The genre of poetry continued to be my favorite even after my initial reaction. Doing a deeper analysis of their work and how their individual backgrounds influenced their work made me love it even more. There is something very special about speaking out not just on a societal level, but on a personal level. I believe that is what sets apart confessional poetry from the rest because poetry from past units would speak vulnerably about their personal lives but none talked about mental health
The writers in this unit had very similar backgrounds; all of them being extremely tough. Berryman witnessed his own father kill himself and Anne Sexton grew up with alcoholic parents. Both of their lives progressed in success all the while declining in mental health and a reliance on alcohol developed for both of them. Both of their lives ended in the same way as well.
I believe this is very revealing to the core of confessional poetry. These writers had real pain that they deeply felt and they truly used writing as their outlet to get it out and express it. This is different from any other genre of poetry we have read thus far because these writers literally RELIED on poetry for their own personal sake.
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