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__//**SYLVIA PLATH** //__ __//**BY: AMANDA SOWNSKI** //__

"And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." — [|Sylvia Plath]

Sylvia Plath is a well known confessional writer, best known for her high quality graphic, honest and disturbing imagery she places in her poetry. Plath is most popular for her group of poetry, called //The Colossus.//Plath's confessional poetry changed throughout her life, from soothing, dramatic and powerful poetry to slowly developing a more disturbed, brutal and passionate form of writing. These slow changes were based off of the time line of events and feelings she had during certain parts of her life.

Syliva was born on October 27, 1932 to Otto and Aurelia Plath. She lived a middle class life, valuing education and being an excellent student. Her first poem, which title is unknown, was published in the Boston Herald. (Sylvia Plath, Neurotic) At the age of 8, her father died suddenly and she says how she had lost all of her faith in God. (Neurotic) This influenced her most famous work, "//Daddy//", which gives us an ideal visual her relationship with her father.

This is an excerpt of literary criticism about "Daddy" from Mr. Robert Phillips;

"She dramatizes the war in her soul ... full of blackness, one of the most nakedly confessional poems ever written ... sexual pulls and tugs are an indicated to show Plath's mental sufferings ... When she drives the stake through her father's heart, she's not only exorcising the demon of her father's memory, but metaphorically killing her husband and all men." (On Daddy)

Here's a video of her reading her poem "Daddy";

media type="youtube" key="6hHjctqSBwM" height="245" width="369"

This poem is an example of Plath's extraordinary ability to understand her inner, dark and secretive feelings, but yet put them down on paper in a way that everyone else has to dicifer her phrases in order to understand what she wants us all to understand about her confessional poetry. This poem definitely reflects Plath's style of writing and subject matter. Confessional poetry is basically a way of confessionals to put their feelings and emotions into clever and point blank poetry that many people enjoy. Robert Phillips examines thoroughly her poem, "Daddy" to come to his criticism conclusions on her writing, saying that "Daddy" is a poem of her complete rejection. (On Daddy)

In 1956, Plath married her husband, Ted Hughes, a poet himself. Together they had two children, Frieda and Nicholas. After 7 years of marriage, Hughes had an affair and Plath and him divorced, in 1963, due to incredible amounts of depression and loneliness and being broke, Plath took her life in her apartment in England, February 11.

In 1959, literary criticisms have shown that because of her marriage, her poem styles and writing have rapidly become more darker and graphic, showing that Hughes was an abusive husband and father to his children.

Her famous poem, //The Colossus,// was written during the times of her depression and madness. Also, another literary criticism from Mr. Robert Phillips with Margret Dickie, have made a few great suggestions on how to understand this famous poem;

"In this poem, we see Plath's hatred towards men and her unhealthy mental illness continue to grow. Plath describes her marriage as a marriage to a shadow, literally representing death itself ... Many of Plath symbols are complex, and may take on many forms. This poem resembles the complications of her own failure."(On The Colossus)

Dickie and Phillips closely examine Plath's imagery and complex symbolism, which also represents how confessional poetry works. The poet has complicated and symbolism that could online directly understanding from their point of view, rather than the readers'.

Here's a guy from YouTube reading //The Colossus;// media type="youtube" key="p77xQlthzg4" height="225" width="373" //WHAT CAN POETRY DO?// Personally, I enjoy poetry because of the connection I can receive with the words and phrases. Certain poets, such as confessional poets, are much harder to connect with unless you share their similar feelings and understandings. Poetry can be introduced as a way of using a person's creative and life experiences to create a pattern within sentences and phrases. In a way, this pattern, or melody, may relax a reader. Poetry has become a movement within itself, growing and evolving each other, the movements and forms are literally endless for people to create.

Sylvia Plath Poem - Sylvia Confessional Poet, Abused Wife, Loving Wife Quiet, Dramatic, Disturbed, Complicated Lover of Teaching, Lover of Writing, Lover of Loneliness Who believed in vengeance, hard work, exposure Who feared faith, lightness, life Who wanted revenge, understanding, grounding Who gave everything to her work, her children and her reputation Who said -  I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; I lift my eyes and all is born again"    Plath

Works Cited - "Sylvia Plath." //Sylvia Plath//. Neurotic Poets. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. [].

"On "Daddy"" //Welcome to English « Department of English, College of LAS, University of Illinois//. Web. 02 May 2011. [].

"YouTube - Sylvia Plath Reads 'Daddy'" //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// Web. 02 May 2011. [].

"On "The Colossus"" //Welcome to English « Department of English, College of LAS, University of Illinois//. Web. 02 May 2011. [].

"YouTube - Me Reading "The Colossus" by Sylvia Plath." //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// Web. 02 May 2011. [].