Mod A

Question 1

black shoe

Answer 1

“black shoe in which I have lived like a foot,”

CHARACTERISAITON, METAPHOR

conveys inescapble nature and suffocating infuelence of memory

Question 2

do not do

Answer 2

“You do not do, you do not do”

REPETITION, ALLUSION

asserts rejection of her marriage with Hughes

Question 3

luftwaffe + jew

Answer 3

“Luftwaffe… Aryan eye… panzer-man.” … “a bit of a Jew”

VITRIOLIC NAZI IMAGERY

comparing her trauma to that of a jew, establishing her powerlessness under his dead memory which is exacerbated by her rejection of marriage with Hughes

Question 4

meinkampf

Answer 4

“a man in black with a Meinkampf look”

REFERENCES TO HOLOCAUST

symbolises her struggle for personal autnomy by drawing on her nazi-like oppression with men

Question 5

worm

Answer 5

“the voices just can’t worm through”

METAPHOR, IMAGERY

emphatically liberates herself from the controlling male voice

Question 6

killed two

Answer 6

“If I’ve killed one man, I’ve killed two.”

METAPHOR,

metaphorically killing her two oppressors

Question 7

im through

Answer 7

“you bastard, I’m through”

PERSONAL PRONOUNS, DIRECT ADDRESS

controlling patriarchal influence of her context shapes the value of liberty she presented

Question 8

DADDY MNEMONIC

Answer 8

BLACK SHOE, JEW, LUFTWAFFE, DO NOT DO, MEINKAMPF, WORM, KILLED TWO, BASTARD THROUGH

Question 9

GOD,

Answer 9

“Your worship needed a god, where it lacked one it found one”,

DIRECT REFERENCE, CHARACTERISATION

characterises plath as obsessively idolising her father and then transferring this need for an idol onto the men in her life: she oppressed herself

Question 10

JOCKS,

Answer 10

“ordinary jocks became gods… your Daddy had been aiming you at God”

INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCE, HYPERBOLIC LANGUAGE
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invert plath’s oppression in her poem to her damaging idealized deification of men instead

Question 11

FURIOUS

Answer 11

“furious bullet”.

EXTENDED MOTIF/METAPHOR

asserts her inevitable self destruction

Question 12

, SOUND BARRIER,

Answer 12

“sound-barrier events”

PHYSICAL IMAGERY

depicts her fatal trajectory

Question 13

FLIGHT PATH,

Answer 13

“along [her] flightpath”.

conveying her ignorance of others

Question 14

REAL TARGET

Answer 14

“your real target hid[den] behind me, your Daddy.”

CONTEXTUALLY RECONSTRUCTS PERSONAL CONTEXT OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP

portrays himself as a victim of plaths obsession, revealing how public blame placed upon Hughes by his changing context led him to shift plaths values as the central failure in their relationship

Question 15

THE SHOT MNEMONIC

Answer 15

GOD, JOCKS ,FURIOUS ,SOUND BARRIER , FLIGHTPATH, REAL TARGET

Question 16

COOKING,

Answer 16

“When I am cooking, I feel it looking,”

ANTHROPOMORPHIC PRESENCE OF DEATH

shadowing her domestic activites, reveals how her frustration with broader societal context leads to her infatuation with martyrdom

Question 17

SHIMMERS,

Answer 17

“But it shimmers, it doesn’t stop, I think it wants me.”

TRICOLON

further emphasises her obsession with martyrdom as a result of societal conditioning

Question 18

GLADLY,

Answer 18

“I would have killed myself gladly”,

HYPERBOLIC LANGUAGE (FORESHADOWING)?

satirises expected role of women, ridiculing submissive domesticity

Question 19

RULES,

Answer 19

“adhering to rules, to rules, to rules.”

REPETITION

emphasises criticism of her post war societal context

Answer 20

“adhering to rules, to rules, to rules.”

Question 21

TERRIFIED,

Answer 21

“you are terrified… do not be afraid”.

DIRECT REFERENCE TO HUGHES

undermines patriarchal context, mocking attempts to restrain her intellectual and creative self

Question 22

KILLING WHAT YOU CAN,

Answer 22

“kill[ing] what you can”

REFERENCES INTELLECTUAL POTENTIAL

demonstrates how society perpetuates her desire to escape her life of domesticity through death and a new life

Question 23

BABY

Answer 23

“pure and clean as the cry of a baby.”

METAPHOR representing renewal in her martyrdom

Question 24

A BIRTHDAY PRESENT MNEMONIC

Answer 24

cooking, shimmers, gladly, rules, terrified, killing, baby

Question 25

WRAPPED,

Answer 25

“Red was your colour… wrapped around you”

MOTIF

represents plath’s creative spirit, arguing this artistry was intertwined with overwhelming anger and obsessiveness

Question 26

ROOM,

Answer 26

“when you had your way, finally our room was red”

SYMBOLISM

depicts her fascination with death and gradual degradation of their relationship, using bedroom to represent their intimacy

Question 27

CARPET RUBY SHEER,

Answer 27

“carpet of blood… ruby blood, sheer blood falls from ceiling to floor”

RITUALISTIC DICTION, SOMBRE TONE, VISCERAL MOTIF

rebukes suffocating presence, subverts her self-portrayal as a victim in asserting she also had a role in the disintegration of their relationship

Question 28

BLUE WAS BETTER,

Answer 28

“Blue was better for you…folded your pregnancy…was your kindly spirit.”

JUXTAPOSITION, EMOTIONALLY CHARGED, EMPLOYS REMINISCENT TONE

introduces her motherhood, appreciates her beauty, obsession with martyrdom causes her to forget and devalue her own family

Question 29

JEWEL WAS BLUE

Answer 29

“the jewel you threw away was blue.”

METAPHOR

captures his love for her in final line of the collection