Read each statement and explanation.

Janis Joplin was "a little-girl-lost adrift in the world."




"Janis went on for as long as the private life and body behind the giant puppet could hold out.


She is described as, "Just one more we've seen fall in the public arena of the pop marketplace."

Figurative language used to describe Janis Joplin

Figuratively speaking, she was a little girl because she did not have the maturity or self confidence women her age usually do. She was "lost" because she did not have goals or a plan in life.

The author is talking about her as a giant puppet who does what others want her to do, acted the way people expected, and let herself be manipulated by them.

You may ask, How did she fall? And where is this public are, but what it means is Janis "fell" in the sense of her career, and in her case, her life ended. The public arena was the stage where she performed, the commercial music industry.