Use of Oxymoron in “Mushrooms” by Sylvia Plath

1. Use of Oxymoron in “Mushrooms” by Sylvia Plath Definition of oxymoron = a combination of contradictory or incongruous words such as ‘soft rock’ or ‘cruel kindness.’

2. Example quotation and effect of device • Example quotation of device from poem = “soft fists” from line 10. • Effect = when a poet uses an oxymoron it points out a contradictory idea which draws the reader’s attention. It suggests to the reader that they look closely. In this poem the “soft fists” remind the reader that, although mushrooms are soft, they have to be powerful and strong (as in “fists”) to push their way through hard earth overnight. Perhaps the reader has never before recognized the strength of a mushroom.

3. Meaning of “Mushrooms” • Clearly the poem is about mushrooms as suggested by the title. The mushrooms appear overnight. They have been able to push aside leaves and needles, they have squeezed through paving stones, and they have pushed through little cracks in the ground and in rocks. They have done all this on a diet of nothing but water. There are hundreds of them that grow in the same area. They appear to look like tables and shelves. Even though they are weak, they multiply. The poet jokingly exaggerates that, if mushrooms keep growing at that rate, they will one day take over the world. It’s like a redo of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!

4. Illustration of mushrooms

5. Other devices used • Imagery – “the leafy bedding” • Personification – “our foot’s in the door” • Repetition – “So many of us. • So many of us.” Hyperbole – “We shall by morning inherit the earth”

6. Biography of Sylvia Plath (poet) • In 1940, when Sylvia was eight years old, her father died from diabetes. In 1950, Plath matriculated at Smith College. She was an exceptional student, and despite a deep depression she went through in 1953 and a subsequent suicide attempt, she managed to graduate summa cum laude in 1955. • After graduation, Plath moved to Cambridge, England, on a Fulbright Scholarship. In early 1956, she attended a party and met the English poet, Ted Hughes. Shortly thereafter, Plath and Hughes were married, on June 16, 1956. • Plath returned to Massachusetts in 1957. She returned to England where she gave birth to the couple's two children, Freida and Nicholas Hughes, in 1960 and 1962, respectively. • In 1962, Ted Hughes left Plath for AssiaGutmannWevill. That winter, in a deep depression, Plath wrote most of the poems that would comprise her most famous book, Ariel. • Plath was the recipient of the 1982 Pulitzer Prize. She was the first poet to receive the award after death.

7. Picture of Sylvia Plath

8. PUN-Definition: usually humorous use of a word to suggest TWO or more of its meanings, or another word similar in sound. EXAMPLE: I’ll start a bakery if I can raise the dough. Get it? • Excerpts from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll • “And how many hours a day did you do lessons?” • said Alice, in a hurry to change the subject. • “Ten hours the first day,” said the Mock Turtle, “nine the next, • And so on.” “What a curious plan!” exclaimed Alice. That’s the reason they’re called lessons,” the Gryphon remarked: “because they lessen from day to day.” (= quote) OR “Auhhh!” exclaimed the little door. “Oh, I do beg your pardon,” said Alice. “Quite all right, but you did give me quite a turn,” returned the little door. (= quote) “You see I am following…,” began Alice. “Quite a good one, wouldn’t you say? Door knob, turn,” joked the little door.

9. Meaning • In the first excerpt, Alice, the Gryphon, and the Mock Turtle are talking about how the lessons get shorter every day. Thus, they lessen. • Effect = humor. That is funny!!!!! It is a play on the words “lesson” and “lessen” (to make fewer). • In the second excerpt, the door uses the old idiom “You gave me quite a turn” which people say when someone surprises them. In this quote, not only did Alice surprise the door, but she also TURNED his handle. Get it? That is funny ha ha!!!

10. EFFECT OF RHETORICAL DEVICE KNOWN AS PUN: Puns add humor. The play on words in this excerpt is on the words ‘lesson”’ and ‘lessen.’ A ‘lesson’ is a presentation by a teacher to a student about a certain topic, but ‘lessen’ means to become less or to reduce in length or time. The pun is funny because the lessons (students are often represented as not liking schools and lessons) are getting shorter which most children would love! It gives the character who says the pun a humorous nature – or even shows him as a bit silly.

11. Illustration of excerpt