anger stands out. Dickinson's title 'I Felt a Funeral in my Brain' already gives the reader a sense that the poem is a very sad one as a funeral is not a happy occasion, and is associated with death and unhappiness. Also the title is a metaphorical one, as the 'funeral' is not actually happening but is just in her mind, suggesting also that the poem is very sad and depressing. Plath's 'Daddy' shares the same mood, sounding
The mirror 3 diary entries.
The mirror 3 diary entries. 30/6/86 Today it was my birthday, and I got this diary set from my cousin. To start my diary I live in London and I go to Langdon School in Eastham. Today was a brilliant day I turned eighteen the big one eight. And I wanted a mirror to finish of my bedroom. My dad was decorating my bedroom and I needed a mirror. My mum got me it and she got me other essentials that I needed like a lamp and a chest of draws. And my cousins got me some games and pens and pencils. My favorite was the mirror it was silver and exact, that's how I wanted it to be. And from the start I opened it I fell in love with it. After 7:00pm when they all went home, I helped my mum to clean up. And I asked my dad to hang it up for me and he didn't. He said that I well hang it up tomorrow, because it was to late. 31/6/86 Today my mirror got hang up on the wall and my other cousin gave me a clock as well and my dad hang it up as well. So when I looked in the mirror I could tell the time. Today I got obsessed with my mirror as well. And I realized I'm attractive. And I tried on my clothes, which I got for my birthday and I really looked attractive. Tomorrow is my cousin's birthday and I was going to wear those clothes tomorrow. That's why I think that she gave me these clothes because we were going to have a party together. /7/86 Today was my cousin's birthday and we went
A Trapped Life: The Autobiographical Elements of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar.
A Trapped Life: The Autobiographical Elements of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar by Kristel Trolenberg Ms. O'Toole - A Block American Literature Trolenberg 1 People go through a vast range of events as they travel through life and face various obstacles. These obstacles differ from person to person and can sometimes seem impossible to surmount. Society is one of the prevailing sources of these obstacles and it occasionally can put overwhelming pressures on a person's soul and can be detrimental to the body leading to suicidal deaths. Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar describes the effect of these pressures on the body and soul. As Stevenson states: "...its [The Bell Jar's] theme is her own traumatic breakdown and suicide attempt at 21." Plath's life was filled with many societal pressures that led her to depression. However, "Self-consciousness and anxiety about status and money during adolescence contributed to the profound insecurity Plath concealed all her life beneath a façade of brassy energy and brilliant achievement" (Stevenson). Ronald DeFeo believes her depth into human emotions and her innovative style attracts readers and that "we also read them [Plath's work] because we wish to share the poet's grief" (DeFeo 624). Many artists pull from their own life experiences to create their works, and many people believe that you can not write about life unless you
"Mirror", "Beautiful Old Age" and "Warning" - a comparison.
As people grow older, they feel less confident about the matter of ageing. Fear sometimes overcomes them and with it, drives them to a feeling of frustration and hatred. There are poets that describe what they think about ageing; with or without going through such an experience. In Sylvia Plath's poem "Mirror", the matter of ageing is expressed as a life of pain and agony. In the poem, Plath uses a mirror to demonstrate this. She gives life to the mirror using personification which allows it to think, see and talk. In the first stanza, Plath has used imagery to show how the mirror is and what it looks like. She has used "hard consonant sounds" to present this poem with more depth. In fact, it's the mirror who describes itself; phrases like "the eye of a little god, four-cornered" prove this. We know that the mirror is in a house because the poem confirms it when it says "most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall", these words clearly show this. Plath has used the whole of the second stanza as an extended metaphor. In this stanza the mirror appears as a lake. A woman is "searching for her reaches for what she really is" clarifies that the woman is trying to see herself as another person which is not her. "Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon" in order to hide her face from what it really looks like due to the dim and flattery light produced by
Critical response to "Behaviour of Fish in an Egyptian Tea-Garden".
The poem I read was "Behaviour of Fish in an Egyptian Tea-Garden" written by Keith Douglas. I found the poem interesting because it contained excellent figures of speech and a good use of enjambment. "Behaviour of Fish in an Egyptian Tea-Garden" is about an attractive woman who is referred to in the poem as a white stone and different types of men who are referred to as different species of fish. The poem sets a scene of all the 'species' of men who are all trying to gain the attractive woman's attention so as to try and seduce her into having sex with them even though they know there is little chance of this happening! Throughout the poem you begin to realise that this woman is not going to be interested in the men who are in the tea-garden no matter how many sacrifice themselves to her because she needs a very rich man who is willing to marry her, keep her and provide for her for the rest of her life, she's out for what she can get - she is not interested in meaningless relationships. I can prove this theory because throughout the story many different types of men throw themselves to the woman's mercy, however, she does not pay attention to any of them because in the last verse it tells you she is waiting for "a collector, a rich man." The most outstanding verse in the poem is verse one. In this verse there is a line "As a white stone draws down the fish" this quote
Write a Critical analysis of the extract “August Bank Holiday” How Effective is Dylan Thomas’ use of Language and Image.
Write a Critical analysis of the extract "August Bank Holiday" How Effective is Dylan Thomas' use of Language and Image. August bank holiday by Dylan Thomas is a prose set on a beach built with an unusual metaphorical language to portrait a prose that I believe is a happy childhood memory of a family day out at the beach on an August bank holiday. He uses a very uncommon use of words and uses a lot of metaphors, alliteration and similes to paint a picture in your head of what he is writing. There were many metaphors used in this piece of writing, some sad and some joyous. An example of a happy metaphor used in the prose: "A tune on an ice cream cornet." This is comparing the joy of eating an ice cream to the fun of playing a trumpet or vice versa. An example of a sad is: "I can remember the boy by himself, the beach combing lone wolf." This is using the lone wolf's solitude and loneliness of beach combing to say that the boy feels left out and lonely. As well as metaphors there is also alliteration, some of them roll off the tongue and others are tongue twisters but both emphasise or make a more interesting sentence. There are many examples of alliteration, here are some of them: "A wince and Whinny of bathers dancing into deceptive water." "I remember the princely pastime of pouring sand..." "The friendless fielder." These are all written to make a sentence more
The three poems I have chosen to compare are 'A Parental Ode To My Son Aged Three years and Five Months', 'Catrin' and 'For Heidi With Blue Hair'.
'That Old Rope' The three poems I have chosen to compare are 'A Parental Ode To My Son Aged Three years and Five Months', 'Catrin' and 'For Heidi With Blue Hair'. 'A Parental Ode...' is a poem, which has been written about a son through his father's eyes. It is a poem emphasizing the beauty and virtues of his son, talking as if he is a creature of fantasy; though in reality the father's son is a mischievous child, getting into trouble, which is distracting the father from writing his poem. 'Catrin' is written in the same format as 'A Parental Ode...' but in this poem it is the mother viewing her child (which in this case is Catrin). This poem is a lot more serious and down to earth. It talks about their relationship and how they have grown together whereas 'A Parental Ode...' is about the troubles that the father's child gets up to and is more bubbly and amusing. 'For Heidi With Blue Hair' shares some characteristics as 'Catrin' in the sense that it is the same poem. This poem is written about a girl who has dyed her hair blue, basically as it says in the title. It tries to be amusing by using irony so it does have some similarity to 'A Parental Ode...' in a humorous sense but 'A Parental Ode's...' humour is more direct. 'A Parental Ode...' is a poem by a father idolizing his son. It is written in 'real-time' - that the father is describing his son as he is writing the