Sylvia Likens

Sylvia Plath’s ‘gothic’ and realistic writing style captured readers with either interest and curiosity or shock and unease. Marie Ahearn wrote that Plath used her themes to relate her “particular view of fear, of the unknown reaches of the mind, of madness.” Starting her writing career at a young age, her poems developed from cheerful poems based on nature into an authentic view of her life and struggles. Becoming more in touch with herself and suffering from mental illness contributed greatly…

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath relies heavily on shift in tone and topic to portray the ongoing descent into depression that is the basic story arch for the main character Esther Greenwood. Plath employs a large arsenal of techniques to convey the necessary shifts in the novel. One of the most obvious methods is a direct statement of shift by a character. The direct shift is combined with hints through typical behavior, such as crying. Plath also uses contrasting statements both through Esther…

Judith Wright 's Woman to Child and Sylvia Plath 's Morning Song have a focus on the way that mortality is perceived by society, expanding on this by implying that it is ultimately controlled by nature. In Morning Song, Sylvia Plath examines the concept of longevity and youth. This is evident in the unusual simile, "like a fat gold watch," in the First Stanza. The unconventional comparison between a baby and gold watch draws parallels between the superficial constructs of society and the deeper…

Ariel, a collection of Sylvia Plath’s poems released in 1965 after her suicidal death, transmit melancholy and agony to anyone who reads it. This depression in her poems was caused after her husband, the poet Ted Hughes, left her for another woman. Plath’s writing style has always been criticized for being excessively autobiographical and because of her continuous suicidal suspicion. However, Plath has never been criticized for the irony of the poem “The Applicant” compared to the rest of her…

Poem is a piece of writing which express feelings, emotions and ideas using descriptive figurative languages. However, poems are not dependable as a secondary source and if it is written about 100 years later than when the event actually happened. Likewise, the poem cannot be trustworthy if it contains different facts from the primary source written by the person who experienced that moment and who was actually there. Furthermore, as poems use figurative languages that exaggerate things, it is…

Application of New Criticism: forgiving my father A short synopsis of the poem “forgiving my father”, written by Lucille Clifton is that it is about a daughters recollection of her life growing up, specifically her father’s inefficiencies. Throughout the poem, the persona shifts through boots of anger, bitterness and contempt as she reflects on the experiences she had growing up. To fully grasp what the poem is about in its totality, one could ascribe to many different types of criticism…

was earlier mentioned critics define Sylvia Plath as a confessional poet, pre-feminist, suicidal poet who is obsessed to a certain extent with the theme of death. In Lady Lazarus the narrator is in 1st person this is shown through the use of “I”. The narrator is a narcissist who is obsessed with the idea of death and makes herself be undefeatable against death as she is “a sort of walking miracle.” This is one of the reasons why critics associated it as if Sylvia Plath was the narrator herself…

In poems “The Lighters” and “Nursing,” Rennie McQuilkin articulates the variety and complexity of his feelings towards the sickening and passing of his mother. To vividly illustrate his sentimental attachments, McQuilkin extensively and effectively utilizes literary techniques such as contrasts, diction, and allusions in these two poems, leaving an accessible yet woeful depiction of his desperation and resignation in response to his mother’s suffering. McQuilkin frequently employs sharp…

The poem “Daddy,” by Sylvia Plath is a descriptive poem of Plath’s feelings towards her dead father. The grief stuck by her father passing, heavily impacting her way of life. Plath had a hard time growing up because she felt alone without her father and she felt incomplete because she never got a chance to know her father or what he was like. Plath claims she is “through,” but evidence shows that she did not come to terms with her father because her suffering, aggression, and disrespect towards…

Emily Dickenson’s poem titled My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun – is one of the many poetic works she created in her lifetime. The staple ambiguity of her poetry is ever present in this poem, which reflects the eccentric nature of Dickenson herself. This poem reflect the anger within her life and show how she is carried away by the male personified version of her anger and becomes an instrument of his. This poem offers an inside look into Dickenson’s psyche, as it show that she feels empowered by…