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Analysis of bitch by carolyn kizer
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Carolyn Ashley Kizer was born on December 10, 1925. Her father was a lawyer and her mother a labor organizer in the Pacific Northwest, although she held a doctorate in biology. Her parents were older than the parents of her friends, but filled the house with a rich intellectual atmosphere that surely influenced the young Kizer (McFarland). Throughout her childhood her parents would read her the works of Whitman and Keats before bed (Schumock), but it wasn’t until she was middle aged that she devoted herself to literary pursuits. It is strange that such a revelation happened so late in life, considering the poet Vachel Lindsay was a houseguest of her parents not to mention the academically freeing ambiance. But Kizer herself references this change of direction to repressed “psychic energy” (O’Conner) after her divorce from her first husband and the tutelage of her mentor and teacher Theodore Roethke. Through this awakening and beyond, Kizer has left a trail of politically, socially and culturally relevant poetry that has won her many awards and accolades, including the Pulitzer Prize in 1985 for her collection Yin.
One of her most well-known works, entitled “Bitch”, was published in 1984 in the collection of poems Mermaids in the Basement. The poem written in a single stanza of 34 lines depicts the scene of a woman meeting an ex-lover in a random encounter. What is later depicted in the poem is an intricate display of contrasting emotions and thoughts. Outwardly, the woman is polite and pleasant to the man, but inwardly her “bitch” fumes at the meeting. Her inner “bitch” remembers the relationship and wants the woman to outwardly display her disdain. The woman’s internal dialogue subdues the wanton wanting of her harsh inner cri...
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... rare glimpse at this dynamic, and in turn, gives the reader not only a good tale, but also a closer look at themselves.
Works Cited
Kizer, Carolyn A. "Poetry Magazine." Bitch by Carolyn Kizer. Copper Canyon Press. Web. 27 May 2012. .
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McFarland, Ron. "Carolyn Kizer." Cyclopedia of World Authors. 4th ed. Pasadena, CA: Salem, 2003. MagillOnLiterature Plus. 28 Dec. 2011. Web. 27 May 2012.
O'Connell, Nicholas. At the Field's End: Interviews with 22 Pacific Northwest Writers. Seattle: University of Washington, 1998. Print.
Schumock, Jim. Story, Story, Story: Conversations with American Authors. Seattle: Black Heron, 1999. Print.
Wurtzel, Elizabeth. Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women. New York: Doubleday, 1998. Print.
Shurbutt, Sylvia Bailey. “Burning Bright: The Language and Storytelling of Appalachia and the Poetry and Prose of Ron Rash.” Shepard University. 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Influenced by the style of “plainspoken English” utilized by Phillip Larkin (“Deborah Garrison”), Deborah Garrison writes what she knows, with seemingly simple language, and incorporating aspects of her life into her poetry. As a working mother, the narrator of Garrison’s, “Sestina for the Working Mother” provides insight for the readers regarding inner thoughts and emotions she experiences in her everyday life. Performing the daily circus act of balancing work and motherhood, she, daydreams of how life might be and struggles with guilt, before ultimately realizing her chosen path is what it right for her and her family.
Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durkham, N. C: Duke UP, 1995, 150.
De France, Marie. Laustic. Trans. Judith P. Shoaf. N.p.: n.p., 1991. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
As one of America’s leading contemporary poet’s, Sharon Olds is known for the intense personal and emotional poetry that she writes. Her ability to intimately and graphically divulge details of her personal life allows readers to delve into the deepest parts of not only her mind, but of their own as well. Sharon Olds uses her writing to allow readers to experience the good and bad of life through her eyes, yet allows readers the interpretive freedom to define her works as they fit into their own lives. Olds’ ability to depict both wonderful and tragic events in stories such as “First Thanksgiving” and “Still Life in Landscape”with beautifully gruesome clarity allow readers a gritty real-life experience unlike any other.
With a shock of dyed red hair, statement glasses, and colourful sweaters, Lorna Jean Crozier dresses as eccentric as she writes. Although she never considered writing as a career when she was young, at 68 she has authored 15 books. Crozier has lived everywhere from Victoria to Toronto, but to me, her poetry shows that her heart has never left the Saskatchewan Prairies where she was born. Her works often showcase her interests, including cats, gardening, and sex--sometimes rolled together.
and Other Greats : Lessons from the All-star Writer's Workshop. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print.
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The third decade of the twentieth century brought on more explicit writers than ever before, but none were as expressive as Anne Sexton. Her style of writing, her works, the image that she created, and the crazy life that she led are all prime examples of this. Known as one of the most “confessional” poets of her time, Anne Sexton was also one of the most criticized. She was known to use images of incest, adultery, and madness to reveal the depths of her deeply troubled life, which often brought on much controversy. Despite this, Anne went on to win many awards and go down as one of the best poets of all time.
“Lucille Clifton.” Poets.org. The Academy of American Poets, 1997-2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. http://poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/79 .
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. 3rd Ed. Studio City: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007.
“Spinster” by Sylvia Plath is a poem that consists of a persona, who in other words serves as a “second self” for the author and conveys her innermost feelings. The poem was written in 1956, the same year as Plath’s marriage to Ted Hughes, who was also a poet. The title suggests that the persona is one who is not fond of marriage and the normal rituals of courtship as a spinster is an unmarried woman, typically an older woman who is beyond the usual age of marriage and may never marry. The persona of the poem is a woman who dislikes disorder and chaos and finds relationships to be as unpredictable as the season of spring, in which there is no sense of uniformity. In this poem, Plath not only uses a persona to disclose her feelings, but also juxtaposes the seasons and their order (or lack thereof) and relates them to the order that comes with solitude and the disorder that is attributed with relationships. She accomplishes this through her use of formal diction, which ties into both the meticulous structure and develops the visual imagery.
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Vendler, Helen. "The Poem as Life, The Poems as Arranged Life." Poems, Poets, Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology. Third Edition ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009. 18,68. Print.