4.8: Sylvia Plath's "Daddy"
- Page ID
- 194045
Plath in July 1961,
at her Chalcot Square
Links to an external site. flat in London, CC
Directions
Here, you will find Sylvia Plath's "Daddy"
The poems are on a docx. file. I recommend either printing it our or annotating the digital copy on your computer, or taking notes on the story on a separate piece of paper.
Author's Bio:
Sylvia Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Plath’s father, a professor of biology at Boston University and an authoritarian figure within the family, died when Plath was eight years old, and Plath struggled for the rest of her life to come to terms with her complicated feelings for him. Plath’s mother went to work to provide for Plath and her brother. From a young age, Plath was a high achiever, showing an early talent as a writer and poet. She received a scholarship to Smith College and, after graduating, was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Cambridge University. In spite of a history of depression and one suicide attempt, Plath excelled at academics and worked diligently on her writing, periodically publishing her work. At Cambridge, Plath met the young, upcoming British poet Ted Hughes; the two shared an intense and immediate attraction, marrying only a few months later. Plath and Hughes enjoyed their first years together as writing partners, encouraging each other as poets. The two lived for a time in America, travelled broadly, and eventually returned to England to live. Plath gave birth to two children and engaged in domestic routines while still working on poems that would eventually be included in her posthumous collection, Ariel (1965). She continued to struggle with depression, and after discovering Ted Hughes’s affair with a mutual friend, Assia Wevill, Plath’s depression worsened. She eventually separated from Hughes and moved to London with her children in an attempt to start over on her own. Most of the poems that comprise Ariel were written while she lived in London. During a particularly difficult winter where she saw her novel The Bell Jar published to less than enthusiastic reviews in January 1963, Plath’s mental state deteriorated. She committed suicide in February 1963, leaving her children behind, as well as the new collection of poems that would eventually make her famous after her death.
Questions to Consider:
While reading the poem, keep these questions/ideas in mind:
- While reading this poem, reflect on what type of theme or message that jumps out to you?
- List the themes
- Then, begin to note and list the different use of poetic and literary devices in the poem
- What about these devices makes you feel this way?
- What does the poem mean to you??
- This poem uses the line "I know why the caged bird sings" a lot. Is this an allusion? A symbol? All of the above?
- How did the use of rhyme contribute/not contribute to the overall theme of the piece?
- Did you like the poem? Why or why not?
Essay Topic
As a reminder, your essay topic is:
Do a close read of the poem. What is one overall theme/message that you see in the text? What are the literary/poetic devices that you see that are enhancing said theme/message?