Write an essay of 500 to 700 words in response to ONE of the topics below. All papers must be typed, double-spaced, with standard margins and fonts. You are not required to use secondary sources for this paper, but you may certainly do so. Any secondary sources should be authoritative: recognized scholars in the field, published in academic journals, by university presses or other reputable publishers. It is your responsibility to make sure that your sources are authoritative. (Wikipedia is NOT an acceptable source under any circumstances.) All sources, both primary and secondary, should be cited according to MLA form. If you are not familiar with MLA form, get a handout from the Writing Center, consult a style manual, or go to the mla.org website.
TOPIC 1: Motherhood is a topic to which Sylvia Plath often returns in the poems written after 1960. In particular, she writes about motherhood — and her children — in “Morning Song” and “Nick and the Candlestick.” Write an essay in which you analyze the way Plath addresses motherhood in the poetry she wrote after the birth of her first child. Be specific in your discussion. Quote from the poetry as needed.
TOPIC 2: Many critics argue that in the Ariel poems Sylvia Plath articulates a dissatisfaction with and attack on the patriarchy that would be one of the motivating factors behind the second-wave women’s movement that emerged in the 1960s. These critics point to poems like “The Applicant,” “Daddy,” “Lady Lazarus,” “Ariel,” and “The Arrival of the Bee Box.” Using her poems, analyze Plath as a feminist author. Be specific in your discussion. Quote from her poems as needed.
TOPIC 3: From the time she met Ted Hughes in February 1956 until her final poems written in late 1962 and early 1963, Sylvia Plath often wrote about Hughes. Analyze the way her depiction of him changed from 1956 until the end of her life. How did her view of him change? Precisely, what prompted that change? Be specific in your discussion. Quote from the poetry as needed.
