Sylvia Plath: At the Crossroads of her Life
The Germans are coming, the Germans are coming! Everyone hears the cries of the Jews in the Polish town and one little girl stands out from the rest. She thought every German was her father, the one who left her desperately alone at the crossroad of her life. Her father had passed away many years ago but for her it seemed as if she was sitting in the study with her daddy yesterday. But, this young girl soon realizes that she must continue on with her life because that crossroad she was once faced upon has now ultimately passed. This young girl is no longer a child but an adult, Sylvia Plath. In Sylvia Plath’s poems she expresses her exact thoughts and emotions through Holocaust imagery, showing the cruel times of her life. Plath tends to use a lot of Holocaust imagery to show the cruelty of her relationships and death.
“I thought every German was you” (Daddy 29). The relationship in “Daddy” is of a father and a daughter, where the father is a German and the daughter is a Jew. Plath is angered that her father has left her at the stop sign of a crossroad, she does not know which way to go. “An engine, an engine / Chuffing me off like a Jew” (Daddy, 31-32). Sylvia Plath represents the train chugging towards its death at the “concentration camps” and Plath is boarded onto that train morning over her father’s death, wishing that he had not left her. After Plath has come to accept her father’s death she realizes that he was the “vampire” in her life. “If I’ve killed one man, I’ve killed two / The vampire who said he was you” (Daddy 71-72). Like a vampire, Plath’s’ father sucked the happy moments of her life giving her only death and despair in the end. But, before she “killed” her father there was another obstacle in her way, her husband. “And drank my blood for a year / Seven years, if you want to know” (Daddy 73-74). Sylvia Plath was married to Ted for seven years and as she claims he also “drank her blood”. He married her but only used her and once he felt there was enough “blood” he moved on, he also left Sylvia at another crossroad in her life. This led Plath to depression; she was the used and tortured Jew who was under the control of her father and husband. Plath thus compares her personal endeavors to that of the Nazis.
“Dying is an art, like everything else, / I do it exceptionally well / It’s easy enough to do it in a cell” (Lazarus, 43-45, 49). Jews were trapped in cells by the Nazis likewise Sylvia Plath felt trapped in a cell which is why the reoccurring thoughts of death kept occurred in her mind. Plath states she would do it in a cell to reference that many Jews died in cells after the immense torture they were given. Plath also felt that torture, which hit her heart twice, once by her father and once again by her husband. They were both vampires in her life which caused her three attempts at death, which show that death was always on her mind. She wanted to be a Jew that was free from persecution and Sylvia Plath’s idea of being free was death.
The young girl is now a woman and she still faced many different crossroads in her life. After the death of her father and her disastrous relationship she was at another crossroad of life, either to continue living or dying. She mourned the death of her father but was glad that the “vampires” in her life had finally vanished. She was now a free Jew, no longer persecuted by the Nazis, her father and husband. But death had always remained on her mind, she wanted to be a “free Jew” and therefore one day Plath killed herself. All that is left behind now are Sylvia Plath’s poems, memories, and the stories of the Holocaust.
Word Count: 696
The Germans are coming, the Germans are coming! Everyone hears the cries of the Jews in the Polish town and one little girl stands out from the rest. She thought every German was her father, the one who left her desperately alone at the crossroad of her life. Her father had passed away many years ago but for her it seemed as if she was sitting in the study with her daddy yesterday. But, this young girl soon realizes that she must continue on with her life because that crossroad she was once faced upon has now ultimately passed. This young girl is no longer a child but an adult, Sylvia Plath. In Sylvia Plath’s poems she expresses her exact thoughts and emotions through Holocaust imagery, showing the cruel times of her life. Plath tends to use a lot of Holocaust imagery to show the cruelty of her relationships and death.
“I thought every German was you” (Daddy 29). The relationship in “Daddy” is of a father and a daughter, where the father is a German and the daughter is a Jew. Plath is angered that her father has left her at the stop sign of a crossroad, she does not know which way to go. “An engine, an engine / Chuffing me off like a Jew” (Daddy, 31-32). Sylvia Plath represents the train chugging towards its death at the “concentration camps” and Plath is boarded onto that train morning over her father’s death, wishing that he had not left her. After Plath has come to accept her father’s death she realizes that he was the “vampire” in her life. “If I’ve killed one man, I’ve killed two / The vampire who said he was you” (Daddy 71-72). Like a vampire, Plath’s’ father sucked the happy moments of her life giving her only death and despair in the end. But, before she “killed” her father there was another obstacle in her way, her husband. “And drank my blood for a year / Seven years, if you want to know” (Daddy 73-74). Sylvia Plath was married to Ted for seven years and as she claims he also “drank her blood”. He married her but only used her and once he felt there was enough “blood” he moved on, he also left Sylvia at another crossroad in her life. This led Plath to depression; she was the used and tortured Jew who was under the control of her father and husband. Plath thus compares her personal endeavors to that of the Nazis.
“Dying is an art, like everything else, / I do it exceptionally well / It’s easy enough to do it in a cell” (Lazarus, 43-45, 49). Jews were trapped in cells by the Nazis likewise Sylvia Plath felt trapped in a cell which is why the reoccurring thoughts of death kept occurred in her mind. Plath states she would do it in a cell to reference that many Jews died in cells after the immense torture they were given. Plath also felt that torture, which hit her heart twice, once by her father and once again by her husband. They were both vampires in her life which caused her three attempts at death, which show that death was always on her mind. She wanted to be a Jew that was free from persecution and Sylvia Plath’s idea of being free was death.
The young girl is now a woman and she still faced many different crossroads in her life. After the death of her father and her disastrous relationship she was at another crossroad of life, either to continue living or dying. She mourned the death of her father but was glad that the “vampires” in her life had finally vanished. She was now a free Jew, no longer persecuted by the Nazis, her father and husband. But death had always remained on her mind, she wanted to be a “free Jew” and therefore one day Plath killed herself. All that is left behind now are Sylvia Plath’s poems, memories, and the stories of the Holocaust.
Word Count: 696
3 comments:
1. thorough knowledge of the works, good awareness of critical analysis; i thought your interpretation was great. Good job!
2. (a) Although the creative aspects of your introduction are very interesting, in an analytical essay such as this it would be more effective to start out with a statement or series of sentences that while retaining the theatric aspects of your current intro segway into the essence of your essay. For example, "Sylvia Plath, a well known poet, explores her roots and the events in her life through writing extremely vivid poetry about death and the Holocaust. Plath, a young girl in a Polish town, thinks every German is her father...etc" I know you can do better than I seeing as you have a clear idea of what your essay is about, but try to emphasize your point, which is Holocaust imagery in Plath's poetry. Also make sure you include the poems you will be talking about in your thesis.
(b) Starting out with a quote, although that works well in an introduction, tends to not be as effective in a body paragraph. Use the topic sentence as an overall summation of the contents in your essay rather than presenting your evidence right off the bat. For example, for your first paragraph you could say, "Sylvia Plath, through intense Holocaust imagery, shares with the reader her internal suffering at the hands of her deceased father as well as her unfaithful husband." Once again you know better than I the essence of each paragraph so you can change my suggestions at will.
(c) Remember that your thesis is on Holocaust imagery. In your second paragraph the quote "If I've killed one man, I've killed two. / The vampire who said he was you." has nothing to do with the Holocaust but rather vampires, a mythical creature. Although you are proving part of your thesis it is not through your chosen category of imagery which is part of the requirement of the essay. Instead of using that quote use a quote like "I am your valuable, / The pure gold baby / That melts to a shriek." in "Lady Lazarus", she is the baby, nazis burned jews, etc.
1. Your essay shows an excellent understanding of the text and a clearly focused argument.
2. a) You can make your thesis stronger by writing, "Sylvia Plath uses Holocaust imagery in "Daddy and "Lady Lazarus" to express her exact thoughts and emotions and to show the cruel times of her life." b) You should introduce your quotes before saying the actual lines from her poetry. For example, in the second paragraph you could write, "In her poem "Daddy" she describes her relationship with her father by writing, “I thought every German was you” (Daddy 29)." c) When Plath refers to a "vampire" she is not talking about her father, she is talking about her husband. So I think you should take out "After Plath has come to accept her father’s death she realizes that he was the “vampire” in her life. “If I’ve killed one man, I’ve killed two / The vampire who said he was you” (Daddy 71-72). Like a vampire, Plath’s’ father sucked the happy moments of her life giving her only death and despair in the end. But, before she “killed” her father there was another obstacle in her way, her husband." Instead, you should just write, "Plath's cruel relationship with her husband, Ted Hughes, is also shown in "Daddy". In the poem, she writes, "If I’ve killed one man, I’ve killed two / The vampire who said he was you / And drank my blood for a year / Seven years, if you want to know” (Daddy 71-74)" and then you can start analyzing their relationship.
1) Good analysis, and well focused and developed structure. I liked the ideas that you showed in your essay; it's very interesting.
2) I think that sentence you used before your thesis, and your thesis are too redundant in that format: "In Sylvia Plath’s poems she expresses her exact thoughts and emotions through Holocaust imagery, showing the cruel times of her life. Plath tends to use a lot of Holocaust imagery to show the cruelty of her relationships and death". I feel you sould use the structure Mrs. Poulsen provided for us in her example, to mention what poems your going to be comparing.
Also, you did not use the zippering technique, and instead decided to talk about the two poems in seperate paragraphs. It would be more effective if you said something like: “I thought every German was you” (Daddy 29). The relationship in “Daddy” is of a father and a daughter, where the father is a German and the daughter is a Jew. Plath is angered that her father has left her at the stop sign of a crossroad, she does not know which way to go. In Lady Lazarus, this same idea is portrayed when she says..." That way both the ideas will be compared, and you'll be following directions
Some of your wording is a bit redundant, and makes it seem like you don't have enough to say or something. Like when you say "She wanted to be a Jew that was free from persecution and Sylvia Plath’s idea of being free was death. The young girl is now a woman and she still faced many different crossroads in her life", you just changed tenses from "is now a women" to "still faced", thats confusing.
Also, you could add more quotes to back up some of the Nazi/Jew statements you make.
Other than that, good job!
Post a Comment