The Inevitable Death
"Birth and death are not two different states, but they are different aspects of the same state. There is as little reason to deplore the one as there is to be pleased over the other." (Mahatma Gandhi). Sylvia Plath did not feel the pleasantries in life that many people look forward to. In fact she deplored many events that most people relished, such as the birth of a child, she viewed these events in a negative light, viewing them as more negatives events, such as the death of a family member. Although Plath viewed birth and death as negative events, she still chose to write about them, in "Daddy" and "Morning Song" Plath depicts the life changing consequences of birth and death.
There is nothing more intricate and complicated, than Sylvia Plath's feelings towards birth. "Im no more your mother/ than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow/ Effacement at the winds hand." Plath's feelings towards her baby are exemplified by her use of the word "effacement" which literally means "to wipe out." She shows that with her pain comes many feelings of resentment and sadness, that could not be cured by the single event of, what should have been, joy in her life. Along with her failing marriage, Sylvia's life had been constantly downhill since her first attempted suicide. Sylvia's negative view of birth could have been related to the pain she felt during her own childhood. After all, she had to deal with the excrutiatingly painfull death of her father, and the scars that it left on her.
"You died before I had time--," many times throughout her poem "daddy" Sylvia states that she believes her father died too soon. She depicts the pain that this caused her, and the feelings of resentment that she had towards him for leaving her. The birth of her own child may have taken her back to the feelings of resentment, because her husband Ted Hughes was not a great father either. She may have seen that, as her father did, Ted Hughes is abandoning his children, and Sylvia related this to how she herself was abandoned. "I was ten when they buried you/ At twenty I treid to die" Sylvia makes the direct connection between her fathers death, and her own desire to die. "Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through." Eventually Sylvia gives up on all the men in her life, including her father. She states that she can not reach him, or communicate with him, so she must kill herself to be with him. She then is showing a connection between death and the connection it can strengthen with her father, as they will both have experienced this event.
Birth and Death affect the way Sylvia Plath perceives the world, and the actions these events cause Sylvia to make, affect how the world perceives her. She shows the pain, anxiety, and grief she must deal with in "Daddy" and "Morning Song," and shows the action and reasoning behind her decision to take her own life. She takes two of the most extreme events of hapiness and sadness, and compiles it into one terrible feeling, and this, in the end, is what dooms her life."Life may not be the party you hope for, but while you are here you might as well dance..."
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3 comments:
1) Clear and logical structure to the response. Supporting references where relevant are appropriately integrated into the body of the text.
2) This sentence is very confusing, "In fact she deplored many events that most people relished, such as the birth of a child, she viewed these events in a negative light, viewing them as more negatives events, such as the death of a family member." It is too wordy and you can make it a lot more concise. Instead I suggest you write, " Even positive events such as a baby's birth were viewed in a negative light by Plath."
3) You must have line numbers for all quotes and the title for quotes that don't mention the title in the preceding sentence. For example you can say, " In "Morning Song" she say, "Im no more your mother/ than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow/ Effacement at the winds hand" (7-9).
4)This sentence is good, "She then is showing a connection between death and the connection it can strengthen with her father, as they will both have experienced this event," but I think it could be more concise and more powerful by saying, "Plath longs for a stronger connection with her father and finally strikes a common chord- in death."
Overall nice essay
Comment by Alex Yamamoto
Period 5
1) [Although Plath viewed birth and death as negative events, she still chose to write about them, in "Daddy" and "Morning Song" Plath depicts the life changing consequences of birth and death.] Your thesis is very clear, concise and precise, it shows that you have a good foundation for the rest of your essay.
2)
a. I feel that there is one problem with this particular sentence.[Along with her failing marriage, Sylvia's life had been constantly downhill since her first attempted suicide.] I think the sentence should be reworded to help the reader understand the sentence a little bit more. Just make it a little bit more simple.
b. In this case, you need to provide more commentary on the quote that you used.,[She may have seen that, as her father did, Ted Hughes is abandoning his children, and Sylvia related this to how she herself was abandoned. "I was ten when they buried you/ At twenty I treid to die" Sylvia makes the direct connection between her fathers death, and her own desire to die. "Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through." Eventually Sylvia gives up on all the men in her life, including her father.] It is confusing to the reader to see a quote, then one sentence talking about an example for your next quote and then just stating the next quote. Just try to add commentary. Also “tried” is spelled wrong.
c. ["Birth and death are not two different states, but they are different aspects of the same state. There is as little reason to deplore the one as there is to be pleased over the other." (Mahatma Gandhi).] You do a good job linking the Gandhi quote to the image of death, but you skip right to the thesis. You should try to provide some background information on death itself.
NICE ESSAY! good luck, hope this helps
Rohan Shah
1. The quote you use in the beginning is a great hook and is also appropriate to the occasion.
2.
a)Be careful with your commas. In the sentence, "She shows that with her pain comes many feelings of resentment and sadness, that could not be cured by the single event of, what should have been, joy in her life.", you don't need the comma between resentment and sadness or on either side of "what should have been".
b)Try to use the zippering effect that Mrs. Poulsen wanted us to use, and talk about how birth affects both poems in one paragraph and how death affects both poems in another paragraph.
c)The quote you use at the end is really interesting, but I think you need a citation or you should just get read of it. Overall, it was a very interesting essay.
-Coral
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