Blog Topic #5: Personal Review

The Bell Jar, to me, is a necessary and important book to read. Like The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the novel directly addresses an issue that is currently a sore subject in society today, and is blunt and straightforward in its descriptions. The first ten chapters-more or less- of The Bell Jar provides an excellent resumé of background knowledge for the reader. I found myself enjoying Esther's life right along with her while she resided in New York, and I could very clearly portray her suffering and gradual recovery. The story line flows effortlessly; Plath succeeds in drawing in her readers and trapping them in Esther's "bell jar." Prior to reading the novel, I read the foreword provided in the Harper Modern version, which allowed me to truly understand Plath's personal life and her relation to Esther's story. The Bell Jar ultimately mirrors Plath's life story, with minor modifications. Although Esther attempts suicide, she does not succeed each time and is liberated by the folk at the asylum, where she endures a progressive recovery; whereas Plath's last suicide attempt in 1963 was successful. She left behind a true legacy in The Bell Jar, one that indubitably penetrates the human conscience, and is a personal account of the process of "going crazy." 
After reading the full story, I do not have any complaints about the overall story line, however I will admit that while I was reading, I found myself not wanting to read on, because I was almost sure that Esther would commit suicide in a gruesome and depressing manner. To my pleasant surprise, I was dumbfounded by Esther's eventual recovery and the love put forth by her colleagues throughout the book. As i mentioned before, I am convinced that  The Bell Jar is an important story to embrace and understand, and should be hailed as an American classic. To those who have not yet read The Bell Jar, I reccommend researching the author as a precursory to reading the novel; it definitely opened my mind and allowed me to understand the story to its full magnificence. 

Blog Topic #4: Text Connection

This novel primarily establishes connections to itself. For instance, prior to "seducing" the shrewd Irwin, Esther asks him if "it[s] supposed to hurt," and early into that particular chapter, Plath includes the same short dialogue, almost as a hook and transition into the next part of the story. She then subtly embeds it into the dialogue following her "affair," and conclusively foreshadows into the rest of her evening. Another very important reoccurring connection throughout the novel were the references to the bell jar, which is the title of the book. Esther speaks constantly of her own personal bell jar hovering over her and "sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in [her] own stubborn hair. (185) 
At one point in the story, Esther attempts to write a novel, and therefore she named the main character Elaine. She is amused that she would be the protagonist, and that that the length of the person's name matches herself. Also, when I counted, Sylvia's name matches the same length as the above stated. Thoughts of suicide are connectable to  even today's society, if not more.

Blog Topic #3: Syntax

• "I felt very low." (29)

This is one of the countless examples of a telegraphic sentence in The Bell Jar. Throughout the first half of the book, the main, distinguishable paragraphs are separated by a telegraphic sentence meant to enhance or finish off the main point in the previous paragraph and transition into the next. In this particular sentence, Plath is outrightly stating the condition that Esther is experiencing, and thoroughly proves to stand out on the page, amongst more lengthy sentences. 

• "I'd adored him from a distance for five years before he even looked at me, and then there was a beautiful time when I still adored him and he started looking at me, and just as he was looking at me more and more I discovered what an awful hypocrite he was, and now he wanted me to marry him and I hated his guts." (54)

This long and blatant run-on sentence is effective in the novel because it reflects the thought process of the main character. Although there are a plethora of telegraphic and short sentences throughout the story to break up the flow of each paragraph, the long sentences in the book extensively convey the true plethora of emotion and directional thoughts of Esther. This sentence conveys the incoherent nature of the main character because contradicts herself throughout the whole sentence.

• "I couldn't help myself, I burst out laughing-maybe because of the seriousness of Buddy's face and the common meaning of the word 'crazy' in a sentence like that." (239)

Another more frequent syntax choice of Plath's is the arrangement of interrupted order sentences. This sentence structure mirrors the main character's thought process as well, in that it expresses the desire or necessity to add onto the main point of the sentence, or to explain the main point of the sentence to the reader. This sentence is an example of a description of the situation-which is awkward and childlike, just like Esther or Sylivia Plath. Interrupted order sentences aide in qualifying or further polishing an argument or point addressed in the novel.

Blog Topic #2: Diction

• In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath tends to remain consistent with the caliber of her language. Since the novel is narrated by the main character, Esther, the majority of the novel is written in first person and is an interior monologue. The overwhelmingly personal portions of the story occur in Esther's mind, which are surprisingly formally portrayed. The formal language produced by Esther's thoughts are ultimately a reflection of the author's level of education, which is at a very impressive merit. Plath includes words such as "decipher," "sinister," "morbid," and "insinuating" to develop a confused and surly tone. She employs such fearful words to ultimately reveal her inner emotions of apprehension.
• In addition to the vastly formal word choice in The Bell Jar, there are numerous instances where Plath includes some colloquial diction as well. The primary situations in which Plath adds lower diction are those which are intended to develop or describe a character. For instance, when Esther is relaying an experience that she had with her ex-boyfriend, Buddy Willard, and his friend, Will, watching a woman giving birth, Will cringes and says "They oughtn't let women watch. It'll be the end of the human race." (65)  Minor characters such as Will frequently use contractions and improper grammar, which contributes to the illustration of the story, and also to the tone of mixed emotions. The low diction in The Bell Jar ultimately distinguishes between each character, making each character an individual and important part of the story.

Blog Topic #1: Rhetorical Strategies

Simile

• "What I didn't say was that each time I picked up a German dictionary or a German book, the very sight of those dense, black, barbed-wire letters made my mind shut like a clam." (33)
• "The clean bed bobbed before me like a safe boat." (82) 
• "I thought the nurse must be joking, and that if I knocked on the door next to mine I would hear no answer, but go in and find Miss Norris, buttoned into her purple, squirrel-collared coat and lying on the bed, her mouth blooming out of the quiet vase of her body like a bud of a rose." (194)

Personification

• "The fountain spurted a few inches into the air from a rough length of pipe, threw up its hands, collapsed and drowned its ragged dribble in a stone basin of yellowing water." (89)
• "I heard the whisper of her clothes as she undressed." (122)
• "A second wave collapsed over my feet, lipped with white froth, and the chill gripped my ankles with a mortal ache." (153)

Onomatopoeia

• "There was a terrible shriek of brakes followed by a dull thump-thump." (9)
• "I heard a hollow boomp boomp in my right ear that grew fainter and fainter." (46)
• "Whee-ee-ee-ee-ee, it shrilled, through an air crackling with blue light, and with each flash a great jolt drubbed me till I thought my bones would break and the sap fly out of me like a split plant." (143)

Cliché

• "Usually I had these plans on the tip of my tongue." (32)
• "From the first night Buddy Willard kissed me and said I must go out with a lot of boys, he made me feel I was much more sexy and experienced than he was and that everything he did like hugging and kissing and petting was simply what I made him feel like doing out of the blue, he couldn't help it and didn't know how it came about." (71)
• "The woman finished her article by saying better be safe than sorry and besides, there was no sure way of not getting stuck with a baby and then you'd really be in a pickle." (81)

Hyperbole

• "I hadn't had time to eat any breakfast at the hotel cafeteria that morning, except for a cup of overstewed coffee so bitter it made my nose curl, and I was starving." (24)

Anaphora

• "The walls were beige, and the carpets were beige, and the upholstered chairs and sofas were beige." (127)

Sylvia Plath does not outrightly focus her story on the prevalence of each rhetorical device, however she does include a multitude of rhetorical strategies. She most frequently includes similes and onomatopoeia, which aid in the development of the overall imagery of the story. Her oddly clever variation of comparisons portray the raw truths to Plath's story. Although I did not specifically cite any instances of allusions, Plath does include few Biblical references, such as when Esther is beginning to write her novel. The rhetor's general style truly and effectively reveals her deepest emotions to the reader.