Comments on: So I picked Plath..

By: rachelgintnerdone

rachelgintnerdone — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 20:59:27 +0000

I have read the Bell Jar, actually, but it’s been a while. I just remember how depressing it made me feel! I’ve read some Plath in high school and she has always intrigued me. You make a nice suggestion about analyzing the hospital itself, but I think I’m going to look closer at the tulips because as the title and her main focus throughout the second half of the poem, it seems more relevant. I know I said I was going to analyze the hospital more, so it does seem contradictory to what I said, but my writing seems to take different directions all the time… sigh. I’m glad you like the poem though! She’s quite awesome. Disturbing, but awesome.

By: tanyamontgomery

tanyamontgomery — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 14:31:44 +0000

I love how you chose Plath! – Great choice! The Bell Jar proves to be one of my top five favorite books of all time! I am a little disappointed with the ending but just in case you have not read it, I will not vent my disdain for that darn ending! Wow, I am using a lot of exclamation points, anyways…I am guilty to say, but I have never read this piece…until your post. I went online and pulled up the poem, and I LOVE IT. You mention how you are having difficulty when considering the status of women in the process of feminist theory. This is probably a great poem to start with because this piece is seeping with literary evidence just waiting to be analyzed [I hope that makes sense, in my head it did]. There IS something revealing about hospitals, and I think in relevance to this poem it is important to look at. A little piece of advice when starting to deconstruct [not literally as in the theory, but metaphorically,] think of the hospital as an institution and how that reflects women and the status of women in society. Also another piece to analyze in this poem is Plath’s use of the word tulips and how that aids in Plath’s portrayal of the status of women. This poem is great, and I think you went with the right choice on choosing Plath! You can never go wrong with Plath. Thanks for introducing me to a great piece.

By: ashleystern

ashleystern — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 01:41:56 +0000

I agree with you about it being hard to incorporate strong personal beliefs into critical essays. I still struggle to find a balance between personal details and keeping it formal enough. It is hard to get out of the completely objective perspective and get into making essays personal.

By: emilycollins

emilycollins — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 06:33:59 +0000

I’d have to agree with you Rachel. It’s hard to stick to one criticism after learning about so many new ones. While writing papers, I found myself thinking that what I was writing was for a different criticism. But where’s the line? I feel that there is more gray area than lines in between criticisms, but rather the focus or emphasis should remain true to the criticism at hand. However, then comes the point where you have to pick which criticism you’re going to write about! Decisions, decisions!