As we've said in class, Sylvia Plath was originally a poet. In The Bell Jar we can see the poetic nature of the novel through the use of imagery, similes, metaphors, and a whole lot of detail. Plath also tends to break up the story by putting a short sentence in its own line. For example, "I was supposed to be having the time of my life" (Plath 2). Also, "There were twelve of us at the hotel" (Plath 3). Breaking a piece of writing like this is very similar to the format of poems, but I don't think this pattern of Sylvia Plath is entirely due to her being a poet. I see the short sentences as a heading and the paragraph(s) underneath as a summary of an event in Esther's life. It's as if Esther wrote down bits of her life, titled them, and then rearranged them chronologically so all her memories would add up and make a novel.
I know there are some exceptions to this pattern, but the concept of it is different from any other novel I've read and thought it was worth mentioning.
I agree that Sylvia Plath's syntax is derived in part from her poetry background. However, I think the pattern is more reflective of the way Esther thinks than arranging her memories in a cohesive manner. Esther's behavior tends to be blunt, abrupt and scattered. She changes subjects rapidly; she talks tersely to people because she's afraid of what they'll think of her; she answers things quickly and doesn't dwell on them. These characteristics are mimicked in Sylvia Plath's writing style. The short sentences after a rambling thought seem to display how Esther thinks and acts.
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