PRE-READING 1. Where does inspiration come from? Nature? Daily life? Extraordinary events?
2. comes to mind.
3. When do good ideas come to you? First thing in the morning? When you are day- dreaming? When you are just about to fall asleep?
4. Describe what you see in your mind’s eye when you imagine a black rook in rainy weather (the rook, the sky, the landscape, etc.).
COMPREHENDING AND RESPONDING
1. reasons for your answer.
3. The sky is described as ‘mute’. What does the poet mean when she wishes the sky would talk back to her in stanza three?
4. How does the ‘incandescent’ light in stanzas three and four transform the kitchen?
5. What do you think the poet means when she writes ‘ignorant/ Of whatever angel
6. ‘Miracles occur’. Why, in your view, does the poet come to this conclusion?
7. outlook and your own personal response to both.
8. artists and musicians do?
9. Which image from this poem is your favourite, and why?
CREATING 1. Write a personal essay about who and what inspires you.
2. Write the letter that Sylvia Plath might have sent to a close friend, in which she
3. There is a lot of imagery in this poem. Make a YouTube video (or write a description of a YouTube video you could make) to show to your class to help them to understand this poem.