In an interview with Peter Orr, Sylvia Plath was asked if she had any regrets about becoming a writer. She answered, "I much prefer doctors, midwives, lawyers, anything but writers. I think that writers and artists are the most narcissistic people. I think if I had done anything else I would have been a doctor" (Orr 3-4). Interesting for Plath to say, considering how she would eventually become such a prominent figure in the world of poetry.
During a time when women didn't have many rights or received much recognition, Sylvia Plath was born in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts on Oct. 27, 1932 (Rosenberg 10). Her parents would've never expected their daughter would one day become such a success in a male dominated profession of writing. At an early
But after reading it a few more times, I started to pick up the subtleties that lay within the poem. The way she makes you have to read between the lines to get the true meaning behind the poem is what really struck out at me. I was used to the usual universally known forms of symbolism that many other poets I have read used, such as a how a rose symbolizes love, black symbolizes death. Though, Plath took it a step further. It made me really have to think about what the blackberries and the sea might have represented, due to them not being a universal symbol. Overall, I really enjoyed "Blackberrying" and finding out how it connected to Plath's life. I was in awe about how much emotion Plath conveyed in such a short poem. The poem was truly about Plath's awakening experience, the transition of having to go into the real world. I can relate to this, not in the same terms as Plath but rather, due to me going to college soon. I'm realizing that soon I'll have to go out into the real world by myself and won't have someone to hold my hand the entire time. I thought that the sheep path that leads down to the ocean really represents that transition, you don't know what is around the bend and the path is crowded because everyone is on it. After extensive research on the poem, I've gotten a really good basis for what "Blackberrying" is really about. There are four main symbols that Plath really focuses on in the poem. The first main symbol is the blackberries and how they're personified (Plath 1). They bleed the same blood as her, yet she seems appalled by that fact. It's as if she's appalled to be associated with mankind. They also easily conform to the bottle, possibly representing conforming to society's standards and how easily people can be easily manipulated. The second main symbol is the crows.
In American society, the common stereotype is that the father has the role of the dominant figure in the household. Sylvia Plath and Sharon Olds may come across as two seemingly different poets, however, they are really quite similar, especially in their driving forces behind their writing styles in poetry. The lives of Plath and Olds are both expressive of the realities of a father-dominated family, in which both of these poets lost their fathers at a young age. This is significant because both poets have faced a similar traumatic event that has had everlasting effects on their adult womanhood, which is reflected in their writings. For both these woman, their accesses to father-daughter relationships were denied based on life circumstances. Ironically, their fathers were their muses for writing and are what made them the women they are today.
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath: 1950-1962. 430 Ed. Karen V. Kukil. Transcribed from the original manuscripts at Smith College. New York: Anchor, 2000.
Aurelia Schober, Plath’s mother, was studying at Boston University when she fell in love with her professor that taught German and biology, Otto Plath, whom she would marry in January 1932. Later in that same year on October 27, Plath was born to the couple. Plath’s father passed away when she was only eight. (Academy of American Poets) From then on, Plath began publishing her poems. In everything she did, she strived towards being flawless; she had straight A’s, was a good daughter, and earned prestigious prizes (Gilson). Schober aided in pushing her daughter towards excellence and always made sure Plath knew how proud she was of her. In fact, Sylvia’s mother collected her daughter’s achievements and praised her highly for them (Liukkonen). By 1950, she had been given a scholarship to attend Smith College and had hundreds of publications, which she would add to substantially in the time she spent at Smith (Gilson).
Emily Dickinson is regarded as “America’s most original poet” and was born on December 10th, 1830 (CITATION1). During her life, she spent most of her time alone in her house, spending time with only herself and writing poetry. When she died at the age of fifty-five, her sister decided to publish the 1,800 poems Emily had written. Before her death, Emily had only published ten of her poems. Because of this, she was not widely known before she died, unlike Sylvia Plath. Sylvia Plath, on the other hand, is a well-known author and poet. She even won the Pulitzer Prize award for Poetry in 1982 (CITATION2). Sylvia was similar to Emily Dickinson in that she was not an outgoing person. In fact, she was often depressed, and eventually took her own life in 1963 (CITATION3). While unfortunate, Sylvia Plath had written many popular poems, such as “Daddy”, short stories, and a semi-autobiographical novel called “The Bell Jar”.
Sylvia Plath, a great American author, focuses mostly on actual experiences. Plath’s poetry displays feelings and emotions. Plath had the ability to transform everyday happenings into poems or diary entries. Plath had a passion for poetry and her work was valued. She was inspired by novelists and her own skills. Her poetry was also very important to readers and critics. Sylvia Plath’s work shows change throughout her lifetime, relates to feelings and emotions, and focuses on day to day experiences.
Plath was born in the seaside town of Winthrop, Massachusetts during the year of 1932. In her first eight years of life, Plath was troubled with the birth of a new sibling, the death of a parent, and the start of a war. These eight years were the calm before the stormy life of Sylvia Plath. As an only child, Plath felt threatened by the new baby in the family. Her new sibling, Warren, sparked a disdain for children that Plath would harbor for the rest of her life. In 1940, Plath’s father died and essentially robbed the children of a proper relationship with their mourning mother. The family moved inland where Plath focused on writing poetry until she began to attend Smith College in 1950.
Blackberry Eating, as a whole, is an extended metaphor. The speaker is literally describing their love for fresh blackberries, but they are really trying to convey their love of words. In the poem, Galway Kinnell uses musical devices such as alliteration, rhythm, and enjambment to convey this hidden meaning.
"About." Personal Blog, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2015. [When finding an explanation for the similarities between the writers, it is important to play close attention to biographies. In case the psychoeconomic factors that Ruonco describes are true, then biography constitutes most of the development of the Sylvia Plath affliction. Moreover, the biography provides an insight into the views of the author for a better and more accurate understanding of her poetry. Furthermore, it is imperative to use her auto-statement since she referres to her "muse" as something out of her control which can be traced to Kaufman's
In Galway Kinnell’s “Blackberry Eating,” the author utilizes several literary devices that enhance the symbolic meaning behind the poem. Kinnell uses repeated alliterations throughout the poem through several constant uses of soft sounds that are interrupted quickly by heard sounds to produce pathos for the readers. The slow rhythm of the poem creates a sense within the readers of savoring the blackberries of the poem. The whole poem is an extended metaphor that represents the relationship of tangible blackberries and intangible words. Through sensory imagery, including sight, touch and taste; the author creates a parallel to both the reader’s senses and the word that are contained within the poem. This style that the author has created formulates
Plath and Sexton's lifetimes spanned a period of remarkable change in the social role of women in America, and both are obviously feminist poets caught somewhere between the submissive pasts of their mothers and the liberated futures awaiting their daughters. With few established female poets to emulate, Plath and Sexton broke new ground with their intensely personal, confessional poetry. Their anger and frustration with female subjugation, as well as their agonizing personal struggles and triumphs appear undisguised in their works, but the fact that both Sexton and Plath committed suicide inevitably colors what the reader gleans from their poems. However, although their poems, such as Plath's "Daddy" and Sexton's "Little Girl, My String Bean, My Lovely Woman," deal with the authors' private experiences, they retain elements of universality; their language cuts through a layer of individual perspective to reach a current of raw emotion common to all human, but especially female, understanding.
Dr. Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis Missouri. Angelou was raised in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas. In Stamps she was faced with the brutality of racial discrimination, and a very traumatic incident where she, she was raped by her mother's boyfriend when she was eight, but because of this she also developed an unshakable faith and values of traditional African-American family. (Angelou)This shaped her poetry and her involvement in the arts. Where she began to sing and dance and planned to audition in professional theater but that didn’t work out well because she began working as a nightclub waitress, tangled with drugs and prostitution and danced in a strip club. In 1959, she moved to New York, became friends with prominent Harlem writers, and got involved with the civil rights movement. In 1961, she moved to Egypt with a boyfriend and edited for the Arab Observer. When she returned to the U.S., she began publishing her multivolume autobiography, starting with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as well as several books of poetry and the third being Still I Rise in published in 1978. (Maya Angelou is born) Because of this life of hardship shaped her to who she is and was the inspiration for a lot of her poetry.
Giles, Richard F. “Sylvia Plath.” Magill’s Critical Survey of Poetry. Ed. Frank N. Magill, b. 1875. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1992.
In the poem “Blackberry- Picking,” Seamus Heaney uses imagery to describe his experiences with picking blackberries. He creates images that suggest a lasting impacts because of a recurring event. Heaney uses tactile imagery to portray a message of ingrained loss that he has experienced and always will remember. The imagery creates a deliberate mood attempting to emphasize the severity of a relationship. Seamus Heaney uses imagery to demonstrate that the deeper meaning behind picking blackberries is the impact that an abusive relationship has left with him.
Throughout the whole poem, there is a constant repetition of the word blood, or a metaphor or simile referring to blood. There is also reference to flesh on several occasions to make the berries sound desirable. Blood indicates the juice of the berries and flesh indicates what is within. An example of a metaphor is when Heaney describes the berries as a “glossy purple clot”. This smart use of imagery and metaphor at the same time gives an image of a ripe berry.
Plath’s father died early in her life leaving her with unresolved feelings, and this brought a lot of troubles later on in life. Sylvia was a great student but when she was overwhelmed with disappointments after a month in New York, she attempted suicide (“Sylvia Plath”). After receiving treatment and recovering, she returned to school and later moved to England where she met her future husband, Ted Hughes (“Sylvia Plath”). Their marriage with two children didn’t last when Ted had an affair. They separated and Ted moved in with the new woman, leaving Sylvia and their two children. Battling depression during this time, Sylvia soon ended her life. She left behind numerous writings that many might see as signs of her depression and suicide attempts.