Markee Posted June 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 Hello guys! I would like to ask for your help in explaining some phrases that I don't understand that much and if possible, help me identify and add some more LANGUAGE and IMAGERY. That has been used in that paragraph/phrase/etc. They are just small ones really. Thanks~! P1 (P = Paragraph) "I have given my name and my day clothes up to the nurses..." (Could there be any other subliminal messages here? Could this mean she has given up her very soul and what makes her, HER?) P5 "... like a Communion Tablet." (I have no idea how I can interpret this sentence from the last line of this paragraph - it could have something to do about religion, but WHAT?) P6 "The redness talks to my wound, it corresponds" (Again, I have got not but the slightest clue, I know she is saying something there, but I just could not find the appropriate literary terms to identify it.) "They are subtle: They seem to float, though they weigh me down." , "Upsetting me with their sudden tongues and their color." and "A dozen red lead sinkers around my neck" (HELP~!!!) AND That's basically it The final ones Before I transfer them into my power point presentation just to show the quotes which I can refer to for the terms/effects used 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nametaken Posted June 20, 2011 Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 Hello guys! I would like to ask for your help in explaining some phrases that I don't understand that much and if possible, help me identify and add some more LANGUAGE and IMAGERY. That has been used in that paragraph/phrase/etc. They are just small ones really. Thanks~! P1 (P = Paragraph) "I have given my name and my day clothes up to the nurses..." (Could there be any other subliminal messages here? Could this mean she has given up her very soul and what makes her, HER?) P5 "... like a Communion Tablet." (I have no idea how I can interpret this sentence from the last line of this paragraph - it could have something to do about religion, but WHAT?) P6 "The redness talks to my wound, it corresponds" (Again, I have got not but the slightest clue, I know she is saying something there, but I just could not find the appropriate literary terms to identify it.) "They are subtle: They seem to float, though they weigh me down." , "Upsetting me with their sudden tongues and their color." and "A dozen red lead sinkers around my neck" (HELP~!!!) AND That's basically it The final ones Before I transfer them into my power point presentation just to show the quotes which I can refer to for the terms/effects used You're correct for number 1. By saying, "I have given my name and my day-clothes up to the nurses and my history to the anesthetist and my body to surgeons.". Maybe instead of soul; 'identity' would be a better word. Although I guess, 'soul' is a way of placing a certain emphasis on these words she uses, showing how significant they are. And poinient. Number 2) The communion tablet. If you read the whole line, 'It is what the dead close on, finally; I imagine them Shutting their mouths on it, like a Communion tablet.', you can see that the word 'shut' is very sudden, and you get a glimpse into an element of violence, and a feeling of how short life can be. What Plath is saying here, is that the dead, achieve this sense of finality, of peace, the same sense of peace that she is feeling whilst in hospital. Yet she's not dead. Or is she dead to the world? The comparison to the tablet, does have something to do with religion. It may be saying that religion is intricately linked with death, with this sense of finality. Which is why she mentions her being a nun, and the concept of purity. It's quite ambiguous though; it's your interpretation. P6 "The redness talks to my wound, it corresponds" (Again, I have got not but the slightest clue, I know she is saying something there, but I just could not find the appropriate literary terms to identify it.) "They are subtle: They seem to float, though they weigh me down." , "Upsetting me with their sudden tongues and their color." and "A dozen red lead sinkers around my neck" (HELP~!!!) "The redness talks to my wound, it corresponds". The most obvious thing she's saying here, is that she feels linked to the Tulips. They are a part of her. Of her pain, of her suffering. There's this conflict in ideas here as well. She feels that although they hurt here, without the tulips she is nothing. They are who she is. The final two lines contain very vivid language. Think about the significance of the word, 'tongues'. She's given the tulips a human quality, and has personfied them. What could this mean? And lastly, the tulips are suffocating her. The bright images, the heaviness which echoes within her mind regarding the image of the tulips is all to much. They're like 'lead'. She's confused. The tulips are the only link to normal life, or life in general. But they also collaborate with the idea of death. There's so much to look at in this poem; I'm sure you'll get it. Hope I helped. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markee Posted June 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 Oh wow! Thanks a lot buddy! If I get a 6 or a 7 on this, I owe you BIG time! Cheers mate! Imma write them down later after some Maths revision 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nametaken Posted June 20, 2011 Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 One more thing. Another way she is able to create focus on the intrusiveness is by telling us how white everything else is. Being snowed in, the white bed sheets, the white walls and the nurses looking like gulls with their white caps. This makes the image of the red tulips even stronger and more unsettling. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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