The document discusses the analysis of Sylvia Plath's poem "Daddy" through a series of questions. It examines instances of violence and destructiveness in the poem and how they relate to love and tenderness. It asks how the speaker separates herself from her father and what evidence of Plath's own experiences are embedded in the poem. It also notes the significance of Plath's use of the German language and what else should be analyzed in this type of poem.

1. “DADDY” ANALYSIS

2. Comprehension and Interpretation
What do we think this poem is about?
What can we infer about the relationship
between the speaker and her father?

3. Question 1:
What instances do we find of mental,
physical, and emotional violence and
destructiveness? How do these equate to
instances of love and tenderness?

4. • “It stuck in a barb wire snare.”
• “No not any less the black man who bit my
pretty red heart in two.”
• “If I’ve killed one man, I’ve killed two..
There’s a stake in your fat black heart”
• “At twenty I tried to die and get back to
you.”
• “I used to pray to recover you.”

5. Question 2:
How does the speaker separate herself
from her father?

6. Question 3:
What evidence can we find of Sylvia’s
Plath’s experiences embedded in the
poem?

7. Question 4:
Why is Plath’s inclusion of the German
language significant? (Ex: “Ach, du”, in
stanza 3 translates to “O You,” which is
found in stanza 9)

8. Question 5:
Lastly, what are some of the other things
you should look at when analyzing a poem
of this type?

9. My Interpretation
While I was reading, I couldn’t help but think how
emotionally repressed many of them are now- them,
being anyone in association with the Holocaust. It is
a painful piece of history. I think that many parents
have repressed their children. I get the feeling that
the speaker’s father was overwhelmingly present, and
utterly absent; a larger than life figure who she feared.
I think she found many ways to surpass the guilt that
she felt for hating her father.