ENG 125 week 4 assignment Mirror

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English 125 Introduction to Literature

Instructor:

“Mirror” is a poem by Sylvia Plath. It is spoken in a first person style from the perspective of a mirror, and later a lake. A woman has been looking into both the mirror and the lake at her own reflection. She seems to be almost consumed with the reflection and later in life she is upset by what she sees, as she is ageing. The poem is common with figurative language. After analyzing the poem, I find that the mirror is truth, indifferent to the woman’s ageing or what she wishes to believe. It is through this truth that it holds a certain power over her. She tries to deny it, but in the end the mirror, and thus the truth, consume her.

The personified mirror, lake or reflections in general in the poem are symbolic of truth. Truth is a powerful element in the poem. When you look into a mirror you only see what is there, not what you wish were there. The phrase “whatever I see I swallow immediately supports this. If a person has flaws, a mirror will be straightforward will not hesitate to show them.

The phrase “I am silver and exact, I have no preconception shows us that the mirror is not capable of showing anything but what is put in front of it. The mirror does not judge but only reveals and lets the woman judge for her self. The fact that the woman interprets her appearance in an unfavorable manner highlights an internal conflict going on within the woman. She is obsessed with her appearance and how she is perceived. The statement by the mirror, “the eye of a little god, four-cornered emphasizes the almost god like power that the mirror has over the woman. She looks to it for comfort only to be confronted by truth. Her youth has been wasted away by this reflection.

“Mirror” is a poem by Sylvia Plath. It is spoken in a first person style from the perspective of a mirror, and later a lake. A woman has been looking into both the mirror and the lake at her own reflection. She seems to be almost consumed with the reflection and later in life she is upset by what she sees, as she is ageing.

The poem is rife with figurative language. After analyzing the poem, I find that the mirror is truth, indifferent to the woman’s ageing or what she wishes to believe. It is through this truth that it holds a certain power over her. She tries to deny it, but in the end the mirror, and thus the truth, consume her

The poem “Mirror” was engaging to me because the form of the poem was a dramatic monologue. In the material form “Mirror” is speaking in the first-person point of view. Reveal an objective outlook on life from the perspective of a detached observer. The mirror and reflection are metaphors representing the absolute truth of present realities which poets explore and release into the world. The mirror is unmisted by unfairness human “preconceptions” and reveals “only” the “truthful” aspects of the world directly in front of it. The mirror’s attitudes on life are like a poet’s in that they may show a true observation which familiar people do not wish or are not capable to see can cut through and unlock social barriers. Though an appearance of a person or situation may be viewed as negative, through a different lens of vision it may then be found to have positive effects.

Unlike poetry, mirrors only reflect the present and are not capable to predict the future look of the area being reflected. In the poem “Mirror” by Sylvia Plath (1963) give an personal perspective and reveals the mirror’s balanced thoughts. The narrator changes its physical form into a “lake” from a “mirror”. The poem is divided by a focus on the mirror itself and the woman who interacts with her reflection in the lake. The content of this poem is that the lake is comparing it’s self to the mirror. This was a very engaging poem and I also like the language and dialect. I also liked the way the poem gave me a personal connection as if I was the narrator.

Reference

Reference : Journey into Literature by: R.Wayne Clugton

http://Content ashford.edu/book