In Marge Piercy’s poem “Barbie Doll‚” a narrator tells the story of a young girl and her struggles to accept herself as she succumbs to bullying. In the poem‚ there are many examples of literary devices. Among the literary devices‚ denotation and connotation are used often. Denotation‚ or a literal meaning of a word or phrase is exemplified in the line “she was healthy‚ tested intelligent” (line 7). This line truly has only one meaning and the words can be taken in a literal context. The line is
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Society’s Whims Are NOT To Be Fulfilled In the poem “Barbie Doll‚” author Marge Piercy utilizes four well-developed stanzas to depict a scornful view of American society. Applicable to all time periods‚ “Barbie Doll” narrates the short-lived life of a young girl despised by society for her appearance. Barbie Doll is like a fairytale‚ full of plasticity‚ fakeness‚ and fantasy. However‚ unlike a fairytale‚ “Barbie Doll” ends with society applauding the funeral of a princess that was torn apart
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“Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy The poem “Barbie Doll’ by Marge Piercy dramatizes the conflict between stereotyping and perfection within society. The title accentuates the theme of the poem; the Doll symbolizes society’s interpretation of beauty and a reflection of how the girl’s ideas of this beauty shape her self-worth. According to Steven Ratiner‚ author of Giving Their World: Conversations with Contemporary Poets‚ it is Piercy’s realistic interpretations of life experience which develops the theme
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Society’s Expectations on Women The poem‚ “Barbie Doll”‚ by Marge Piercy‚ is about a normal “girlchild” who gets criticized by society for not looking like a perfect doll. She changes herself to fit society’s expectations just to fit in‚ but only in the end does society see her as “pretty”. Piercy’s purpose of the poem is to show how society has appalling expectations of how women show look and act. Imagery‚ irony‚ and tone are terms that show how vile society’s expectations are. Imagery helps the
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of how we think life is supposed to be. Although‚ who’s to say what’s right and what’s wrong with the way we interpret things? Marge Piercy‚ who wrote the poem “Barbie Doll”‚ has a very strong view of how destructive social pressure can be to a girl through her transitioning stages into a woman. She expresses how the Barbie doll‚ the toy figurine that woman idealize‚ is‚ in fact‚ a method of corruption to a young girl. First and for most we must understand who the persona is in the poem‚ which
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The poem‚ "Barbie Doll"‚ is about a girl who was growing up in a society which regard highly of female beauty. The title illustrates that most females were expected to be like Barbie dolls. These dolls cast pressure on the girl to be like supermodel. In this story‚ the girl failed to meet the standards of society and viewed as a social outcast.The first paragraph describes a growing girl who was presented with dolls‚ miniature GE stoves‚ irons and lipsticks. This will ensure that the girl will know
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The Price of Becoming a Barbie Doll Within our society there is an extraordinary want and need for women to be perfect on the outside. There is too much importance and too much anxiety placed on women to surrender to the image of being or becoming a Barbie doll. In the poem "Barbie Doll‚" written by Marge Piercy‚ I see evidence to this idea in the poet’s use of irony‚ her attitude on the subjects of both inner and outer beauty‚ and her attitude on the significance of words interfering with a woman’s
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English 112 10/12/11 Pain Is Beauty‚ Beauty Is Pain The poem‚ “Barbie Doll‚” by Marge Piercy‚ implicitly criticizes the way that women are mixed into stereotypical roles from the time they are young. This poem makes it clear this standard of perfection is impossible to achieve--at least not while one is alive--and starts with something relatively careless at a young age‚ a Barbie doll. The Barbie doll‚ one of the best-selling “toys” of all time‚ has become an icon of U.S. culture for the
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“Barbie Doll” In the poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy the struggle many young girl nowadays face is portrayed. We are introduced to a girl who hates herself due to her physical appearance. She lives her life trying to achieve the perfect look‚ the one that society will approve of. For girls growing up is always harder‚ since we are young we are introduced to Barbie world. A world where you must be beautiful to fit in. We are taught that in order to be happy we must have a perfect body‚ perfect
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The Poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy is about a girl who struggles with her body image. The speaker in the poem acts as an observer; watching the girl encounter different experiences as it related to her body image. Today’s generation is much similar to the life of the girl in this poem. Girls are forced to keep up with rising standards that are overwhelming and destructive. This poem uses form‚ imagery‚ and word choice to express how society chooses not to accept girls who do not represent the
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