Class
Article
Department
English
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract
This research project comprises a study of the early development of the poetic voice of American poet Sylvia Plath, as evidenced by her college journals, poetry, essays for classes, short stories, letters, and other papers, held at Smith College, where she attended in the 1950s. In this research, particular attention was paid to her writing before and after her 1953 suicide attempt, focusing on the contrasting and developing voices used in her writing. The research will be comparing the voices that appear in her early (1950-1953) and later college writing (1953-1955), with the split centering on her nervous collapse and suicide attempt in the summer after her junior year at Smith. It will also compare the voices in these college papers to the cynical young voice employed in her semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, published ten years later about the summer of her attempted suicide. Funds from an Undergraduate Research grant from the Office of Research and Graduate Studies at Utah State University would cover travel and lodging expenses at Smith College. This research will be the focus of an undergraduate honor's thesis and will be explored in two creative nonfiction essays.
Start Date
4-9-2015 9:00 AM
The Voice of Sylvia Plath: A Creative Look at Poetic Identity
This research project comprises a study of the early development of the poetic voice of American poet Sylvia Plath, as evidenced by her college journals, poetry, essays for classes, short stories, letters, and other papers, held at Smith College, where she attended in the 1950s. In this research, particular attention was paid to her writing before and after her 1953 suicide attempt, focusing on the contrasting and developing voices used in her writing. The research will be comparing the voices that appear in her early (1950-1953) and later college writing (1953-1955), with the split centering on her nervous collapse and suicide attempt in the summer after her junior year at Smith. It will also compare the voices in these college papers to the cynical young voice employed in her semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, published ten years later about the summer of her attempted suicide. Funds from an Undergraduate Research grant from the Office of Research and Graduate Studies at Utah State University would cover travel and lodging expenses at Smith College. This research will be the focus of an undergraduate honor's thesis and will be explored in two creative nonfiction essays.