The Poetry of Emily Dickinson
712- "Because I could not stop for death," p.810
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What qualities does Dickinson attribute to Death? What is the effect of her use of personification?
Why is immortality going on this carriage ride?
What is the Carriage? What is the House?
Note the three metaphors in stanza three. Explain how they relate to the stages of the speaker's
life.
Explain the extended metaphor in stanza five. What is the "Roof"? The "Cornice"? What is the
speaker's attitude toward her grave?
Describe the tone of the poem.
465- "I heard a fly buzz- when I died," p.926
1.
Explain the simile in stanza one. What are "…the Heaves of Storm"?
2.
Who is the "King" in line 7? How will he "Be witnessed- in the Room"?
3.
Explain line 13. How can the fly's buzz be "Blue"? Discuss the effect of other diction choices ,
like "uncertain" and "stumbling" and how they contribute to tone of the poem.
4.
Discuss the meaning and effect of three additional diction choices.
5.
Describe the speaker's attitude toward death.
341- "After a great pain, a formal feeling comes-" p.922
1.
What is the subject of the poem?
2.
Discuss the image in line 2, "The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs-".
3.
What is the meaning of lines 3 and 4, "The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore/And
Yesterday, or Centuries before?" What does the speaker's halting manner of questioning add to
the meaning?
4.
Note the diction choices, "mechanical," "Wooden," "Quartz," "stone," and "Hour of Lead."
Discuss what they suggest about the speaker's responses to the experience described in the poem.
5.
Explain the meaning of line 11, "Remembered, if outlived.".
6.
Describe the meaning of the complex simile the poem ends with "As Freezing persons, recollect
the Snow-/ First- Chill- then Stupor- then the letting go" and explain how it relates to the overall
meaning developed.
303 - “The Soul selects her own Society-" p. 912
1.
The speaker's personification of the soul is important in this poem. What character traits is it
given? How does she behave? Include specific evidence from the poem.
2.
Note Dickinson's use of dashes and how they affect the rhythm of the poem. Discuss how the
rhythm contributes to the development of meaning.
3.
Who are the soul's "divine Majority" (3)?
4.
The Soul is "Unmoved" by "Chariots- pausing/ At her low Gate-" and "an Emperor be
kneeling/Upon her Mat" (5-8). What do the "Chariots" and "Emperor" represent? What do the
"low Gate" and "Mat" suggest about the Soul's house and her view of society?
5.
Explain the meaning of stanza three. Be sure to address "ample nation," (9), "…-close the Valves
of her attention/Like Stone-", and who the "One" is (10).
6.
Paraphrase the meaning of this poem.
435- "Much madness is divinest sense," p. 925
1.
Identify and explain the paradoxes in the poem.
2.
Paraphrase the meaning of the poem.
3.
Note the dominant sound in the poem and consider what it adds to the tone/meaning.
67- "Success is counted sweetest," p. 914
1.
Explain the meaning of lines 1 and 2.
2.
What is the denotation of "comprehend"? (3) How can one "comprehend" a delicious drink?
Describe how the metaphor functions in this stanza and why "nectar," "sorest," and "need" are
such appropriate diction choices.
3.
Explain the images created by "purple Host," "Flag," and "Strains of triumph" in stanza two. How
do they relate to the idea presented in stanza one?
4.
What does the dying person in stanza three understand more clearly than those describe in stanza
two? Describe the irony in this idea.
Hedges/AP Lit/2014