Analysis Of `` Mirror `` By Sylvia Plath

Plath first uses imagery to develop the message and to create an image in the reader’s mind. For instance, the author says, “Stars are dropping thick as stones” (Plath 1). With this phrase Plath develops the image of stars slowly disappearing in the night sky, it makes us have a different perspective of stars as if they drop here and there, instead of them hanging in the night sky 24/7. The author also causes us to have an image of how everything outside is quiet and calm, she demonstrates this by using the phrase, “Than the dark of the sky because it is quite starless. The woods are a well. The stars drop silently.” (Plath 3-4). This phrase develops an image of how the woods are never ending, how the stars dipping away in the night sky and makes the audience have a new perspective of how nature is never ending. In addition, the author creates an image of how the stars hang only by a thread in the night sky, the author demonstrates this by saying, “Hanging shyly under the studded horizon.” (Plath 19). Plath makes us view the stars as if they are barely hanging on to the night sky as if they are only held by a thread. All together, the imagery used to cause the audience to have different perspectives of the stars in the sky.

Poem Evaluation: “what the mirror said” The poem “what the mirror said”, written by Lucille Clifton, acts as an inspiring, motivational poem for women. While trying to convince the woman looking into the mirror that she is important, trying to help her capture her inner beauty, and helping the subject realize her worth in the world as an individual, the poet builds a theme of personal perception. The notions of beauty, worth and uniqueness, and complexity in “what the mirror said”, are emphasized through metaphors, symbolism, repetition, and spacious stanzas. There are always multiple perceptions on what poetry is trying to portray, which is part of the fun of poetry analysis.

The writer compares his life to water on Rouge River that is heading towards dead end with unknown future. “And my reflection is dominated by water Coming to impasse, the teeter-totter Of decision” from the poem shows the seriousness and thought provoking idea i.e. contemplation probably related to meaning of life and what lies ahead. Moreover, “And plunging in we find a serene cavernous strength, And pressed to run its darkness at full length, We find our all”, reflects tone of believing in ourselves and the best we have in us. This means no matter the situation we can bring the best of us that is life. Tone of the poem helps writer to make the poem more appealing to the readers. It aids the poet to express his feeling more effectively and

“Breaking the surface, shatter an old silence” evokes a sense of commotion as if everything was so silent you could hear a pin drop and all of a sudden there was excitement. This shows that the previous poems she read mean nothing close to what the poems she is reading now. This description provides a distinction between the previous poem she read and this current one. “The lake flowed out again, the swans, the darkening sky”(32-33) shows that there is stuff happening compared to the silence before. The darkening sky causes the girl to lose her doubts further showing how powerful this rush is. The figurative language of describing the swans as having question mark necks shows that the girl may be having allusions as a side effect of how much she is being impacted by the poem. The rush she feels from how interested she is in in poems causes her to lose her morals and her mind for a few moments. The girl is looking at the swans and is thinking about stealing the book “my breath came quickly, thinking it over- I had no money, no one was looking”(39-40). The question mark necks show how truly she was uncertain on what to

Stereotypes in Plath ‘The Applicant’ ‘The applicant’ by Sylvia Plath is a poem that describes the life of an applicant who has high expectations from the interviewer. This poem literally means how the people from the 1950s were stereotypical about the lifestyle of others and how they could objectify people based on their gender by asking “First, are you our sort of person?” Plath emphasizes how they have to accept everything and how they are treated as materials rather than human beings. Plath uses diction to underline the idea of stereotypes. For example, she uses the words “bring teacups” to describe how the wife acts as a servant, serving her husband for whatever he desires.

I chose this poem because it explains how people think every day. People believe that they have to try and be perfect everyday in order for people to not judge them. Everybody tries to be unique and impress others in some way. I think this poem makes the claim that people should focus on being happy instead of trying to be perfect. It states that if you change the person that you are then your priority will not be happiness which is the most important thing a person should have. The last line of the poem says, "Who looks back in your reflection?", to me this means that you should just be yourself because everybody is focusing on themselves making sure they are flawless that they most likely are not even paying attention to each flaw that you

           In the second part of Atwood's poem, the speaker describes the undeniable feelings that come from being a separate entity apart from her lover. Even as a mirror, there is more to her than there seems. As a woman hiding behind the metaphor of a mirror, the speaker seems to be telling her lover that the facets of her personality and physical appearance should not go unnoticed in the shadows of the way she serves to reflect. She tells her lover, "There is more than this dead blue / oblong eye turned outwards to you," (lines 18-19). In the same stanza, she describes the other parts of the mirror: the frame and its intricacies that do not reflect the

Lastly, Plath employs the negative effect of the progression of aging over a period of time. The poet uses connotations to show the maturity of the woman. The mirror describes the wall it reflects as: “It is pink, with speckles” (7). When picturing the color pink, people associate it with femininity, girl, innocence, and sensitivity. For example, during baby showers, people color coordinate everything with colors that are associated with the baby that is going to be born. If the baby is going to be a boy, then they will decorate and color coordinate everything to be the color blue but if the baby is going to be a girl, then they will decorate and color coordinate everything to be the color pink. The use of the color “pink” describes how young

Subsequently Plath is starting to acknowledge this motivation through gazing toward the rook; thusly she gazes upward past the fledgling to see something profound. This may likewise talk about her craving for flawlessness – Plath's mom ingrained such elevated expectations throughout her life that Plath was never sure about any of her work.'… it could happen' Plath starts to acknowledge that the wonder could happen – it could happen even in the dull scene that encompasses her. Plath experienced childhood in Boston, on the east drift close to the ocean. The ocean has enormous impact in her graceful symbolism and it has pushed itself into Plath's brain in stanza However it is a dull picture, a picture that fits the psyche now in the sonnet (sadness and

All throughout this literary work there was a complete use of visual imagery to characterize the young boy and girl presented in the poem. The use of imagery with the son was to describe the workout he does in order to achieve his desire look. The imagery used with the daughter was to illustrate and exemplify how she made a continuous effort, a meticulous beauty routine to look better. However, no matter what they do, neither the daughter nor the son were happy with how they look. No matter the gender, everybody struggle to look better. Not always we like what we see at the mirror. Do you think frowning at the mirror

Another metaphor that can be found in the poem starts on line 12 when the mirror states, “Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon” (12). This use of figurative language of the poem addresses how growing old can be disguised for some time. The light that surrounds both candles and the moon is typically either dim or completely dark. Shedding light upon a subject means to shed light upon the truth and to see everything for what it truly is. If one chooses to stay in the dark, one objects him or her self to be sheltered from reality, just as the elderly woman shelters herself from the reality of aging. This metaphor can be appreciated because here again, Plath’s poem relates to today’s culture. Women especially seem to fear growing old. In order to counteract any signs of aging, many women turn to anti aging creams, or even the occasional (or not so occasional in some cases) Botox injection. Just like the liars, the candle and the moon, these remedies only trick women into thinking they’ve defeated time itself and are still able to grasp onto their youthful appearance. Plath’s comparison of candle and moonlight to liars is genius. The

In the poem “Mirror”, by Sylvia Plath, the message of self-image is displayed. Platt wrote this during a time when the views of women were rapidly changing. The reflection of a woman was very important and the feminist movement was beginning to make a bigger impact on the world. The poem shows the woman changing and getting old and what happens to the way women view themselves as they age. Diane von Furstenberg once said, “Aging is out of your control. It’s how you handle it is what matters.” This quote and the poem make the reader curious by seeing the next time they look in the mirror, do they like what they see? Clearly, “Mirror” displays the theme of self-image.

Sylvia Plath’s poem “Mirror” is about a woman who gets older as the mirror watches her. At first, the mirror is “silver and exact” (1). The mirror does not judge; however, it swallows what it sees and reflects that image back (2). The mirror is also “not cruel, only truthful” (4), and considers itself a four-cornered eye of a god (5). Therefore, the mirror sees everything for what it is, and does not lie. The mirror looks across the empty room most of the time (6) and meditates on the pink speckled wall across from it (7). The mirror is attached to the wall, and has looked at that wall for so long, that the wall is thought to be “part of my heart” (8). The darkness in the room and the people who consider the mirror are the faces and darkness that separate the woman and the mirror (9). In the next stanza, the mirror is now portraying itself as a lake (10). A woman is looking into the lake (10), and she is

Sylvia Plath’s, Mirror, takes hold of a young girl’s misery with her reflection. The poem’s narrator is the mirror, that witnesses accounts of the girl's miserable life. The girl ridicules her image, every day of her life, by looking into the mirror and watching closely her imperfections taking over. As the girl grows older, the mirror becomes abundant with the girl’s sorrow towards her figure. The girl is drowning in her self-loathing and can’t find a way to overcome her reflection.

Stylistic Structure plays a major role through the whole poem of “Mirror”. The first stanza can be split into two different views, the first being what the onlooker sees in the mirror and the second being what the mirror sees. This structure allows the reader to understand the pain of seeing what is reflected in the mirror and how the mirror feels about being the individual who is being reflected. “I am not cruel, only truthful-“(4) describes how the onlooker views the mirror and describes the reaction the looker gives when they see what is being reflected. The reflection leads to hurt when the individual realizes that what they see is not what is being reflected. This stylistic structure can also be seen in the second stanza which refers to the lake as a reflector instead of the