Literary Device: Personification
Personification is a literary technique in which inanimate objects
or abstractions (ideas) are endowed with human qualities or are
represented as possessing human form and/or self-awareness.
Example: The mouth of the river perpetually spits water into the sea.
“Mirror”
Sylvia Plath
I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see, I swallow immediately.
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike
I am not cruel, only truthful –
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.
Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me.
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.
“Mirror” – Author’s Purpose
• What two things are personified within the poem?
(Hint: Notice the title of the poem.)
A _______
mirror and a _____.
lake
• Select at least three adjectives describing the emotional state
or tone of each object:
Stanza 1
Stanza 2
Truthful
Faithful
Lonely
Important
Exact
Isolated
“Mirror” – Author’s Purpose
• How are these personified objects similar?
What are their differences within the poem?
_________________________________________
Both
the mirror and the lake seem to be hungry for interaction.
_________________________________________
But
only the mirror seems unappreciated and unnoticed.
• What are the implications of the phrase “drowned a young
girl” and the simile “like a terrible fish” at the end of the
poem?
Both poetic phrases point toward the changing nature of
_________________________________________
the lake’s reflection and, more importantly and directly, the
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
female figure’s ever-altering face reflected there.
“Mirror” – Author’s Purpose
• What could both of the personified objects within the poem
represent or symbolize?
Keeping in mind that Sylvia Plath was a feminist poet, the
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
mirror and lake could represent the race that females often
run against the onslaught of time in terms of physical beauty.
_________________________________________
• What is the author’s overall poetic purpose or message?
How does the personification support and develop this poetic
theme?
Sylvia
Plath is exploring the strain of a culturally-heightened
_________________________________________
human
struggle with time. By seeing this transformation from
_________________________________________
these
personified perspectives the reader receives a true
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
reflection
– exact and unmisted by emotion.
Answer the essay question below:
• In Sylvia Plath’s “Mirror”, the author
explores the passage of time through
the lens of personified objects. In a
well-organized response, complete
with relevant text evidence and
commentary, pinpoint how the poet
utilizes personification and symbolism
to develop her poetic theme.
Red – Major Writing Task
Blue – Minor Insights/Instructions