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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
The use of a mirror as illusion/allusion in poetry is compelling, to say the least. The most obvious use of the imagery of the mirror is that it is a reflection of the author. A search in a mirror is ultimately a search for the self. The image that is important is that of the woman, not the child whose innocence has drowned in the depths of the lake; nor the old woman who is like a terrible fish. Most people have the desire to reminisce about the past and, or speculate on the future. It is important. This 4 page paper explores the multiple meanings of the imagery presented by Sylvia Plath in the poem, 'Mirror.' No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_Mirror.doc
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
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. 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.
The use of a mirror as illusion/allusion in poetry is compelling, to say the least. The most obvious use of the imagery of the mirror is
that it is a reflection of the author. In this context it can be said that Sylvia Plath, referring to herself, seeing herself honestly, saw herself as valuable (silver),
but not as the most valuable (gold). Or perhaps she is referring to her age -twenty five -that is often represented as silver (i.e. silver anniversary). She uses
the word, exact, which, when in reference to herself is in opposition to her general style of writing. She writes in symbolic language and imagery. This poem also
uses personification which sets the author another step away from exact. Out of this understanding, exact may refer to the moment by moment living of life; exacting from life
each second that is experienced. One moment at a time, with no preconceptions. This is the exact moment. It exists outside of everything other than the experience
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