MIRROR

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MIRROR
BY - SYLVIA PLATH
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COMPREHENSIVE QUESTION

• Who is the speaker in this poem?
• What figure of speech is used here?
• What does the mirror say about itself ?
• Why does the lady look into the mirror or the
  lake?
• Is she satisfied with what she observes?
• What does she observe?

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CHARACTERISTICS OF A MIRROR

• It has no preconceived notions .
• It is not biased .
• It only reveals the truth .
• It gulps down whatever it sees.
• It has a keen sense of observation.

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POETIC DEVICES

• (1)Personification
• as a person
• Eg - I swallow, I meditate , I think
• as a lake
• Eg -I am a lake, bends over me, searching my
  reaches
• (2) Simile
• Eg - Rises towards her day after day like a
  terrible fish
• (3) Metaphor
• Eg - The eye of a little god, four cornered

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• (4) Alliteration
• Eg - Whatever I see I swallow
• Most of the time I meditate
• (5) Repetition
• Eg - Faces and darkness separate us over and
  over
• Rises towards her day after day

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About the Poetess Sylvia PlathAmerican poet
and novelist whose best known works are
preoccupied with alienation and with death and
self destruction. She suffered from severe
depression and underwent a period of psychiatric
hospitalization. The anxiety, confusion and
doubt that haunted her were transmuted into
verses of great power and pathos.
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RECAPITULATION

• Who comes in between them?
• Who rises towards the woman?
• Is she happy? How does she react?
• What is there in front of the mirror?

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HOME ASSIGNMENT

• Make a list of all the poetic devices used in the
  poem.
• Write the characteristics of the Mirror.
• Why the woman turns to the liars?