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=Sylvi**a** Plath by Jimmy Dickmann=

Sylvia Plath was a famous American author during the 1960s. Her major works include the poetry collections //Colossus// and //Ariel// and the novel __The Bell Jar__. Major themes of her works include discussion of her dead father, the Holocaust and genocide, and child birth. Major inspirations for her work came from events in her life such as her father's death when she was a child, her attempted suicide at age 20, the birth of her two children, and her failing marriage. Events from the the time period she lived in affected Plath's work. Events such as the execution of the Rosenburgs and the Holocaust have been incorporated and discussed in her novel and poetry. Much her poems have either fair-tale like images or parts borrowed from mythology.

In May 1962, Sylvia Plath's first work, the collection of poetry //The Colossus//, was published. As her first work, //The Colossus// was not as good as it could be compared to her later work //Ariel//. The collection's namesake is one of the most important poems of the work. The poem "The Colossus" covered Plath's dead father. In the poem, the speaker is attempting to fix and refurbish a giant statue, a colossus. The colossus represents the speaker's memories of her dead father. She is attempting to rebuild the near forgotten memories into their former glory and splendor. The major topic of //The Colossus// is Sylvia Plath's dead father and the effect his death had upon her. Fairy-tale like images were used in some of the poems such as "Lorelei."

Her next work, published in January 1963, was the novel __The Bell Jar__. The novel was autobiographical and based on Plath's life. Due to this, the work was published under the name Victoria Lucas. The novel was quite successful and received good reviews at the time of its publication. The book covered the life of a young girl who moved to New York around the time of the execution of the Rosenburgs. The novel did not have mush plot and had raw details and emotions. The central theme that tied the story together was the protagonist's dead father and how she coped with him being dead.

Before Sylvia Plath's tragic suicide on February 11, 1963, she organized a collection of poems called //Ariel//. Images from fair-tales were again used in some of the poetry in this work. //Ariel// was not released as Plath intended. After her death, her husband removed some of the poems, added several of Plath's final poems written just before her death, and changed the order in which the poems were organized. The work was published two years after her death in 1965. An edition with the original organization was eventually released at a later date. One of the most famous poems in this collection is "Daddy." The poem discusses a malevolent male figure which represents Plath's father. Plath views her father's early death as a betrayal and is angry at him. Another famous poem, "Lady Lazarus," compares Plath with the execution of Jews during the Holocaust. It is possible that the poem was discussing her next attempt at suicide. One of the happiest poems of the set is "Morning Song." Instead of discussing the death of a father figure or genocide, this poem's topic is child birth.


 * Annotated Bibliography**

Bloom, Harold. "Biography of Sylvia Plath." __Blooms Major Poets: Sylvia Plath__. (2001). Ebscoe Literary Reference Center. <[|http://web.ebscohost.com>.]

"Biography of Sylvia Plath" has a fairly in depth look at Sylvia Plath's life and the work published, both before and after her death. The source is organized into paragraphs, each detailing a few years of her life. I have used this source for biographical information, specifically for use on the trading card. The level of content on Sylvia Plath's life is better than the rest of the sources for the sake of biographical information. I would recommend "Biography of Sylvia Plath" for students who want to know more about her life.

Hoffert, Barbara. "Plath As She Was." __Reed Business Information__. 11/1/2004. Ebscoe Literary Reference Center. <[|http://web/ebscohost.com>.]

"Plath As She Was" discusses the restored edition of //Ariel// as it was originally intended to be published. The source is organized into paragraphs discussing both the history of //Ariel// and the publication of the restored edition. I used this source to understand her later poetry and the revisions her last planned publication went through after her suicide. I would recommend this source for any student interested in how __Ariel__ was reorganized after Sylvia Plath's death by her husband.

Malmsheimer, Lonna M. "Sylvia Plath." __American Writers Supplement II Part 2__. Leonard Unger. New York: Charles Scriber's Sons, 1979. 526-549.

The __American Writers Supplement II, part 2__ has information about the lives, inspiration, and works of several authors. This source is divided into sections. Each section covers a different author. I have used this source mainly to discover how Sylvia Plath's life has affected her work and to acquire criticisms on her poetry and other works. The book has a large amount of content on each work published by the authors. It is an excellent source of knowledge for students researching Sylvia Plath's works and how her life affected them.

"Plath, Sylvia." __Literary Lifelines__. Nicola Chalton. Sherman Turnpike: Grolier Educational, 1998. 40-41.

__Literary Lifelines__ is organized by authors in alphabetical order. It has a breif description of each author's life, achievements, and tells what works they published an when. I have used this source to gather facts and biographical information on Sylvia Plath for the rading segment of the project. This source has a low level of content. Even so, it contains some useful facts neccesary for the trading card assignment. I would recommend __Literary Lifelines__ for students who want a brief description of an author's life and achievements or are in a rush for basic information.