Should i do Sylvia Plath or Artist of a Floating World?

[Lilabear123]

Hey everyone!

So for our upcoming assessment, we have to choose either 2 Sylvia Plath poems or Artist of the Floating World by Ishiguro. i'm conflicted on which to choose; i enjoy Artist more, but i think Plath works better with my related? I've chosen Howl by Allen Ginsberg for my related.

Any thoughts and advice greatly appreciated

[elysepopplewell]

Hey everyone!

So for our upcoming assessment, we have to choose either 2 Sylvia Plath poems or Artist of the Floating World by Ishiguro. i'm conflicted on which to choose; i enjoy Artist more, but i think Plath works better with my related? I've chosen Howl by Allen Ginsberg for my related.

Any thoughts and advice greatly appreciated

Hey!

So, I have studied Plath but I have not studied Ishiguro. Provided you don't actively dislike Plath, and would be able to enjoy/deal with it enough to make it work and not loathe it, I think you see better connections with that text for a reason. There's merit there!

BUT, if you really despise Plath, I would definitely go with Ishiguro because you have a while longer yet you need to focus on it, and studying and trying to work with a text you don't like is not a fun or productive time!

[Lilabear123]

Plath is okay, i definitely don't despise it :') I'm mostly wary about analysing poems, definitely not my strong suit :/
Could you recommend which poems might suit Howl?

Thanks Elyse, always appreciate your advice!

[elysepopplewell]

I’m glad to hear it!

Unfortunately I haven’t studied that text either so I’m not very much across it.

What are some of the themes or ideas you would talk about in that text? Perhaps I can tell you where I see those same themes in Plath

[Lilabear123]

Howl is written by a beat poet and it explores:
- Rejecting conformity, materialism, capitalism, traditional religion, militarism- basically it criticises the values promoted by mainstream 1950's America
- Explores the pent up frustrations and self destruction of Ginsberg generation- due to suppression by a dominant American culture that valued conformism
That's my rough idea, still in the process of analysing it!

[elysepopplewell]

Howl is written by a beat poet and it explores:
- Rejecting conformity, materialism, capitalism, traditional religion, militarism- basically it criticises the values promoted by mainstream 1950's America
- Explores the pent up frustrations and self destruction of Ginsberg generation- due to suppression by a dominant American culture that valued conformism
That's my rough idea, still in the process of analysing it!

Mmm okay.

So conformity, materialism, and capitalism sing really strong to me in Plath's The Applicant. I analysed this in my HSC response, I loved this poem. There is an expectation of marital conformity, and the iconography in the poem really enhances the idea of materialism, and the whole thing seems like a transaction (hello capitalism). So immediately I think you could make super strong links here. Very critical of mid century America!

The Arrival of the Bee Box, to me, was a poem very much about hiding of mental illness, and hiding political issues. It was all about keeping something on the hush that was about to explode and riddle out. So you could use that for conformity too!

This is just off the top of my head. How does it sound to you?

[Lilabear123]

I actually quite liked The Applicant, so i'll definitely give that a go. I'll read Bee box too
Thanks Elyse!!

[elysepopplewell]

I actually quite liked The Applicant, so i'll definitely give that a go. I'll read Bee box too
Thanks Elyse!!

'
Good luck! Let me know how you go