Reflecting on "Mirrors" by Sylvia Plath

       First of all, I found this poem to be very very "Plath". Having read the bell jar, I could see her very characteristic writing style and purpose reflect a lot in this poem. It was reflecting to common emotional struggles specifically females find themselves in.  In this specific poem I saw the struggle of self appreciation and the weight put on appearance by society. Plath touches on the complexity of the truthfulness of the mirror and called anything that might affect the image on the mirror "liars" (candles and the moon). My specific experience while closely reading this poem was realizing how much the TPCASTT approach actually helps understand a poem. I've never studied poems closely so I am very inexperienced and found myself always guessing when it came to understanding the meaning of poems, but going through the TPCASTT process I was actually surprised when I noticed little key details that carried the story through and led to properly understanding what's going on. I am finally beginning to really appreciate poetry as a powerful tool of communication and I finally feel like I can really understand the complex thoughts these authors are conveying through their poems.