1. MUSHROOMS

2. The Poet - Sylvia Plath

3. Sylvia and her two children Frieda and Nicholas
Background
Born in 1932 in Massachusetts
Published first poem at age 8
Suffered from Bipolar Disorder
Attempted suicide
Married Ted Hughes in 1956
Their marriage was problematic with him being unfaithful and abusive, and her severely depressed
She committed suicide in 1963 at the tender age of 30, by putting her head in a gas oven
HER POETRY IS UNDERSTOOD TO BE LARGELY METAPHORICAL
Sylvia and her two children Frieda and Nicholas

4. Plath's Patterns
-Inconsistent end rhyming - Analyzes different situations in life by viewpoints of different people, sometimes even by material objects/ideas (personification) (ex: "Mushrooms": "our toes, our noses take hold on the loam acquire the air") -Her poetry is like looking into a magnifying glass; she sees every detail as it is and examines it closely and carefully (In Mushrooms she examines mushrooms which someone would normally never look at because they are such simple creatures; which she gives such powerful and outspoken personalities) -Picks objects that no one would think of (RANDOM OBJECTS) and describes them as if they were common (Random objects and beings that we don't notice often.)

5. Vocabulary Loam – rich moist soil
Rams – thick, solid object for smashing through other objects
Crannies – small, narrow openings/gaps
Bland-mannered – unemotional in order not to upset anyone

6. Analysis This poem in narrated from the point of view of a mushroom.
It describes how they are gentle and edible but are able to grow very quietly and unnoticed until they are incredibly numerous - READY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD.
It is important to note the similarity in the last stanza with the biblical verse,
Matthew 5:5 Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth…”

7. LITERAL MEANING OF THE POEM
On the surface, the poem is about a bunch of mushrooms quietly growing in a night time forest.
They poke their heads from the leafy, pine-needled forest floor and eventually sprout from the cracks in a city sidewalk.

8. FIGURATIVE MEANING OF THE POEM
If you dig a little deeper, though, you'll find that the poem is a LARGE extended metaphor.
The mushrooms seem to represent an oppressed population—most likely women (as most of Plath’s poems deal with this) — who are mounting a quiet revolution.

9. The deliberate rhythm of the poem reflects the gradual movement of the mushrooms – their gradual strengthening.
Plath’s personification of the mushrooms can be seen as a way of expressing the plight of women.
The ‘perfectly voiceless’ fungus represents the silent but growing majority of women, hidden in darkness, gradually, quietly pushing until they ‘inherit the earth’

10. The mushrooms are sinister in their steady power as they ‘shoulder through holes’.
The fertility of the mushrooms (their ability to grow) also identifies the connection with women.
The final line ‘Our foot’s in the door’ is ominous and threatening in its tone.
At the end of the poem, we're told that, by morning, they'll have the respect they deserve.

11. The first person narrative further enhances this.
Plath makes excellent use of assonance to express the calm assurance of the ’bland mannered’ mushrooms: seemingly unthreatening, ‘asking/Little or nothing’ and yet compelled to multiply, grow and take over.

12. Figures of Speech analysis
Stanza 1 the narrator states that the change will happen overnight and uses rhyme in whitely/discreetly
Stanza 2 uses assonance to establish the growing process - toes/loam
Stanza 3 repetition of us gives a sinister edge

13. Stanza 4 the oxymoron of soft fists emphasises calm strength as the mushrooms push through
Stanza 5 explains that though seemingly without senses, the mushrooms are strong
Stanza 6 again they have power despite being ‘voiceless’ and they keep pushing through the poem. Enjambement connects this to the next stanza
Stanza 7 the lack of attention and nutrition is not an obstacle to the mushrooms

14. Stanza 8 Repetition of ‘So many of us
Stanza 8 Repetition of ‘So many of us!’ becomes sinister and has power in the exclamation
Stanza 9 repetition of ‘we are’ explains the current position of the mushroom (united)
Stanza 11 Explains that the takeover will be swift (by morning) and contains the Biblical phrase ‘Inherit the earth’. The final line is a sinister warning that this take over is about to begin.

15. Further poetic devices used
Plath uses short lines to emphasize the subtlety
and quiet way the mushrooms branch out and
get their feet "in the door." 
Perfectly voiceless,
Widen the crannies,
Shoulder through holes. We 
Diet on water,
On crumbs of shadow,
Bland-mannered, asking
Little or nothing. 

16. IN CONCLUSION
In the poem "Mushrooms”, Sylvia Plath personifies the mushrooms
This use of personification suggests a hypothetical comparison between the function OR life of the mushrooms and people (WOMEN SPECIFICALLY).
Plath describes the mushrooms as seemingly insignificant, relatively unnoticed, meek or even perceived as weak, and yet determined to persevere. 

17. This poem could be interpreted as an analogy between the plight of the mushrooms and the plight of an oppressed group of people; women most likely in this case.
Historically, women have had to fight for the right to vote, to receive equal pay, and gain equal rights. Thus, like the mushrooms, they used to be considered meek and less significant, but over time, they persevered in spite of the oppressive forces around them.