Study Guide to Sylvia Plath's Winter Trees

Ray Moore’s Study Guides provide insights into important but demanding texts. This is a work of literary criticism and NOT an edition of the poems.

Sylvia Plath is one of the greatest and most popular poets of the twentieth century. Her poems do not, however, yield their meaning to a superficial reading. Plath demands a lot of her readers, but the rewards are worth the effort. This study guide to "Winter Trees" is a book-length guide to Plath's famous collection of poems which was edited by Ted Hughes and published in 1971, eight, years after her death. It aims to support close reading of these sometimes complex and difficult poems. The book may be used by individuals for reading and reflecting on this text alone, as well as by groups and classes reading, discussing and studying it. There is a detailed introduction to Sylvia Plath's poetry with an emphasis on the problems of interpretation. For each poem (texts not included because they are still copyrighted) there are: Pre-reading questions; Guiding questions; Helpful textual notes; A detailed commentary; Perspectives - collections of critical comments on the poem. Also includes: Guidance on the use of the questions in class/study groups; List of useful literary terms with definitions; Bibliography.