Let us view ourselves in
the pale lit light and
reflection of our inner
mirror
Time to become
metaphoric…
Do Now
Think about the poems we have
read. How important has
imagery been to the overall
meaning of the poem? Does
imagery make the poem better
or more difficult to understand?
Explain your answer.
Information
19 Days left in the 2nd M.P.
 Journals and Do Nows Due Today
 Vocabulary Quiz
- Monday
 Missing Identity Poems
- ummm, why?
 Midterm Next Week

Fated – (adj.) determined in advance
by destiny or fortune
Synonyms – destined, doomed
Antonyms – accidental, chance, random
Hoodwink – (v.) to mislead by a trick deceive
Synonyms – fool, dupe, trick
Antonyms – clue in, undeceive
Read: Interpreting Poems
Read Each Section
- some new terms
- hints to help figure out meaning
 Use what you read to help you
figure out Sylvia Plath’s poem
 Take your time and follow the slides,
click slowly ….

Do Now
Think about the poems we have
read. How important has
imagery been to the overall
meaning of the poem? Does
imagery make the poem better
or more difficult to understand?
Explain your answer.
IMAGERY
 It
 It
 It
 It
 It
is
is
is
is
is
the Sights
the Sounds
the Smells
the Tastes
Touch
Imagery paints a picture in
your mind
Theme
 Broad
idea, message, or lesson
suggested by the text
 Finding theme
- look for repeated symbols
- repeated patterns
- details and particulars – greater
meaning
 Theme is only part of the meaning
SYLVIA PLATH
1932 – 1962
 Married an English
poet
- Ted Hughes, left
her for another
woman
- 2 children
 Depressed individual
 Suicide
- stuck her head in
an oven

The Mirror
Use
the “mirror” on the
front to highlight the
imagery in the poem.
On the back of the paper
- identify theme
- rhyme
- interpret the poem,
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.
Read the poem
first, concentrate on
the musicality of
the words. Short
and long sounds
This poem has a clear
rhythm to it. Hear the
beat in your head as
you read it.
Does the poem tell a
story? Clearly it has a
meaning. Let’s
identify the TWO
meanings this poem.
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.
What is the Genre of the
poem?
Non-rhyming Free Verse.
Tone and Diction
- imagery and sensory
details throughout the
poem
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.
Author’s Intention?
Why do you suppose
Plath wrote this poem?
What message or point
do you think she is
trying to make?
Themes
- only a mirror will
show you the truth
-Reflections show the
real “you”
- Others???
-Rhyming Pattern
-No rhyming patterns
- syllables of words
help establish meter
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.
Historical/Aesthetic/Period
No references noted in this
poem. The setting of the
poem is not easy to
determine. Making an
educated guess, what time
period would you choose and
why?
Meaning
Using what you have
learned, what is the
meaning of the poem.
the kid identity
Look at me,
It is not my true identity,
But when they see the true true
me,
I am nothing but a messed up key,
When they see my true identity,
They want to go back to what they
thought was me,
But they must not go and see,
Who my true identity could really
be,
Just remember I’m my real
identity.
Messy Room
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
His raincoat is there in the overstuffed
chair,
And the chair is becoming quite mucky
and damp.
His workbook is wedged in the window,
His sweater's been thrown on the floor.
His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,
And his pants have been carelessly hung
on the door.
His books are all jammed in the closet,
His vest has been left in the hall.
A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,
And his smelly old sock has been stuck
to the wall.
Whosever room this is should be
ashamed!
Donald or Robert or Willie or-Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear,
I knew it looked familiar!