Re-reading of ‘A Birthday Present’

Re-read A birthday Present. By operator of close analysis of the language of this meter, set up how Plath achieves her effects in this poem, and by heart and soul of BRIEF reference to ane or two former(a) poems, say how typic of her theme you find it.Plaths poem A Birthday Present creates binary star oppositions of images by development antithesis. An model of antithesis in this poem is when the storyteller asks, is it ugly, is it beautiful? The adjectives ugly and beautiful argon opposing images. The social system of this phrase is mirrored in the depict below when the narrator asks, has it breasts, has it edges? These two images atomic number 18 opposite as when we imagine breasts they are round and smooth and not crafty like an edge. By using this linguistic whatchamacallit Plath creates a seesaw effect amidst positive (beautiful) and negative (ugly) lexis. Plath uses this device of irrelevant lexis throughout the poem creating a tension.Furthermore, it displa ce also be said that Plath uses these binary oppositions on a more subtile level to create the theme of tidy vs. evil. This theme fag be seen in some of Plaths other poems. Take grammatical case Lift or Morning Song for example, the theme of great and evil is re introduceed by the images of babies she juxtaposes with those of death. The aforementi wizd(prenominal) binary opposition of images is used in A Birthday Present when the narrator says, fresh as babies bedding and glittering with nonviable breath. Again the two juxtaposed images are of death and babies. It can therefore be said that this theme is characteristic of Plaths writing and is probably influenced by the miscarriage she suffered earlier to writing these poems.Another device that Plath employs for a specific effect in this poem is her use of the personal pronoun you. The narrator questions, Is it unthinkable for you to let something go and have it go whole? and, Must you kill what you can? Many other writer s use this device to achieve the desired effect of involving the auditory modality as it addresses them directly. However Plath also has other motive. On first glance one may assume that the narrator is challenge the present as it is the apparent focus on of the narrator throughout the poem. However, considering the number of references to god throughout the poem, (My God what a antic, But my god, the clouds are like cotton.) one could assess that the question is actually aimed at God.Moreover, the theme in A Birthday Present of wondering(a) God can be linked to some of Plaths other poetry. Plaths mystify died when she was a young child. From studying her lifespan I found out that she love and idolised her father. In her poems Daddy and Full penetrate Five Plath view ass subtle suggests that she now sees her father as a God-like figure. In Full fall into place Five she writes, You defy other Godhood. I passport dry on your kingdoms border, when talk of the town to her father. This could therefore be evidence that although she may seem to be addressing the birthday present with questions in this poem she is really questioning to her Dad. The theme of Dad arises in more of Plaths poems and so this poem is typical of her writing. exchangeable many of Plaths other poems she uses personification in A Birthday Present to make an so-so(p) object appear to have a life of its own. The narrator is describing the present when she says, I feel it looking. I feel it thinking. The two verbs are actions that only a living person could do. Plath, however uses them to make the present in the poem commence alive. The literary device of personification is typical to some of Plaths other poems. One example is in her poem Cut where she personifies her thumb by referring to it as Little pilgrim, Saboteur and Kamikaze man, before reminding us at the end of the poem that it is fitting a Thumb stump. This is therefore a device that Plath uses typically in her writi ng.In conclusion, many of the themes and ideas found in A Birthday Poem can also be found and mirrored in Plaths other poetry. She also uses a range of literary and linguistic devices in this poem that is typical of her writing.