Mushrooms by Sylvia Plath

What is the poem about?

• On the surface, the poem is about mushrooms quietly growing in a nighttime forest.
• They poke their heads from the leafy, pine-needled forest floor and eventually sprout from the cracks in a city sidewalk.
• The poem is an extended metaphor.
• The mushrooms seem to represent an oppressed population- most likely women- who are mounting a quiet revolution.
• At the end of the poem, we’re told that, by morning, they’ll have the respenct they deserve. 

Personification:

• Plath’s personification of the mushrooms can be seen as a way of expressing the plight of women in the 1960’s. The ‘perfectly voiceless’ fungus represent the silent but growing majority of women, hidden in darkness, gradually, quietly, pushing until they ‘inherit the earth.’

Structure:

•  Regular stanzas – it is almost and though Plath has crafted every aspect of this poem to mimic or reflect the 1960’s woman. All the stanzas are the same, identical, they behave perfectly and as we expect them to – the lack of spontaneity reveals the societal expectations of women at the time. 
•  All stanzas – the increasing power of women and their fight for equality.
• Stanzas being the same length/ equal represent the equality women will eventually have.
• Syllables on every line – allows us to hear and feel the restraints the mushrooms and women are pushing and fighting against.
• Free verse – the mushrooms growing. Also the growing independence of women and how they no longer rely on men.

Annotations:

Additional helpful resources:

http://genius.com/2903102

'Tulips' by Sylvia Plath- Practice IOC

Coriolanus Individual Oral Commentary Outline:

Introduction:

The passage presented is from the play ‘Coriolanus’ written by William Shakespeare. Through this work of literature, Shakespeare explores the physical and internal implications that are inflicted due to the political shift from monarchy to democracy.  Shakespeare studies the influence of power on people and provides a social commentary in which he advocates the distribution of power.

This passage is situated in act one scene one of the play. Preceding this passage, the citizens of the Capitol revolt against the government due to high corn prices and ask the Senators to restore their basic rights. Following this passage Aufidius plans to go to war against Caius Martius.

In this passage Caius Martius talks to Menenius talk about the plebeians revolution. Caius Martius reveals his disgust with the plebians’ attitudes and their lack of respect for authoritative figures.

This passage is significant as it characterizes Caius Martius and reveals his hubris. This passage pushes forward the theme of power and the abuse of power against the weak.

This commentary will follow a sequential analysis...

Section one (lines 1-26):

• Caius Martius insults the Second Citizen.
• Caius Martius proceeds by insulting all the plebeians and revealing how they disgust him.
• Caius Martius finds out that the plebeians are revolting against the government due to the high prices of corn.
• Animal Imagery: “You Curs” “Where he should find you lions, finds you hares; where foxes, geese.”
•  Antithesis “Where he should find you lions, finds you hares; where foxes, geese” “Coal of fire upon the ice, or hailstone in the sun.”
• Sarcasm “We have ever your good word.”
• Foreshadow: “Your affections are a sick man’s appetite.” Rome has a diseased body politic. Coriolanus may be the disease that Rome, however he blames the plebeians.

Section two (lines 27-41):

• Caius Martius says that through revolution the plebeians are only hurting themselves and making themselves prone to abuse by foreign invaders.
•  Threatening tone.
• Warfare is associated with nobility.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, in this passage Shakespeare characterizes Coriolanus through his use of imagery and dialogue. This passage is significant to the play as it foreshadows the downfall of Rome and characterizes the play’s main character, Caius Martius.