Your Task:
Step 1: PLANNING
Now that you have looked at the narrative
Key points to consider when planning your response:
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add the character arc, showing how these
events show changes in the main characte
Try to think about the narrative arc. Think about the key incidents and
turning point in the story – what are the most important things for you to
cover?

The narrative arc will mirror the most important changes in the character and help you to create a similar
arc for the main character in the story.
For example:
The narrator views a war
film.
Uncle Frank waits to be drafted and
there is talk of war on the radio.
PB (who represents power
and materialism) slips on an
oil slick and singles the
narrator out.
The narrator is blamed by all of
the children
Her and some of the other children play
games that reflect the war going on, although
they are oblivious to it.
Initially the narrator sleeps and dreams of a fantasy/ adventure world in
which superman resides and she flies with him.
Uncle Frank and mother fail
to believe her innocence.
The narrator retreats to the
isolation of her room, failing to
put the light on, as the door
closes behind uncle Frank.
Success Criteria for effective POINTS:
Step 2: Structuring Ideas




Link to essay task/question.
Outline a technique that will be discussed.
Puts in context.
Plan the point for each paragraph by focusing on a technique and linking it to the
essay task.
For example:
If the question focuses on a character (an interesting one):
1. Initially, we are intrigued by the main character in the short story ‘Superman and Paula Brown’ as she has a very vivid and colourful
imagination, which makes her interesting to the reader. This can be seen when…
2. Symbolism is also important in revealing interesting aspects of how the narrator perceives the world near the beginning of the story
when she talks of superman and flight. This is evident when…
3. It is also interesting to note the influence and impact that the setting has on the character of the narrator. This can be seen most
clearly when she views footage of the war during a trip to the cinema.
4. The narrator’s reaction to key incidents within the text, such as the betrayal of her friends illustrates the interesting way in which she
responds to being scapegoated, running home and even doubting her own innocence.
5. Furthermore, it is interesting to observe the detrimental impact that this incident has on the narrators relationships with other
characters in the story, primarily that of her Uncle Frank.
6. What is probably most interesting about the main character is the dramatic transition that she undergoes throughout the short story,
which is most clearly portrayed through Plath’s contrast between light and dark.
If the question focused on setting (remember this can be setting in time and place)
1. The short story ‘Superman and Paula Brown’s New Snowsuit’ takes place during (is set during) the childhood school days of the main
narrator. We can see this through Plath’s use of first person narrative, in which the narrator is recounting why this was a significant
time in her life and reveals how naïve she was to what was really going on around her.
2. We are the introduced to the historical time in which the narrator was growing up: in America, in Boston, during World War 2.
Despite her unawareness of the threat of war, it provides a rich backdrop for her imagination to unfold, as the airport and flight
become important symbols in the story. This is clear when the narrator talk of….
3. The foreshadowing used by Plath is also effective in revealing how naïve the narrator is initially to the war going on around her. We
can see this when…
4. It is also clear to see evidence of how the war has an indirect impact on the other children in the story, through the games that they
play and roles that they assume during these games. This can be seen in what appear to be fairly minor characters such as that of
Sheldon Fein.
5. Furthemore, this is demonstated on a much larger scale when Plath uses the character of Paula Brown to show the detrimental impact
scapegoating (a main theme) can have and how easily it seems to happen. This also links to the wider context of World War 2. This is
illustrated perfectly when…
6. Probably, the clearest example of how the setting impacts on the main character is when she views footage of American soldiers being
tortured by the Japanese. This is the main turning point within the story.
7. Lastly, it is clear to see how the wider setting has impacted on the narrator when even the safety of ‘home’ becomes compromised.
This change is shown most effectively through Plath’s contrast between light and dark.
8. It is also significant that the story closes with the same line with which it opened and therefore a direct reference to the lasting impact
that the war has had on the narrator. It helps us understand the theme of fantasy versus reality. This can be seen when she says:
Task:


Now peer assess the remainder of the plan (points 4-8) against the success criteria for an effective POINT.
Do they meet the standard?
Now it’s your turn! If the question focuses on the theme (and you selected betrayal) write the POINTS that would enable you to
produce a good essay.
Step 3: Manipulating Evidence for Essay Task

During study, you will have to revise key quotations that you could use for any essay task. Those that are
essentials, I have marked in bold. In order to do this it is important that you realise they can be used in
different ways and to discuss different techniques.
For Example:
“I lay there alone in the bed feeling the black shadow creeping up the underside of the world like a flood tide. Nothing held,
nothing was left. The silver airplanes and the capes all dissolved and vanished, wiped away like the crude drawings of a child
in coloured chalk from the colossal blackboard of the dark.”
Therefore this quotation offers the potential to discuss key techniques such as; characterisation, symbolism, contrast of
light and dark and theme of betrayal, isolation, fantasy versus reality etc.
“I was sitting on the aisle, and I stood up in a hurry and ran out to the girls’ room, where I knelt over a toilet bowl and
vomited up the cake and ice cream.”
Now you try!
The truth about Introductions and Conclusions (They are pretty much the same…shhhhh!!)
Don’t forget to TART: (Title, Author, Relate to essay task, Techniques)
‘Superman and Paula Brown’s New Snowsuit’ is a short story by Sylvia Plath, in which the theme of reality versus fantasy is
explored. Throughout the story, Plath emphasizes the contrasts between the young narrator’s fantasies and the war taking place in
the real world around her. The story revolves around the premature, somewhat harsh transition in the young girl’s life, as she is
unjustly blamed for something that she didn’t do. This forces her to feel betrayed, by her friends and family. Plath highlights this
change through use of techniques such as symbolism, and imagery of light and dark.
By the end of the story, the reader feels intense sympathy towards the young girl because of the movement from the fantasy to
the real world. Plath uses imagery and the use of light and dark imagery cleverly throughout to establish the decay of the
persona’s innocence. “Superman and Paula Brown’s New Snowsuit” really conveys how wonderful the world is as a child, and how
dark and dull it can be through an adult’s perspective, and highlights the differences well. The story is a stark reminder of the
corruptness and betrayal in today’s world, and the differences between that and a naïve child’s fantasies.
“Superman and Paula Brown’s New Snowsuit” is a short story written by Sylvia Plath. Plath explores the harsh contrast between fantasy and reality
through contrast of light and dark imagery along with characterization and key incident. This mirrors the narrator’s journey from her bright, happy
childhood into the cold, grey adulthood that is so foreign to her.
“Superman and Paula Brown’s New Snowsuit” is a short story full of contrasts. Sylvia Plath uses her undeniable skills in writing to pull us into the
narrator’s changing and, at times, painful world. Her use of light and dark imagery creates a vivid picture in our minds and the brilliant metaphors allow
us to see this world of opposites in a dramatic new way and understand just how detrimental the premature transition from youthful fantasy to
adolescent reality really is.
Key Quotations
Highlight the ones that you think would be most important
“I can recall the changing colours of those days, clear and definite as a pattern seen through a kaleidoscope.”
“I used to kneel by the west window of my room and look over to the lights of Boston that blazed and blinked far off across
the darkening water….flashing red and green lights that rose and set in the sky like shooting stars…”
“…a breathless sense of having tumbled like Icarus from the sky…”
“These nightly adventures in space began when Superman started invading my dreams and teaching me how to fly.”
“At this time my Uncle Frank was living with us while waiting to be drafted, and I was sure that he bore an extraordinary
resemblance to Superman incognito.”
“The airport was my Mecca, my Jerusalem. All night I dreamed of flying.”
“…a breathless sense of having tumbled like Icarus from the sky…”
“Their voices were low and serious and the talk was of German planes and bombs.”
“The threat of war was seeping in everywhere.”
“Our war games and the radio programmes were all made up, but this was real, this really happened.”
“No matter how hard I thought of superman before I went to sleep, no crusading blue figure came roaring down in heavenly
anger to smash the yellow men who invaded my dreams.” P3
I was sitting on the aisle, and I stood up in a hurry and ran out to the girls’ room, where I knelt over a toilet bowl and
vomited up the cake and ice cream.
“…somebody’s car had left a glittering black stain of oil-slick”
“At this time my Uncle Frank was living with us while waiting to be drafted, and I was sure that he bore an extraordinary
resemblance to Superman incognito.”
“Their voices were low and serious and the talk was of German planes and bombs.”
“The threat of war was seeping in everywhere.”
“I was sitting on the aisle, and I stood up in a hurry and ran out to the girls’ room, where I knelt over a toilet bowl and
vomited up the cake and ice cream.”
“Nobody on our block really liked her because she was bossy and stuck up, with pale skin and long red pigtails and watery
blue eyes.”
“Paula stopped in the middle of the game to eye me coldly.
Sheldon and Paula and Jimmy and the rest of them faced me with a strange joy flickering in the back of their eyes. ‘You did
it, you pushed her,’ they said.
“…toward the bright squares of light in the windows that were home.”
“But the words came out like hard dry little seeds, hollow and insincere. “I didn’t do it. Jimmy Lane did it.”
“The staircase to the second floor was dark, but I went down the long hall to my room without turning on the light switch
and shut the door. A small unripe moon was shafting squares of greenish light along the floor and the windowpanes were
fringed with frost.” P4
“I could see his strong shoulderless bulk against the moonlight, but in the shadows his face was featureless.”
“I lay there alone in the bed feeling the black shadow creeping up the underside of the world like a flood tide. Nothing held,
nothing was left. The silver airplanes and the capes all dissolved and vanished, wiped away like the crude drawings of a child
in coloured chalk from the colossal blackboard of the dark.”
“That was the year the war began and the real world, and the difference.”
Improve your vocabulary in critical writing
Instead of ‘this shows…’
This…
Highlights
Conveys
Suggests
Implies
Illustrates
Describes
Depicts
Portrays
Reveals
Indicates
Demonstrates
Results in
Catalyst
Precursor of things to come
Effective
Significant
Pre-empt
Predominant(ly)
Protagonist
Foreboding
Sinister
Infiltrates
Realisation
Reiterates
synonymous
Key Points to include:
•
Imaginative mind at beginning links to fantasy (Characterisation)– colourful/childlike/vivid/innocent
•
Children’s games (Setting)– mirror the wider context of war. Character naïve to this initially, which further demonstrates her youth.
•
War picture (Symbolism) – first indication of difference between ‘games’ and ‘reality’. Shocking and brutal catalyst which prematurely catapults her
into adolescent world.
•
Betrayal of ‘friends’ (Characterisation of PB/ theme) – scapegoat idea and impact this has. World no longer a safe/trusting environment.
•
Betrayal of mum and uncle Frank (Characterisation) – realisation that the adult world is powerless and people aren’t always what they seem. Feels
isolated and despairing, reflected in dark imagery at the end.
•
Contrast between light and dark – most effective way that Plath conveys the difference in narrator and state of mind.
•
Could include paragraph on foreshadowing - recurrent hints throughout text that allow reader to see narrator’s naivety, as more experienced they
understand the significant of things that she is unaware of, such as the “whirring of the planes” etc.