Sylvia Likens

The Life and Influence of Edith Piaf Edith Giovanna Gassion better known as Edith Piaf was born on December 19, 1915 in Belleville, France. She was a singer and songwriter who rose to fame all around the world in the 1930s. From an early age, Edith was well renowned for her voice and she joined a circus with her father at only 7 years of age. Edith’s singing was very powerful considering her petite stature. She preferred to sing about tragedy and heartbreak and the harsh reality of poverty.…

“Barbara McClintock was born June 16, 1902, in Hartford, Connecticut, she was one of four children of Thomas Henry McClintock and Sara Handy McClintock. Her family moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 1908. After she moved she graduated from Erasmus Hall High School in 1919. Barbara did extremely well in school and ended up earning her B.S. and M.S. degrees in botany at Cornell University, and received her Ph.D. in the same subject at Cornell in 1927. Although women were not always permitted to major…

The Bell Jar is written by Sylvia Plath and published by William Heinemann Limited in London in 1963. This is the only novel written by American author and poet Plath and was first published under the name Victoria Lucas. This semi-autobiography based in New York City in 1953 tells the story of Esther Greenwood and her journey in the city and road down depression. Plath focuses on theme such as restricted roles of women in the 50’s in America and with sub-themes like success equals career.…

Patti Smith, is mainly known for being an American singer, songwriter, poet, and visual artist, some people even call her the godmother of punk. She is not only an artist but also a longtime activist, where her writings and words were inspiring and revolutionary. He lyrics showed the relationship between rock music and political lyrics, which focused on change that wasn’t very accepted. Her songs were motivation by a sense of injustice and explored ideas that were absent from a lot of music…

The heavenly sound of guitars and pianos complement the angelic voice of Lori Lieberman as she sings, “Strumming my pain with his fingers.” The breakaway of the piano serenades the listener into a ballad of love. Generation by generation, the stylistics of “Killing Me Softly” has evolved to conform to a variety of genres and audiences. It has made its way through airways with notable artists taking a change of channeling the essence of the song. Although the song originated from a young vocalist…

In Lady Lazarus quite a few literary devices are used. One of the devices used, that stood out to me was imagery. Imagery is visually descriptive or figurative language. Throughout the poem, Plath used imagery to set the tone of the poem and to make the meaning of the poem stronger. I believe she wanted the tone of the poem to be glum, and depressing and there are many instances in where she uses imagery to get that point across. I think the meaning of the poem is that it is about death or…

A parent’s word or actions leave behind an astounding effect on a child. Whether positive or negative, those are moments that shape and alter the child’s life. In Sylvia Plath’s poem Daddy, the story tells how the narrator copes and continues her life after her father dies. Even after his harsh treatment and rude demeanor while he was alive, he is still an entity that she herself lives her life by. Plath conveys the narrator’s feeling of confinement with the use of metaphors, repetition, and…

Sasha Maharaj has used a personal tone to convey emotions underlying her feelings about relationships in the poem, “Worthless’’. In this essay, I disclose how poetic devices, diction, syntax and other language functions have been utilized to reveal feelings/emotions of the writer in regard to relationships. Taking into account the title of the poem, one cannot put a figure on what or who is worthless. Nevertheless, it is known that worthless is an adjective; meaning something that has no use or…

The Melting Pot was written by Adrienne Rich in 1968. She was an American poet. Taken from poets.org, she wrote poetry collection like The Diamond Cutters (Harper & Brothers, 1955), Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law (Harper & Row, 1963), Leaflets (W. W. Norton, 1969), and the others more. In that 1960s poetry, the content of her poem explores about women’s role in society, racism, and the Vietnam War. One of that is The Melting Pot (1968), its content is about racism. On each stanza, this poem…

In literature and film, the taboo topic of mental illness is often utilised as a mechanism to either initiate the plot or convey certain themes within the piece. In Paul Coehlo's 1998 novel, "Veronika Decides to Die", the seemingly successful protagonist, Veronika, chooses to commit suicide as she believes that life is meaningless and empty. On the other hand, "Girl, Interrupted" is a film directed by James Mangold and is based on the memoir written by Susanna Kaysen's, depicting her time in a…