Here is my Telling The Truth essay...Its 864 words long, i feel it needs another hundred. So...what else can i say? Anything really critical that I've missed?
In studying “Telling the Truth”, realisations of the difficulties in ascertaining the truth are made. It should be recognised that individuals may not share the same perception of ‘the truth’ and how ‘the truth’ is conveyed and by whom, can result in an individual seeing this ‘truth’ as a fallacy.
‘Birthday Letters’, a collection of poems written by Ted Hughes, provides an emotional; and psychological insight to his relationship with Sylvia Plath. His release of Birthday Letters broke 30 years of silence by Hughes on his relationship with Plath and her suicide. Due to the inclination of individuals, the reception of the poems were seen as both Hughes’ last attempt to control the story of his relationship with Plath, a reply to Plath’s various works and ‘the side of the story’ that was never told, as told by Hughes through the chronological ordering of his poems.
At times the literary techniques Hughes employs in these poems seem can be seen to be aimed at discounting any blame on him for Sylvia’s suicide. In “Sam” Hughes personifies himself through the mage of “the white calm stallion” that “decided he’d had enough”. As the literary device suggests, he sets himself aside from the blame in describing himself as “calm”, then, broken under the pressure of his rider – Plath. He delves into deeper detail in the final stanza, with “tripped me”, “strangled me”, “clutching” and “clawing”. These are very personal in their nature, and with their use, it can be seen that the blame for the rider’s (Plath) fall (suicide) laid solely with the rider, as did the blame for the instability of Plath and Hughes’ relationship.
However, a reader may also receive the poem as Hughes taking on some of the blame for Sylvia’s suicide. The alliteration and assonance in “clutching”, “clawing”, repetition of “me” and personification of the horse as Hughes in “when I jumped a fence”, can give a sense of urgency and inconsistency in Hughes’ actions, which lead to the poor riding [by Plath].
This is an example of how the delivery technique, especially a poem which can be interpreted in as many ways as there are different inclinations of readers, can alter the integrity, meaning and significance of the perceived truth put forward.
Hughes released Birthday Letters with the intention of putting forward his perceived truthful version of events, answering the rumours surrounding his relationship due to his refusal to speak of his relationship with Plath. He felt that the public didn’t know the real Plath and expressed this in ‘Full Bright Scholars’ – “your grin…the frighteners” and “Victoria lake bang” – that what the public saw with their eyes and imagined what Plath must be like, was far from the Plath he lived with.
The methodology and perceived truth put forward in the movie “Sylvia” by the BBC, tells the story of Hughes and Plath, with ‘equal blame’ laid on each for the instability of their relationship. The movie was produced with the aim of being an accurate representation of their life together and extensive research into diary entries; interviews and poem interpretations were used in its production. Each character was built on an even distribution of character flaws that would have contributed equally to the break down of their relationship and Sylvia’s suicide.
Hughes is cast as a womaniser, an image conveyed effectively in scenes that put forward, quite bluntly, his severe infidelity – from flirtatious behaviour with every woman he met to the lack of remorse he shows in telling Plath “I cant [leave her]” in reference to his affair with Wevill, immediately after making love. However, the movie also puts forth the psychological impairments of Plath that gradually manifest as the movie progresses. She goes from over bearing and possessive to downright frightful [to Hughes] as she tells him of her suicide attempts. The first of these confessions on the boat, strikes fear & shock in Hughes, conveyed in the close up shot that shows such a look on his face and slackening of his shoulders in surprise.
The ‘truth’ is put forward through a roughly equal representation of ‘both sides of the story’, that preserves the producer’s perceived truth, drawn from the diaries, poems and interviews, in that the audience is not called upon to make a judgement of what the truth is.
In the Sydney Morning Herald (23/7/04), a feature article titled “Speed of lies equals ease of acceptance” is a writer’s analysis of the ‘truth’ presented in Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. The writer states “Fahrenheit 9/11 is not the truth. It is an emotional propaganda blast against the lie” – which is an accurate judgement of the film in that it was produced with a degree of purposeful bias and misinformation. The nature of the article, in that lies travel faster and are more easily accepted than the truth, which ‘moves’ slower as it takes longer for people to hear, is similar to the rumours spread about Hughes in relation to his wife’s suicide.
It is therefore evident that in “telling the truth” and deciding what the “truth” is, that consideration of the implications of the different perceptions and methodology of how the truth is told, must be taken.
In studying “Telling the Truth”, realisations of the difficulties in ascertaining the truth are made. It should be recognised that individuals may not share the same perception of ‘the truth’ and how ‘the truth’ is conveyed and by whom, can result in an individual seeing this ‘truth’ as a fallacy.
‘Birthday Letters’, a collection of poems written by Ted Hughes, provides an emotional; and psychological insight to his relationship with Sylvia Plath. His release of Birthday Letters broke 30 years of silence by Hughes on his relationship with Plath and her suicide. Due to the inclination of individuals, the reception of the poems were seen as both Hughes’ last attempt to control the story of his relationship with Plath, a reply to Plath’s various works and ‘the side of the story’ that was never told, as told by Hughes through the chronological ordering of his poems.
At times the literary techniques Hughes employs in these poems seem can be seen to be aimed at discounting any blame on him for Sylvia’s suicide. In “Sam” Hughes personifies himself through the mage of “the white calm stallion” that “decided he’d had enough”. As the literary device suggests, he sets himself aside from the blame in describing himself as “calm”, then, broken under the pressure of his rider – Plath. He delves into deeper detail in the final stanza, with “tripped me”, “strangled me”, “clutching” and “clawing”. These are very personal in their nature, and with their use, it can be seen that the blame for the rider’s (Plath) fall (suicide) laid solely with the rider, as did the blame for the instability of Plath and Hughes’ relationship.
However, a reader may also receive the poem as Hughes taking on some of the blame for Sylvia’s suicide. The alliteration and assonance in “clutching”, “clawing”, repetition of “me” and personification of the horse as Hughes in “when I jumped a fence”, can give a sense of urgency and inconsistency in Hughes’ actions, which lead to the poor riding [by Plath].
This is an example of how the delivery technique, especially a poem which can be interpreted in as many ways as there are different inclinations of readers, can alter the integrity, meaning and significance of the perceived truth put forward.
Hughes released Birthday Letters with the intention of putting forward his perceived truthful version of events, answering the rumours surrounding his relationship due to his refusal to speak of his relationship with Plath. He felt that the public didn’t know the real Plath and expressed this in ‘Full Bright Scholars’ – “your grin…the frighteners” and “Victoria lake bang” – that what the public saw with their eyes and imagined what Plath must be like, was far from the Plath he lived with.
The methodology and perceived truth put forward in the movie “Sylvia” by the BBC, tells the story of Hughes and Plath, with ‘equal blame’ laid on each for the instability of their relationship. The movie was produced with the aim of being an accurate representation of their life together and extensive research into diary entries; interviews and poem interpretations were used in its production. Each character was built on an even distribution of character flaws that would have contributed equally to the break down of their relationship and Sylvia’s suicide.
Hughes is cast as a womaniser, an image conveyed effectively in scenes that put forward, quite bluntly, his severe infidelity – from flirtatious behaviour with every woman he met to the lack of remorse he shows in telling Plath “I cant [leave her]” in reference to his affair with Wevill, immediately after making love. However, the movie also puts forth the psychological impairments of Plath that gradually manifest as the movie progresses. She goes from over bearing and possessive to downright frightful [to Hughes] as she tells him of her suicide attempts. The first of these confessions on the boat, strikes fear & shock in Hughes, conveyed in the close up shot that shows such a look on his face and slackening of his shoulders in surprise.
The ‘truth’ is put forward through a roughly equal representation of ‘both sides of the story’, that preserves the producer’s perceived truth, drawn from the diaries, poems and interviews, in that the audience is not called upon to make a judgement of what the truth is.
In the Sydney Morning Herald (23/7/04), a feature article titled “Speed of lies equals ease of acceptance” is a writer’s analysis of the ‘truth’ presented in Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. The writer states “Fahrenheit 9/11 is not the truth. It is an emotional propaganda blast against the lie” – which is an accurate judgement of the film in that it was produced with a degree of purposeful bias and misinformation. The nature of the article, in that lies travel faster and are more easily accepted than the truth, which ‘moves’ slower as it takes longer for people to hear, is similar to the rumours spread about Hughes in relation to his wife’s suicide.
It is therefore evident that in “telling the truth” and deciding what the “truth” is, that consideration of the implications of the different perceptions and methodology of how the truth is told, must be taken.
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