Directions: Read the short bio below and choose FIVE INTERESTING FACTS about Plath’s life that you think may have influenced her writing. WRITE THEM DOWN at the bottom of the document and be prepared to discuss them in class!
OCCUPATION: Academic, Editor, Author, Poet
BIRTH DATE: October 27, 1932
DEATH DATE: February 11, 1963
EDUCATION: Smith College, Cambridge University
PLACE OF BIRTH: Boston, Massachusetts
PLACE OF DEATH: London, England
Best Known For
Sylvia Plath was a gifted, troubled poet, known for the confessional style of her work. She wrote the novel The Bell Jar.
Sylvia Plath biography
Synopsis
Sylvia Plath was a gifted, troubled poet, known for her confessional style work. Winning a scholarship to Smith College in 1950, she eventually went on to work as an editor for Mademoiselle magazine. After her husband Ted Hughes cheated on her, she fell into a deep depression. Before committing suicide at age 30, Plath had written hundreds of poems and a novel about mental breakdown, The Bell Jar.
Profile
Poet and novelist. Born on October 27, 1932, in Boston, Massachusetts. Sylvia Plath was a gifted, troubled poet, known for the confessional style of her work. Her interest in writing emerged at an early age, and she started out by keeping a journal. After publishing a number of works, Plath won a scholarship to Smith College in 1950.
While she was a student, Sylvia Plath spent time in New York City during the summer of 1953 working for Mademoiselle magazine as a guest editor. Soon after Plath tried to kill herself by taking sleeping pills. She eventually recovered, having received treatment during a stay in a mental health facility. Plath returned to Smith and finished her degree in 1955.
A Fulbright Fellowship brought Sylvia Plath to Cambridge University in England. While studying at the university's Newnham College, she met the poet Ted Hughes. The two married in 1956 and had a stormy relationship. In