Confessional PoetryPeriod 1

Cody Dela CruzCelestine LargozaGenevieve Libed

Karol Rivera

Background Information

• Emerged in the 1950s and 60s , during the US Civil Rights movement and women subordination (50s) and women liberation (60s).• Written almost like an autobiography.• Depression, suicidal tendencies, alcoholism, drug

abuse, and sexual affairs are usually the topics.• “Poetry of the personal or ‘I’ “• Writer usually refers to real events.• Each poet utilizes rhyme, rhythm, meter, tone, and

prosody.

Sylvia Plath• Plath was born on October 27, 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts. • Her mother, Aurella Schober, a student at Boston University

married her professor, Otto Plath.• At the age of eight years old her father died from diabetes and due

to his strict attitude and their relationship, he plays a big role on her poetry.

• In 1953 Sylvia Plath attempted a suicide, but was still able to graduate in 1955.

• 1956 she married Ted Hughes and in 1960 she gave birth to Frieda Hughes and in 1962 to Nicholas Hughes. • After Nicholas Hughes birth Ted left her for Assia Gutmann Wevill.• That winter Plath wrote her most famous book, “Ariel.”• In 1963 wrote a note to her neighbor telling him to call a doctor then

committed suicide.

Notable Works

• The Colossus (1960)• Ariel (1965) • Crossing the Water (1971) • Winter Trees (1972) • The Collected Poems (1981)

Analysis: Family Reunion (1950)

• Theme: Having to hide who she really is in fear of not being accepted by her family. • This also relates to society because there are times when people

feel like they must mask who they really are so they can fit in with the social norms

• Alliteration: In the poem Plath rhymes the ending words• (Hear, near) (Talk, walk) (Claws, pause) (Heat, beat) (Thin, within) (Meeting, greeting)

(Breath, Elizabeth) (All, Uncle Paul) (Whine, line) (Land, stand)

• Similes:• “Like a diver on a lofty spar of land Atop the flight of stairs I

stand.”• “And hands like nervous butterflies; While rough as splintered

wood”

Robert Lowell • Born on March 1, 1917 in

Boston, MA• He was violent and bullied

kids his age • He attended Harvard College

for two years before transferring to Kenyon College, received an undergraduate degree in 1940.

• He took graduate courses at Louisiana State University

• He wrote formal poetry containing meter and rhymes.

• He was against WWII, and was imprisoned.

• Had manic depression• Died after a heart attack in

1977.

Notable Works • Lord Weary's Castle (1946)• 1947 Pulitzer Prize

• Life Studies (1959)• Mixed of free and metered verse

• Imitations (1961)• For the Union Dead (1964)• The Dolphin (1973)• 1974 Pulitzer Prize

• History (1973)• Day by Day (1977)• Free Verse

Analysis: To Speak of Woe That Is in Marriage (1976)• Tone: Sad, regretful, and worried• Shift in tone• Simile: “he stalls above me like an elephant”• Uses Rhyming Couplets• Disputes, Prostitutes• Edge, Pledge• Lust, Unjust• Five,Alive• Tie,Thigh

• Theme: Marital Breakdown• Some marriages are not as perfect as they seem. • Some people find sadness in marriage, leading to loss of interest

but still have a strong feeling for lust.

John Berryman • Born October 25, 1914 in

McAlester, Oklahoma• Considered a key figure in the

Confessional school of poetry• He was scarred by his fathers

suicide & wrote about his struggle with it in his Dream Songs

• Berryman went to college at Columbia College where he studied with literary scholar Mark Van Doren

• Credited Van Doren for sparking his interest in writing poetry seriously

• Died January 7, 1972 in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Notable Works • Best-known work is The Dream Songs

Analysis: Dream Song 14 (1969)

• Theme: Despite all the luxuries we have, life will always have no meaning.

• Literary Devices:IronySimile

• Tone: Dissatisfied

Anne Sexton • Born Anne Gray Harvey in Newton, MA on November 9, 1928

• Modeled for Boston's Hart Agency for a short time

• Suffered from bipolar disorder, in 1955 she met Dr. Martin Orne who encouraged her to take up poetry – her form of therapy

• Morning of October 4, 1974, Sexton had lunch with poet Maxine Kumin revise last book. On returning she locked herself in her garage, and started the engine of her car, committing suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Notable Works• Standard themes of depression, isolation, suicide, and despair,

also issues specific to women, such as menstruation and abortion, masturbation, and adultery.

• Actually books of poems • The Awful Rowing Toward God• The Death Notebooks• To Bedlam and Part Way Back• All My Pretty Ones• Live or Die – Pulitzer prize winning

Analysis: Wanting to Die

• Figurative language: • Personification• Shift in tone in 9th stanza• Simile• Metaphor

• Theme: Curiosity , Curiosity will not cause us to die

MamanLouise Bourgeois

Precious LiquidsLouise Bourgeois

cylindrical bedroom with installed vials filled with blood, sperm, and tears.

Quiz

Name 3 of the topics that Confessional poetry is based on.

Answer

Depression, suicidal tendencies, alcoholism, drug abuse, sexual affairs

Question #2

Who played a big role on Sylvia Plath’s poetry?

Answer

Her father

Question#3

Why was Robert Lowell imprisoned?

Answer

He was against WWII

Question #4

What event influenced John Berryman’s Dream Songs?

Answer

His father’s suicide

Question#5

Dr. Martin Orne encouraged Anne Sexton to take up poetry as a form of

therapy for what?

Answer

Bipolar disorder

Question#6

Who is this poet?

Answer

Anne Sexton

Question#7

When did Confessional Poetry emerge?

Answer

1950’s and 60’s during the U.S. Civil Rights Movement

Question#8

What 2 poetry movements formed as a reaction to Confessional poetry?

Answer

Language and New Formalist poetry

Question#9

How did the movement get it’s name?

Answer

M. L. Rosenthal used “confessional” in a review on Robert Lowell’s Life Studies

Life Studies is underlined

AP Prompts • Based on the poem given, analyze the

literary techniques, theme, and focus and explain how it is apart of the Confessional Movement. (see next slide)•Write an essay in which you compare and

contrast the themes and techniques used in Family Reunion and Dream Song 14.

Cinderella by Sylvia PlathThe prince leans to the girl in scarlet heels,Her green eyes slant, hair flaring in a fanOf silver as the rondo slows; now reelsBegin on tilted violins to span

The whole revolving tall glass palace hallWhere guests slide gliding into light like wine;Rose candles flicker on the lilac wallReflecting in a million flagons' shine,

And glided couples all in whirling tranceFollow holiday revel begun long since,Until near twelve the strange girl all at onceGuilt-stricken halts, pales, clings to the prince

As amid the hectic music and cocktail talk She hears the caustic ticking of the clock.

Bibliography • http://copof10.umwblogs.org/multimedia-rpt-list/confessiona

l-poetry/

• http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5650• http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/11• http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/10• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Sexton• http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/anne-sexton• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Berryman

Helpful Links • http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/6• http://www.poemhunter.com/• http://www.poetryfoundation.org/