“SAYING NOTHING… SOMETIMES SAYS THE MOST”The Poetry of Emily Dickinson

EMILY’S TAKE ON WHAT MAKES POETRY

THE POETESS

Born in 1830Father was a U.S.

congressmanSpent all her life in

Massachusetts Famous for wearing

only white when in public

EMILY: THE RECLUSE

Spent most of her time in her room and rarely left—not even for her father’s funeral, which took place downstairs

WHERE EMILY SLEPT

PERSONA

Was extremely reclusive & eccentric

1858-1865: published nearly 800 poems

FEARS

She was haunted by the “menace of death.” – She had an extreme fear of death.

“I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died”

THEN NOW

Emily was so weird! She was a shy & “crazy” lady who never left her house and secretly wrote close to 2,000 that no one knew about until after she died.

Emily was a talented poetess who chose to stay home alone and write in private.

THEN & NOW

THINK-PAIR-SHARE

Take out a blank sheet of paper. You will turn in your THINK-PAIR-SHARE.

Do you think Emily Dickinson didn’t know how to act like a “normal” person – or do you think that she just didn’t want to? Was Emily really nuts, or was she just living her life her way, no matter what anybody else thought?

CLOSE READING

CLOSE READING!

WHAT IS IT?

Step 1: Close Reading

Hold the text really close to your face.

Just kidding.

CLOSE READING

Simply: analyzing a text in fine detail, as if with a magnifying glass.

It’s what YOU find. Your findings do not evolve from someone else’s thoughts, but from your own observations.

“Success is counted sweetest”

HOW TO CLOSE READ

“To begin, begin.” – William Wordsworth

READ WITH A PENCIL!

To begin close reading any text, start with some questions:

Who is the speaker of the poem? Who is the audience? What is the occasion? What is the purpose?

How is the purpose achieved?

STEP 1: Read with a Pencil

• Underline the major points. • Circle keywords or phrases that are confusing or

unknown to you.• Use a question mark (?) for questions that you have

during the reading. Be sure to write your question. • Use an exclamation mark (!) for things that surprise you,

and briefly note what it was that caught your attention. • Draw an arrow (↵) when you make a connection to

something inside the text, or to an idea or experience outside the text. Briefly note your connections.

• Mark EX when the author provides an example.• Numerate arguments, important ideas, or key details

and write words or phrases that restate them.

STEP 2. . . First Impressions

What is your first impression?What is your second impression?What mood does the poem create in you?

STEP 3… Vocabulary & Diction

Which words do you notice first? Why? What is noteworthy about this diction? How do the important words relate to one

another? Do any words seem oddly used to you? Why?Do any words have double meanings? Do they

have extra connotations? Look up any unfamiliar words.

STEP 3… Looking at Patterns

What is the sentence rhythm like? Short and choppy? Long and flowing? Does it build on itself or stay at an even pace? What is the style like?

Look at the punctuation. Is there anything unusual about it?

Is there any repetition within the passage? What is the effect of that repetition?

How many types of writing are in the passage? (For example, narration, description, argument, dialogue, rhymed or alliterative poetry, etc.)

STEP 4…What does it mean?

Based on your close-reading, what does it all mean?

“Hope is the thing with feathers”

SPIRIT OF POETRY READ: THE RULES

At random, read 1 line at a time out loud for the class from the poem. Start on any line.

Do not pre-choose your line.When one person is done, start any time.If two people start reading, DO NOT STOP! Read at the

same time.Do not read only 1 word – you have to commit to the

line.Do not pick lines in order.If you want to read more than once, allow at least 4-5

lines pass.

“Because I could not stop for Death”

A PARODY

A CLOSE READING RESOURCE

Purdue Online Writing Lab: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/616/01/

DEATH

Died in May of 1886

QUOTES

QUOTES

QUOTES