Mirror

Question 1

Who wrote mirror

Answer 1

Sylvia Plath

Question 2

When was mirror wrote and published in what collection

Answer 2

Wrote in 1961 and published in 1971 in the crossing the water collection

Question 3

What is the theme of mirror

Answer 3

self-reflection

Question 4

What is the form of mirror

Answer 4

Dramatic monologue in verse fable to produce a slow funeral pace

Question 5

What is the structure of mirror

Answer 5

9 line stanza- Spenserian stanza

Blank verse causing a logical, controlled critical voice delivering its observations with clarity

Question 6

What is the context of mirror

Answer 6

Plath would write in the morning while hughes would watch Frieda then swap

This poem shows influence of free association that hughes taught her to do in this structure with Frieda

Wrote in Court Green in Devon in the same time period as blackberrying

Plath told BBC “i think my poems immediately come out of the sensuous and emotional experiences I have but certainly it shouldn’t be a kind of shut-box and mirror-looking narcissistic experience”

Question 7

What is the overview of mirror

Answer 7

This poem claims that though certain images reflected in it might be painful to certain people at certain stages of their lives, it is in no way responsible for causing this pain because it reflects exactly what it sees. ‘Mirror’ is a reflection of the mirror’s point of view.

Question 8

What are quick language techniques of Mirror

Answer 8

• Plath is voicing an anthropomorphised mirror.
• Colour imagery “silver and exact” shows a cold virginal being
• Repetition of “I am” Pronoun can relate to Plath by stating that she isn’t being negative, she’s only being truthful with what she sees in herself and others
• Short sentences can reflect quick thinking and truth telling in a blunt way. Can mimic numbness of thoughts