Poppys in July

Question 1

Who wrote this

Answer 1

Sylvia Plath

Question 2

When was this published and in what collection

Answer 2

wrote in 1962 published posthumously in 1965 in Ariel

Question 3

What are the themes of poppys in july

Answer 3

Abusive relationship
Grief
depression

Question 4

What is the tone

Answer 4

Depressive

violent

Question 5

What is the structure and form

Answer 5

Written in First person narrative perspective

confessional poem

no specific rhyme scheme or metre

seven couplets and a single line

Apostrophe form

Question 6

quick overview

Answer 6

a dark and complex poem that depicts Plath’s mental state soon after learning of her husband’s affairs.

Poppys relate to the numbness Plath is seeking, and her exhaustion with the color of the world. She’s worn out looking at these brightly colored “hell flames”. She’d rather engage with what they can give her, the opium.

Towards the end its suggested that she ingests the opium in liquid form and is taken into a state that she finds more pleasing.

Speaker is a victim of Hughes abuse

Plath associates Red With Violence , Creativity , dynamic life forms .

Question 7

context of poppys in july

Answer 7

She wrote this poem after finding out about the affair

In the bell jar her worst fear was losing senses, in this poem thats what shes craving

read alongside lovesong by ted hughes

“This poem is astonishingly docile, a poem of death and despair” - Gilbert

Question 8

Quick language techniques

Answer 8

• rhetorical questions might make one think back to Plath’s personal history of depression, suicide attempts, and eventual success at ending her own life.
• “a mouth bloodied” Intertextual allusion to Hughes poem ‘red’ in the birthday letters collection. Shes been punched with betrayal
• ‘little bloody skirts’ metaphor for petals, crude pun alluded to hughes chasing skirts
• “colourless” Caesarea emphatic repetition , contrast to Red → colourless.