Initiation By Sylvia Plath Analysis

472 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: The phenomenon of conformity

“One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.”- Shannon L. Alder, American author. Even with all the temptation and pressure we feel just to fit in today's society, or to be normal, it's crucial that you hold on to your passions, goals, dreams, values, and to hold on to yourself. Being yourself is very hard to do especially in today’s society. Such as the short story “Initiation” by Sylvia Plath. In the short story, a young lady is ready to go along with any humiliation just to be apart of a prestigious high school sorority. The reward for passing this initiation is that she gets to be in one of the groups that prides itself on its members being the same; which this is what she doesn't even want. …show more content…

This textual example is related to the modern world by us people seeing how difficult it is not to be influenced or persuaded by trends that can be good or bad to us. For example, your group of friends all like a certain song, but you just can’t stand the vuglar use of cursing and the beat is horrible to you . Since you don’t want to be treated differently and set aside by your friends you join along with them. In addition, the short video “The Social Beeping Experiment” is yet again another example of consequences caused by conformity. In the video, the woman is unable to resist conforming, like everybody else is doing, sitting up and back down when a beeping sounds. Since it didn’t take her long to conform, precisely 3 beeps, it proves that that the brain,s urge to conform and to fit in is very strong. Thus is connected to the real world in many ways. For example, when you are in church and everybody is singing, but you feel uncomfortable or strange singing out in public. However, you do it anyways because you don’t want to look weird or frowned

Show More
Related

  • 'Conformity In Sylvia Plath's Initiation'

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the short story “Initiation” author Sylvia Plath suggests that conformity, although the societal norm, is not always as grand as it is made out to be, while also suggesting that even though conformity typically hinders one’s self growth, there are times when the fear of conforming can make one’s sense of self stronger. These two ideas together show that Plath uses this short story to convey the message that even though conformity is not inherently a positive thing, it can drive a person to look in on themselves and develop a unique identity. Plath uses symbolism, and character introspection to assert this idea.

    Read More

  • Sylvia Plath's Words for a Nursery

    1761 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sylvia Plath’s “Words for a Nursery” depicts the embodiment of life through the symbolism of a human hand. Referring to the hand many times throughout various works(“Mirrors”, “Tulips”, “Lady Lazarus”, etc), Plath continually portrays this feature as a bodily tool around which life functions. After becoming pregnant with her first child, Plath’s analysis of the progression of life from birth to death can be seen within such a poem. Like most of her poetry, “Words for a Nursery” escalates in a positive manner until the end where death is expressed, and a sense of pessimism is briefly felt. As she suggests, life begins with the opening of the hand, the first action which will lead to eventual awareness of the world. Through her analysis of the detailed elements of the hand, and her emphasis on its ability to learn its role, Plath examines the phases of life by expressing a new stage within each stanza. From birth, through life, and finally to old age and death, Plath draws upon a series of images to metaphorically describe human existence in life’s endless cycle.

    Read More

  • Rebirth in Sylvia Plath's Lady Lazarus, Fever 103, Getting There, and Cut

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Ariel-period poems of Sylvia Plath demonstrate her desire for rebirth, to escape the body that was "drummed into use" by men and society. I will illustrate the different types of rebirth with examples from the Ariel poems, including "Lady Lazarus," "Fever 103," "Getting There," and "Cut."

    Read More

  • Sorority Application Letter

    513 Words  | 2 Pages

    Day in and day out we hear about high school and college students wanting to pursue a sorority and/or a fraternity based on the stereotypes these organizations uphold, well I chose to differ. I told myself if I ever decided to become a member of a sorority it would be based solely on their ethical standards, history, and values they are founded upon. Alpha Kappa Alpha, Incorporated consists of ladies of distinction and exemplary character who excel in scholarship, leadership, and service, which are qualities I have chosen to uphold. From my perspective, I encourage myself to maintain a respectable appearance and reputation which doing so inspires me to embrace my self-concept; which helps me confidently excel academically and professionally as a “lady of distinction” and “exemplary character.” Most importantly, I continuously remain involved in community service, being involved allows me the opportunity to learn and understand the lives and circumstances of others by opening my mind, heart, and soul. Overall these qualities strengthen my passion to be a member of the prestigious Alp...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Morning Song By Sylvia Plath

    2075 Words  | 5 Pages

    Controversy surrounding Sylvia Plath and her collection Ariel is still present in today’s society. The collection is written using personal stories in a confessional tone that makes it impossible for the reader to remove Sylvia Plath’s life from the poems. The interpretation of the poems filters directly into Plath’s life with memories of her father, husband, children and her struggles with mental health. The collection is controversial because Plath committed suicide and the depression and grotesqueness of her inner self is present in many of her poems; especially her later collection. It is hard not to read Ariel in a biographical way. Socially and politically this poem is very questionable with the major theme of the holocaust, death and

    Read More

  • Sylvia Plath's Lady Lazarus and Stings

    507 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sylvia Plath's works are known for their extremes. Much of the influence of her poems came from the males in her life that had the most effect on her; her father, Otto Plath and Ted Hughes, who she married and later it fell apart when Ted began having an affair. The effects of these men on her were mostly negative, making her poems to have loathing and suffering.

    Read More

  • Poetry Analysis: A Life By Sylvia Plath

    1215 Words  | 3 Pages

    Born on October 27, 1932 in a suburb of Boston Massachusetts, Sylvia Plath was a famous poet, novelist, and writer. Publishing her first poem in the Boston Herald’s children section, at the age of eight, showed her early interest in poetry. Subsequent to her fathers death, Sylvia Plath’s family moved to Wellesley Massachusetts, where she continued the duration of her scholastic experience until college. Sylvia Plath could be described as an exemplary daughter and star student who earned straight A’s throughout her high school career. By 1950, Sylvia Plath had won “The Scholastic Art & Writing Award”, published her first story “And Summer Will Not Come Again”, written over 50 short stories, and had been published in a few magazines. Plath’s

    Read More

  • An Explication Of Sylvia Plath's Daddy

    483 Words  | 1 Pages

    “I find myself absolutely fulfilled when I have written a poem. I think the actual experience of writing a poem is a magnificent one.” These are the words of Sylvia Plath, the American poet, and author. Through her use of metaphors, imagery and end rhymes, Plath paints an autobiographical picture of her life by depicting the absence of her father, the birth of her child, and her declining mental state just before her death, she does this through her use of language by not explaining what is going on, but by showing.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Sylvia Plath's Metaphors

    1208 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Metaphors” by Sylvia Plath is a poem about what it’s like to be a pregnant woman. When a woman is carrying a child, the world looks at her differently. Some may say that is a good thing, but for Plath not so much. Plath doesn’t strictly write out anything in this poem. As the title reads, it’s all a metaphor that the reader has to decipher. This poem is describes the end of a pregnancy, when a woman feels the worst. The narrator feels as if the child she is carrying is the true value, not herself who is carrying the baby.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Daddy by Sylvia Plath

    575 Words  | 2 Pages

    Analysis of Daddy by Sylvia Plath. Sylvia Plath uses her poem, Daddy, to express deep emotions about her father’s life and death. With passionate articulation, she verbally turns over her feelings of rage, abandonment, confusion and grief. Though this work is fraught with ambiguity, a reader can infer Plath’s basic story.

    Read More

  • What Is Initiation For The Short Story?

    1134 Words  | 3 Pages

    In one of the stories, the main character Millicent participates in challenges and embarrassing task just so she can be accepted into Lansing High School elite social sorority. Millicent is just trying to fit in to the normal hierarchy of the high school by accepting the invitation for the social group. “Millicent had waited a long time for acceptance, longer than most” (Plath 3). It seem evident that Millicent has always envied the cool more popular girls because she was never accepted by them, and receiving the invitation means that she was finally good enough to even be considered. Through the story, you see Millicent struggling to balance being true to herself and being popular. In the end, she realizes that it is more important to be true who she really was than for her conform to other standards. “ The other victory would be much harder, but she knew it was what she wanted. It was not that she was being noble or anything. It was just that she had leanred there were wa...

    Read More

  • Cinderella Sylvia Plath Analysis

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sylvia Plath, born to a middle-class family, was a delicate person who has a tendency to be a perfectionist that most people would consider her as an archetype academically. She is well-known for her exceptional ability to express into words her dreadful memories and experiences as well as her delightful ones; she was an extraordinarily gifted writer with a natural feel of the language, simply intelligent and calculated. Behind the struggles expressed in Plath 's work is the fact that she suffered from depression, suicidal tendency which made her underwent mental therapy, and that included electro-conclusive therapy (ECT) (Cooper, 2003). Most of her published works act almost as her autobiography, portraying her tragic life and death. This

    Read More

  • Analysis Of A Birthday Present By Sylvia Plath

    755 Words  | 2 Pages

    May it be her elegiac, disturbing poetry or her dramatic finale of life, Sylvia Plath is one of the most praised writers in the history of time. From the age of eight, Plath lived an unfortunate life, dealing with the death of her father, a failed marriage, and upholding the strict expectations of women held by society (Poets.org 1). “A Birthday Present”, written by Sylvia Plath, demonstrates an obvious representation of her emotions and attitude toward life. Other than being straight forward, Plath establishes her thoughts within her poetry through distinct structure, diction, and figurative language. Her techniques not only allowed readers to understand her despair, but convinced herself

    Read More

  • The Life Of Sylvia Plath

    984 Words  | 2 Pages

    save his life, but he died in November of 1940, when Sylvia was just eight

    Read More

  • A Birthday Present Sylvia Plath Analysis

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    Within “Tulips” and “A Birthday Present”, Sylvia Plath explores the critical decision of choosing between life and death. Through her inclusion of rhetorical devices, the personification of common-day objects symbolize the return to existence and biblical allusions mock the salvation others receive through religious means. Written in the last few months of her life, the two poems showcase the battle between consciousness and death and while it may seem easier to lose oneself in the bland darkness, the two extremities are frighteningly close.

    Read More

More about Initiation By Sylvia Plath Analysis

Open Document