Monday, November 14, 2011

Mirror by Sylvia Plath p. 828

Discuss how Sylvia Plath's use of figurative language helps reveal the theme of the poem.

13 comments:

bekaht12 said...

Plath's use of figurative language helps to reveal the theme of aging in "Mirror." The personification and extended metaphor of the mirror reveal the hatred one feels toward aging as reflected in a mirror. Without mirrors, one would not know what one looked like so there would be no frustration with one's appearance. The juxtaposition of the mirror and a lake reveals the inner conflict between childhood and maturity. Where the mirror reflects only what is truly there, the lake is full of depth and change. The juxtaposition of the pink wall and the woman's face reveal the changing of people while other material, non-living objects remain the same throughout time.

CK said...
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CK said...

Through the use of diction and caesura, the theme of aging is seen in Sylvia Plath's poem. The speaker begins by saying "I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions." This honest diction, seen in the words "exact" and "preconceptions," reveals that mirrors only display what is at hand. There is no hiding age of any person. To further this point of honesty, a caesura is used in line four: "I am not cruel, only truthful-" This caesura gives emphasis once again to the fact that mirrors display the true looks of a person, whether old or young. The speaker uses diction one more time to extend the theme of aging by saying the mirror "drowned" the young girl. When the young girl had changed into an old woman, the mirror did not hide this.

annamac said...

The figurative language used by Plath helps reveal the theme of aging in "Mirror". She uses very straightforward diction, which emphasizes the fact that mirrors do not hide the passage of time from the people that look into them. Even when someone wishes they were young, the mirror gives them the harsh truth that they are only looking older. The personification of the mirror also makes the message much more harsh. The character of the mirror does not sugarcoat anything like a real person would. The theme of aging is something that most people would rather not talk about, but Plath's figurative language allows her to freely discuss this issue.

Aaron Bowman said...

Figurative language such as personification to reveal her theme of aging in the poem "Mirror". By personifying a mirror and a lake she is able to clarify man will grow older no matter what but is sometimes deceived my misconception. Through the portrayal of the mirror, one can only see the truth; there are no mistakes, only facts. However, the personification of the lake shows how one can be deceived of their aging. Because a lake has ripples in the water, it makes the person looking at himself to misinterpret his real looks; ultimately causing their aging looks to go unnoticed. These two personified images of a mirror and a lake are juxtaposed to help Plath help reveal the theme of aging in the poem.

Bwood said...

Personification is distinctly used in "Mirror" to show the pain that Sylvia Plath feels in her life. She describes how the mirror reveals the truth of life and how it will never lie to the person looking into it. She juxtaposes the mirror to a lake. The lake is different from the mirror in the way that even though it shows a person their reflection, it does not always reveal the full truth to him/her. There can be ripples in the water and other variables that distort one's view of himself. The mirror, however, does not ever lie. It is always present and always will reveal the truth of one's life.

cdm37 said...

Figurative language in "Mirror" reveals the theme of aging in the poem. Plath uses metaphors to reveal how generations view their lives. The mirror serves as a metaphor for the younger generation and what they look at when they think of life. They only look at the exterior qualities of themselves. The second stanza shifts to the metaphor of the lake and the older generation. When people age, they search deeper inside themselves and focus on interior qualities. Unlike the mirror, the lake has depth, so it is used to reflect the inner qualities of older people.

cdm37 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mary Caitlin said...

Sylvia Plath uses figurative language to reveal the theme of aging in her poem. She uses personification of the mirrow to show that the mirror will always tell you the truth about how you look age wise no matter what. What you see is what you get. She also uses She uses diction, which in essence serves the same purpose as the personification. The diction is straightforward, revealing how straightforward a mirror will be with one about their age/looks. The diction and personification also reveal the pain that Plath is going through, and all the pain to anyone in simply aging.

Rubik said...

The theme of Plath's poem is rather cynical. The way the mirror is portray reveals the theme of the poem. The mirror is described as, "not cruel, only truthful". This is true, a mirror takes what it is given and gives it right back, almost in a hurtful manner. If a woman is standing in front of a mirror and since it reflects all things in its "silver and exact" figure, it is almost as if the person is looking at herself has a whole. Not just her outward appearance is shown, but all her features, her characteristics, her inner most secrets, sins, or desires. This is the theme of the poem, it is rather depressing. The lady sees the mirror and sees herself and realizes whats inside. However when she turns to a more distorted version of a mirror, the lake, she sees and even more distorted her. She sees things that a mirror would not show, that is why the lake is seen as a liar. It tries to take someone's features and distort and make them appear worse than they are.

DTrag said...

Plath's use of figurative language reveals the theme growing older. Plath personifies the mirror and depicts it as always telling the truth, no matter what. When youth gaze upon the mirror, they are only concerned with their outward apperance, and the mirror does not lie to them. Like cory said, the old who look in the mirror try to search deeper than what they see in the mirror. They try to look within themselves and find their true inner being. Plath's use of figurative language reveals the different points of view between both generations.

Anonymous said...

Sylvia Plath's use of personification in her poem "Mirror" helps to reveal the poem's central theme, the theme of aging. As the mirror (which belongs, perhaps, to a youth) and the lake (which is gazed upon by a grown woman) speak as if they are alive, they take on the personality of a very straightforward and honest person—withholding no truth, and telling no lie. This embodiment allows such inanimate objects to speak as one who will always give truth, whether it is agreeable or harsh, to whoever beholds his image in its reflective surfaces. Such a personality corresponds flawlessly with the nature of mirrors as mirrors never lie, but always speak truth of the beholder. Despite how young or old one may believe himself to be, when he looks into a mirror he sees himself as he truly is.

Seth Frazier said...

Plath uses figurative language to reveal the theme in "Mirror." Personification is used in comparing a mirrors reflection of you with a lakes reflection of you. A lake can be desieving because of the ripples, however a mirror will always give you the truth. Unfortunatly if you live your life looking in a lake to see who you are, when you are confronted with the truth the mirror gives you it makes it much harder to cope. The theme is the issue of aging and how the main character has the epiphamy that she is getting older and can no longer live in her fantasy world that she is not.