The Grass is Greener on the Other Side: Nature Imagery in Sylvia Plath’s Poems
Sylvia Plath used many images in her poems to make connections with her life and the experiences she went through. She uses the symbols of nature to create a setting, to show how her life experiences reflect the occurrences in nature. The nature imagery also sets the tone of her poems, whether be it lively and jolly, or dark and dreary.
The poem “Two Sisters of Persephone” and the poem “Black Rook in Rainy Weather” are used by Sylvia Plath to create an image of pain and darkness. In the “Two Sisters of Persephone”, Plath uses imagery such as “bronzed as the earth”, “like pollen on bright air”, “near a bed of poppies”, and “the sun’s open blade” to describe a scene of joy and happiness, comparing them to her happy and joyful moments that she experienced in her life. But these quotes from the poem also reflect on her pain and sufferings that she went through during her childhood and marriage.
The poem “Black Rook in Rainy Weather” also contains imagery that depicts her suffering in her life. The third line in the poem states: “Arranging and rearranging its feathers in the rain.” The rain would symbolize all the turmoil and the trouble that is all around her, and she is the rook. The rook rearranging the feathers symbolizes Plath reforming and trying to make her life work. She tries to go through what is happening in her life, so that she can live through it. Another line in the “Black Rook in Rainy Weather” states: “ordering its black feathers can so shine” shows that Plath tries to make herself “shine”, or be radiant, in the face of trouble, so that no one would know what she is going through.
In these two poems, Sylvia Plath shows us how she went through the sufferings in her life, and how the struggle to overcome these sufferings affected her. Sylvia Plath used her imagery to connect the reader with her life experiences to show how her childhood and her marriage affected her views on life. She tries to connect the reader with symbolism of nature and natural occurrences to create a setting in it and set the tone of the poem that she is writing.
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4 comments:
Tori Trimm, Period: 5
Comment:
-I really liked your analysis in the second body paragraph, regarding "The Black Rook". Your ideas made sense and related to your thesis. However, I think you should pick whether you want to focus on animals or plants, because nature is a broad image.
Three Suggestions:
-1) "She uses the symbols of nature to create a setting, to show how her life experiences reflect the occurrences in nature. The nature imagery also sets the tone of her poems, whether be it lively and jolly, or dark and dreary." If this is your main thesis, then you should try to make it into one sentence. And I would suggest focusing on conveying the message more than creating a setting, because it relates more to enhancing the poem's tone. Your first sentence needs some grammatical changes as well. I suggest: "She uses vivid images of nature to describe her life experiences and to convey the tone of her poems to the reader."
-2) All of your quotes need to be cited, with the name of the poem and the line number(s).
-3) For your first body paragraph, you need more analysis. You have a lot of appropriate quotes relating to your thesis, but you need to explain why they are significant. For example, how does "the sun’s open blade” relate to Sylvia's life experiences? How does that specific quote enhance the tone? Follow that procedure for each quote you use.
1)I really liked your analysis and your intro paragraph. Your main idea was well constructed and you proved it well. You have thorough knowledge of the content and used to context.
2) 1. You wrote "The third line in the poem states: "Arranging and rearranging its feathers in the rain."" change the format to "Arranging and rearranging its feathers in the rain" (Black Rook in Rainy Weather 3).
2. You wrote "In these two poems, Sylvia Plath shows us how she went through the sufferings in her life, and how the struggle to overcome these sufferings affected her." you should change it to something like "All in all, Sylvia Plath portrays her sufferings and triumphs through these poems." It sounds more like a conclusion and is more concise.
3. You need more analysis in your second paragraph. You have sufficient quotes but you need to elaborate on them. Like "the sun’s open blade" relates to Sylvia's life experiences because... Do this for all your quotes.
4. You wrote "She tries to go through what is happening in her life, so that she can live through it." This line was confusing. I think what you're trying to say is "She tries to go through what is happening in her life in order to relive it."
Overall, Good Job DIMA!!
Joseph Yoo
-Maria Bychkov-
I'm happy that you picked this poem I absolutely love this poem. You have a pretty good idea what Plath is trying to show in her peotry through the use of nature.
Here are some things you could change:
"…to describe a scene of joy and happiness, comparing them to her happy and joyful moments that she experienced in her life. But these quotes from the poem also reflect on her pain and sufferings that she went through during her childhood and marriage." Ok yes that’s true but how do these quotes show that. You have a lot of quotes but you mostly just state them and don’t really talk about. Explain more why these quotes are significant and what they really show. Your essay feels like you are just spitting info out to the reader and not really explaining it.
You didn’t really connect or compare the two poems. You separated your two poems in two different paragraphs and didn’t connect them or compare them. Also I don’t think you should be analyzing one of your poems in the intro. Your intro should be your intro in should not have body info in it. Separate the analysis of the “Two Sister of Persephone” into another paragraph.
“The rook rearranging the feathers symbolizes Plath reforming and trying to make her life work. She tries to go through what is happening in her life, so that she can live through it.” That’s a good statement but you didn’t really explain it. Perhaps talk a little about what is going on in her life, like in the poem she say “Occasionally, some backtalk
from the mute sky,” perhaps she is talking about her husband who is not really there. She wants to communicate with him but he is mute. You know something like that.
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