Study Guide to Selected Poems by Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath’s poems do not unfold their meaning to a superficial reading. She demands a lot of her readers, but the rewards are worth the effort.
The aim of this Guide is to help the reader towards a fuller understanding and appreciation of the poems of Sylvia Plath. For each poem in the collection, the Guide provides a brief introduction and a number of questions. Some questions are carefully worded to draw your attention to important aspects of the poem which you need to understand. Other questions are very open-ended: they are not designed to lead you in any direction, but simply to stimulate your thoughts and ideas about the poem. It should always be clear to you which type of question you are being asked.
Although the questions can be used in a variety of ways, the questions work best as an aid to small group discussion.
Also included are:
Background information about Plath and Freud.
An extended Reading Diary activity on "Daddy".
A sample essay on the importance of place in Plath's poems.
A helpful appendix on Literary terms, together with an activity to ensure the terms are being properly understood.