Questions on “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain”
Recalling
1.
Where does the “Funeral” take place? Who keeps treading to and fro?
It takes place in her brain,and it is the mourners that keep treading back and forth.
2.
What keeps beating? What do the mourners lift?
A service keeps beating,and the mourners lift a box.
3.
According to stanza 3, what begins to toll after the mourners leave?
The space begins to toll
4.
What breaks, according to stanza 5? What happens then?
A Plank in Reason breaks. After that the speaker dropped down, and down--And hit a
World, at every plunge, and then she was unconscious.
Interpreting
1.
What is the “Service” in line 6? What is the “Box” in line 9?
The service means the funeral ceremony,the box means the coffin.
2.
Whose funeral is the speaker envisioning? What might the last two stanzas be
describing?
The funeral for herself. The last two stanzas may be describing what the speaker see and
feel in the few second before she lose her consciousness.
3.
Compare the images beginning in line 12 with the images of the funeral
presented in lines 1-11. Which group of images is clearer? Why?
The images in line 1-11 are clearer. Because the part from line1 to line11 describes the situation of
a funeral where the speaker can see or hear all what her family and friends do clearly, the scene is
more real to the readers.While the part beginning in line 12 describe the feeling that is some how
illusory.
Questions on “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—”
Recalling
1.
What does the speaker hear in stanza 1? When does she hear it?
She heard a fly buzz.When she did.
2.
According to stanza 2, what are the “Eyes” and “Breaths” doing?
The Eyes had wrung them dry and Breaths were gathering firm.
3.
According to stanzas 3-4, what interposes between the light and the speaker?
What happens then?
A Fly with blue and uncertain stumbling buzz interposed between the light and the
speaker.And then the windows fails and then the speaker cannot see to see.
Interpreting
1.
What is happening to the speaker/ who are the other people in the room?
The speaker is going to die. The speaker’s family and friends and the king are in the
room.
2.
What is unusual about the description of the people in lines 5-6? From whose
pint of view are they being described?
The writer didn’t describe that these people do directly, but demonstrated their sadness
from describing their eyes and breaths.
3.
Why is the fly’s appearance somewhat ironic? What basic message about
death is suggested to the poet by the appearance of the fly?
The funeral should be solemn,but at that moment a fly came in,which become ironic. The
irony shows the poet thought that everyone would die finally, so that death is as ordinary
as a fly. Although it makes many people feel blue, we should learn to let go.
4.
What slant rhymes—also called off rhyme, near rhyme, approximate rhyme
and imperfect rhyme— occur in “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died”? What effects do
they have? How are the slant rhymes related to the meaning of each poem?
The end of each sentence have different pronunciations in this poem. They make the poem
more flexible and vivid.They also make the poem more mysterious.
Questions on “Because I could not stop for Death—”
Recalling
1.
According to stanza 1, why did Death stop for the speaker? What did Death’s
carriage hold?
Because the speaker could not stop for death, so Death stop for him.
Death’s carriage held the speaker,Death and immortality.
2.
What three things did the speaker and Death pass in stanza 3? Where did they
pause in stanza 5?
The School,the Fields of Gazing Grain,and the Setting Sun.They paused befo
re a House in stanza 5.
3.
According to stanza 6, how much time has passed since the day of Death’s visit?
What does that time feel shorter than?
Several centuries have passed since the day of Death’s visit.The time feels s
horter than the Day.
Interpreting
1.
Is the speaker in this poem alive or dead? What day is she describing?
The speaker was still alive.She described the day of death.
2.
What do lines 1-2 suggest about human behavior?
Many people are afraid of death and want to avoid it,and there are many people that is
immoral.
3.
What might the three things the speaker passed in stanza 3 represent?
Our childhood,adulthood, and life in old age.
4.
What is the “House” in the ground in stanza 5? Is this the speaker’s final
destination? Explain.
A coffin. But it is not the destination of the speaker. Because she will have another chance
of birth very soon and be eternity.
5.
Why does the day described seem so long to the speaker?
Because the “day” represent the whole life time for the speaker.
General writing topics on Dickinson
1.
One of Dickinson’s greatest talents was her ability to find universal meanings
in everyday events. Why do you think all great literature must be able to do this?
The creation of literary works should based on our daily life. The talents of finding
universal meanings in everyday events makes her poem can be understand by others more
easily.Emily Dickinson was famous for her free expression and no restraint. In her poem,
also the images she used is very common ones, but they are exactly meaningful also in
another aspect rather than its appearance.The strategy of seeing big things from small
ones is acceptable in literary works.