'the Glass Jar' by Gwen Harwood and 'Ariel' by Sylvia Plath Speech

Harwood’s poem ‘The Glass Jar’, powerfully illustrates the fears and consternations of childhood. The poem deeply explores both the loss of childhood innocence and transition between childhood and adulthood. Typical of Harwood’s poetry, the central character is never named and as a result, the boy's feelings and thoughts become representative of all children. Her poetry offers new and enlightening perspectives on the most significant stages of our lives, reinforced with the phrase ‘He woke’, a blunt, monosyllabic statement that highlights the passing of time. Emotive and powerful language communicates the transition between a child who’s sleep was disturbed by ‘whispering’ monsters. He became a child who has secured hope and faith in a metaphorical glass jar filled with light. This symbolises a ‘host’ providing salvation, security and

What themes and ideas does Gwen Harwood explore in her poetry and how does she communicate her ideas to the reader

Whether you realise it or not, the act of representation is a constant and significant aspect of our lives. It defines and influences our perceptions of things in either a positive or negative way. One poem that I particularly admire from Harwood’s collection is ‘The violets’ , as it recognises the inevitable act of evolving without our childhood memories. The art of growing up and moving forward is only fully accomplished when we recognise and accept the experiences and explorations of our childhood. Harwood’s poetic style reflects her conservative, traditional and religious upbringing, as well as her interests in literature, philosophy and music. As one of Australia’s finest poets, and it is an honour to introduce Harwood’s latest poem anthology.

Poetic techniques displayed through the ideas, poetic features and style of the poet, reveal concepts which transcend time and place. In Gwen Harwood’s poem “the violets” her ability to interweave past and present emphasises the importance of memory in preserving ones journey though the universal experiences of growth, maturity and mortality. Similarly the poem “Mother who gave me life” demonstrates the memory of motherhood as a timeless quintessential part of the human condition. And lastly In Harwood’s “father and Child”, the connection between the father and son/daughter highlights that transformation throughout childhood is inevitable. Through the content and the language, the ways in which human experiences reveal concepts which

The last two stanzas are the darkest, and ultimately appear to put some type of closure on Plath’s life. She obviously believes that she killed her father when she was ten years old, stating that “if I’ve killed one man, I’ve killed

The poem suddenly becomes much darker in the last stanza and a Billy Collins explains how teachers, students or general readers of poetry ‘torture’ a poem by being what he believes is cruelly analytical. He says, “all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it”. Here, the poem is being personified yet again and this brings about an almost human connection between the reader and the poem. This use of personification is effective as it makes the

Understanding a poet’s context can greatly shape a person’s understanding of their poetry. Australian poet Gwen Harwood (1920-1995) was born into a self-sufficient family full of music, philosophy and language. Harwood can be seen to draw inspiration from her lifelong influences, primarily music and her childhood, to shape her poems. The gentle meditation, The Violets, is an exploration of the existential concerns of the poet regarding the innocence and experience of childhood. The _____ Four Impromptus conveys ideas of the power of music and the human experience. Both poems display the personal themes of music, childhood innocence, human development and romanticism, reflecting these dominant experiences in Harwood’s personal life. By

Plath starts her poem out negatively, ‘barely daring to breathe or Achoo’, with a distinct repetition of the ‘oo’ sounds in ‘Achoo’, ‘do’, ‘shoe’ and ‘du’ creating a childlike, nursery rhyme style of delivery that contrasts greatly with the violent and dark themes. Harwood begins on a significantly more positive if wistful note, ‘forgive me the wisdom I would not learn from you’ positioning her mother as a wise and positive influence. The tones of the poems are very different, as shaped by the poet’s experiences with their parents, with Harwood creating an affirmative, loving description of her relationship with her mother while Plath develops a much darker and sinister view s.

You may begin by commenting on the different definitions available for ideology in general as well as the theory of feminism. Feminism is discussed in this course as an example of modern theories and is often associated with the issue of ideology. Your discussion should refer to the discussion of these terms as well as the major elements connected to them (e.g. gender, écriture feminine, patriarchy, etc.). In your analysis of the poem you may want to ask questions concerning Plath’s personal life and her relationship to male figures in her family. Do you read the poem as a personal or a political poem? Would you characterize Plath as a feminist poet? Always

A comparative literary study of the effect of mental illness on the central characters is the semi-autobiographical novels The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. Comparing two women trying to deal with mental illness and are trying to cope with the mental pressures they put on themselves and by other people. Although the differences between these two novels are The Bell Jar shows Esther’s life before she descends into mental illness whereas Susanna’s story is about her time in a mental institution and experiencing other patients who are in similar situations.

Poetry has a role in society, not only to serve as part of the aesthetics or of the arts. It also gives us a view of what the society is in the context of when it was written and what the author is trying to express through words. The words as a tool in poetry may seem ordinary when used in ordinary circumstance. Yet, these words can hold more emotion and thought, however brief it was presented.

In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by

Of the two readings we were given to select from for our Midterm Assignment, I chose to conduct my initial psychosocial and diagnostic assessment on the character, Esther, from the semi-autobiographical novel “The Bell Jar”, by Sylvia Plath. The protagonist in the novel is a 19-year-old girl from the suburbs of Boston growing up in the 1950’s who has accepted a summer internship working at a prominent magazine in New York City. It is made clear from the beginning of the novel that Esther’s move has resulted in a possible adjustment disorder as she narrates her feelings of sadness, misplacement, and disconnectedness from reality.

The Bell Jar is a novel written in, 1963 written by Sylvia Plath. It is a story about a girl who under goes many traumatic life events that had the destiny to make or break her. The things she used to enjoy in life are no longer bringing joy to her life. She can’t find anything that gives her the will to go on. The Bell Jar is a story that will take reader on a journey with a girl who lets the gender roles of 1950s get the best of her. She lets people tell her what she can and cannot do and loses what it means to become your own person. The Bell Jar teaches the audience about the expectations, opportunities or restrictions on American Women in the 1950’s. As gender roles have become more diverse between a man and a woman, it is still more

In this essay we will look into her life through three of her poems in