Download Sentence Outline- Sylvia Plath Research Paper Thesis: As a result

Sentence Outline- Sylvia Plath Research Paper
Thesis: As a result of her father’s early passing and her lifelong struggle with mental instability, Sylvia
Plath’s poetry emphasizes themes of death and self-identity.
Topic Sentence #1: Sylvia Plath lost her father at the young age of eight, which influenced her poetry
throughout her career.
Point: Otto Plath died from untreated diabetes (“Daddy” 65).
Poetry: Plath’s loss is evident throughout her poetry. In the poem “Daddy,” Plath includes an
autobiographical reflection on the death of her father. She writes, “You died before I had time,”
expressing her experience with her father’s early death.
Point: Before he died, her father’s leg was amputated as a result of the diabetes that would
eventually kill him (“Daddy” 66).
Poetry: In the poem, Plath describes the image of her father’s dead body as “Marble-heavy, a
bag full of God, Ghastly statue with one gray toe,” reflecting his leg amputation.
Transition: The death of her father may have played a part in Plath’s mental instability.
Topic Sentence #2: Plath battled mental illness and attempted suicide several times, which also
impacted the theme and structure of her poems.
Point: During her junior year of college, Plath experienced a mental breakdown and was
institutionalized during a time when mental illness was highly stigmatized (“Plath” 1309).
Poetry: In her poem “Mirror,” Plath contrasts the truthfulness and unbiased view of a mirror to
the prejudice she experienced while receiving mental healthcare.
Point: For many years, Plath suffered from severe depression. Before her suicide in 1963, her
marriage to Ted Hughes failed and she was left to raise two children alone (Looser).
Poetry: Plath’s struggle with depression is reflected in her poem “Lady Lazarus,” written weeks
before her death. In the poem, a woman attempts suicide several times and Plath claims “Dying
is an art.”
Restate Thesis: As seen in the poems “Daddy,” “Mirror,” and “Lady Lazarus,” the death of Sylvia Plath’s
father and her subsequent mental illness is reflected in her poetry.