Assignment 1

The Yellow Wall-

PaperI found this story so amusing! I absolutely loved the main character, she reminds me so much of myself. The descriptions were so great, like "There is a delicious garden!" I immediately thought of very bright vibrate colors. It was actually the only time I pictured color. "One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin." I believe this showed how talented and artistic she was deep down, she was just being oppressed. I love the whole story as metaphor for how she felt stuck behind the wall paper, how she felt ugly and like she was hiding from everyone.

Ain't I a woman

I really liked how strong and sassy she is in this poem. She makes valid pionts! The most powerful line I think is "...and when I cried out with my mothers greif,". It showing how far back this oppression has gone in her life. She hasn't just dealt with it since she has grown up, but even when she was little she veiwed her mother going through the same thing. I also like how she uses the world as a metaphor and says if it turns upside down its us women who are going to turn it right side up! Sometimes how she phrased things and how it ryhmed at times it reminded me also of scenes in movies where the people are all in the feild working together and singing hymns or songs of slavery.

Lady Lazarus

Plath uses mostly imagery to describe her phsyical attributes or body parts. "A paperwheight, my face a featureless, fine Jew linen" is a comical way to describe how every girl feels sometime or another, like no matter what we just don't feel attractive, our head is just a paperwheight holding down our bodies. The reference to the seashell reminds me of the of the famous picture of Aphrodite emerging from a seashell after being created from a castraded penis's contact with the ocean. "Out of the ash, I rise with my red hair" Red heads have always been thought of as tempermental or angry in nature. Also I think of the Pheonix that arises (I can't remember the mythology story of this. Sadely enough i've learned this from all of the Harry Potter books) which is also represtented with red.

When I Was Growing Up

I'm sure as most people who read this did, I thought of Marylin Monroe when she descibes the blond movie stars with white skin and sensuous lips. Its funny to me that this is what she aimed to be this "desirable woman" who behind the scenes had a terribley sad life that I highely doubt anyone would lust after. This poem reminded me of Queen Ann's Lace with all it's refrences to white. However in this context white was seen as pure and good, where as in Queen Ann's Lace that is not was I got from that poem because of the purple that was left in the middle.

The Thirty Eighth Year

In this poem I noticed the word blossom just because we've been talking about the comparisons to women and flowers in class so much but this one seemed to fit better than the others we've read because it's refering to children. Children are going to grow up and expand their intelligence, culture, socially, and many other ways. In the first four lines she sets the tone for the entire poem. She describes herself "as plain as bread and round as a cake" and the rest of lines follow in suit. It goes on to explain how she always expected much more from her self and her life.