Free Essays on Emily Dickinson

EMILY DICKINSON Emily Dickinson lived in an era of Naturalism and Realism (1855-1910). She lived in a period of The Civil War and the Frontier. She was affected by her life and the era she lived in. She also had many deaths in her family and that’s part of the reason that she was very morbid and wrote about death. Emily Dickinson grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts in the nineteenth century. As a child she was brought up into the Puritan way of life. She was born on December 10, 1830 and died fifty-six years later. Emily lived isolated in the house she was born in; except for the short time she attended Amherst Academy and Holyoke Female Seminary. Emily Dickinson never married and lived on the reliance of her father. Dickinson was close to her sister Lavinia and her brother Austin her whole life. Most of her family were members of the church, but Emily never wished to become one. Her closest friend was her sister-in-law Susan. Susan was Emily's personal critic; as long as Emily was writing she asked Susan to look her poems over. Emily Dickinson was affected by her life for several reasons. One of the reasons was that she was never married, though she went through many serious relationships, she never settled down. Another reason that she was affected by her life was that her mother was not â€Å"emotionally accessible†. She was not close to her mother and never shared any of her feelings with her, which most daughters feel they can. This might have caused Emily to be very weird and strange. The Dickinson children were also raised in the Christian tradition, and were expected to take up their father’s religious beliefs and values without any fighting or arguing. Emily did not like than she can not chose for herself her own beliefs and religion. Emily did not enjoy the popularity and excitement of the public life, unlike her father. So she began to pull away from it. In the presence of strangers Emily could be shy, silent o... Free Essays on Emily Dickinson Free Essays on Emily Dickinson The authors of the two poems are Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman. The name of Dickinson’s poem is â€Å"This quiet dust was gentlemen and ladies.† The name of Walt Whitman’s poem is â€Å"Song Number 6.† I believe that these two poems are different in a lot of ways, but they are alike in that they both speak of death. The poems have few similarities. Although both Dickinson and Whitman seem to be very interested in death and what happens after life. They seem to be intrigues in the uncertainties of death; for example, Whitman asks, â€Å"What do you think has become of the young and old/ men?† He wants to know exactly what happens after death. Dickinson also reminisces about how these people were once alive and she wonders what that did in life. She said, â€Å"And Lads and Girls/ Was Laughter and Ability and Sighing.† These poems are different in more ways than one. Emily Dickinson seems to wonder what these dead people were like while they were alive. She said, â€Å"This quit Dust was Gentlemen and Ladies/ And Lads and Girls.† Dickinson doesn’t seem to wonder about what happens after death as much as Whitman. They also had different writing styles. Whitman wrote in free verse, while Dickinson had a rhyme scheme. I like Emily Dickinson’s poem better because it was short and to the point. I like that Dickinson is interested in what these people were like before they passed on, because I have wondered that exact same thing more than once. I also like that Dickinson used a rhyme scheme, because that makes the poem easier to read.... Free Essays on Emily Dickinson EMILY DICKINSON Emily Dickinson lived in an era of Naturalism and Realism (1855-1910). She lived in a period of The Civil War and the Frontier. She was affected by her life and the era she lived in. She also had many deaths in her family and that’s part of the reason that she was very morbid and wrote about death. Emily Dickinson grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts in the nineteenth century. As a child she was brought up into the Puritan way of life. She was born on December 10, 1830 and died fifty-six years later. Emily lived isolated in the house she was born in; except for the short time she attended Amherst Academy and Holyoke Female Seminary. Emily Dickinson never married and lived on the reliance of her father. Dickinson was close to her sister Lavinia and her brother Austin her whole life. Most of her family were members of the church, but Emily never wished to become one. Her closest friend was her sister-in-law Susan. Susan was Emily's personal critic; as long as Emily was writing she asked Susan to look her poems over. Emily Dickinson was affected by her life for several reasons. One of the reasons was that she was never married, though she went through many serious relationships, she never settled down. Another reason that she was affected by her life was that her mother was not â€Å"emotionally accessible†. She was not close to her mother and never shared any of her feelings with her, which most daughters feel they can. This might have caused Emily to be very weird and strange. The Dickinson children were also raised in the Christian tradition, and were expected to take up their father’s religious beliefs and values without any fighting or arguing. Emily did not like than she can not chose for herself her own beliefs and religion. Emily did not enjoy the popularity and excitement of the public life, unlike her father. So she began to pull away from it. In the presence of strangers Emily could be shy, silent o... Free Essays on Emily Dickinson In 1874, Dickinson’s father died. This left her deeply distressed. Her mother suffered paralysis a year later and was invalid for the rest of her life. It was during this time that Dickinson cared for her mother and really came to love her. Dickinson’s mother died in 1882. While growing up, the Dickinson children were devoted to one another, even though the house lacked joy. The children had no relationship with their mother, and their father was stern and involved with his work (Donoghue 452). Dickinson spent the first twenty-five years of her life secluded from all but her closest friends. She had many intense intellectual friendships with several men in succession. She quaintly referred to these men as her tutors. The first of these was Benjamin F. Newton. He was a law student in her father’s office who encouraged her to read and take her talent for writing poetry seriously. Because of Newton’s early death, she looked to Reverend Charles Wadsworth for guidance. â€Å"She soon came to regard him as her dearest ‘earthly friend,’ and for purposes of poetry created in his image the ‘lover’ whom she was never to know except in imagination† (Hart 224). Wadsworth’s departure from her life is greatly associated with her increasing fascination with poetry. This prompted her correspondence with T.W. Higginson. His kind words and support helped her through lonely years. She also befriended Samuel Bowles, Dr. J.G. Holland, and H elen Hunt Jackson. These were the few individuals who Dickinson allowed to read some of her works (Hart 224). Dickinson strongly resisted the doctrine of â€Å"election.† This is the view that some were marked from birth for salvation and others were condemned to Hell. At Mount Holyoke, Dickinson was among those who had not been redeemed. She was one of three not saved. To be considered such, she was expected to declare some religious experience. She refused to do so, just to gain a social acceptance. ... Free Essays on Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born to Edward, and Emily Norcross Dickinson on December 10th, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was believed that during her childhood, the household was a joyless, restrictive life. Scholars believed that it was dominated by a tyrannical father, but since then, that vision has been modified. Now, it appears that the Dickinson children’s lives were very normal. They spent their days with the usual childhood activities, playing games and pranks, also splashing through mud puddles and exploring the countryside. As they grew older, they went to parties and fretted over infatuations and complained about household chores. Emily had two other siblings. Lavina, her sister was two years younger than Emily, and Austin, who was one year older, was her brother, and her best friend. At 17, Emily enrolled at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, Massachusetts. She left ten months later for an unknown reason. When she quit, it marked the end of her Formal education but kept teaching herself, studying poetry, and other writings. She even knew much of the Bible by heart. She felt very strongly about how poetry made her feel. She once said to a friend, â€Å"If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.† Emily attempted to get her works published in the early 1860’s. She sent her writings to Thomas Wentworth. She sent four of her poems to him in her very first attempt to be a publishing poet. He knew she had raw talent, an his response was significant. However, her rough rhythms and imperfect rhymes were counting big against her. He suggested she change that as well as her spelling and grammar. Emily chose not to publish anything then. The death of her father marked the beginning of Emily’s physical reclusiveness from the world. But the separat... Free Essays on Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst Massachusetts. She had a younger sister named Lavina and an older brother named Austin. Her mother Emily Norcross Dickinson, was very dependent on her family and was seen by Emily as a poor mother. Her father was a lawyer, a Congressman, and the Treasurer for Amherst College. Emily’s grandfather was also known for building the brick mansion in Amherst. That house was later known as the Homestead. Unlike her mother, Emily loved and admired her father. Since the family was not emotional, they lived a quiet secure life. They rarely shared their problems with each other so Emily had plenty of privacy for writing during her childhood. As she matured she began to notice the gap between herself and her family’s religious belief's. She refused to accept the god of her parents and made it know that accepting things the way they are was not her style. Emily and her family attended The First Congregational Church on a regular basis. Emily did not like going to church because she didn’t think of herself as being very religious. She refused to believe that Heaven was a better place than Earth and eventually moved away from the church. Emily saw herself as a woman who had her own way of thinking. By the time she was twelve, her family moved to a house on Pleasant Street where they lived from 1840 to 1855. Emily was already writing letters, but wrote most of her poetry in this home. Emily only left home to attend Mount Holyoke Female Seminary for two semesters. During this time Emily was very energetic and had few freinds. She also was involved town social events. Even though her stay there was brief, she impressed her teachers with her courage and directness. They felt that her writing was very impressive. At the age of twenty-one, Emily and her family moved to the Dickinson Homestead on Main Street. This move proved to be very difficult for Emily. This was difficult for Emily ... Free Essays on Emily Dickinson Much Madness is Divinest Sense â€Å"Much Madness Is Divinest Sense† was published in Emily Dickinson’s first collection, which was simply called Poems. This poem concentrates on society’s judgmental views of non-conformists. In this essay, I will be explicating this poem line by line paying close attention to the unique capitalization, rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, and wordplay. Much Madness is divinest Sense- To a discerning Eye- Much Sense- the starkest Madness- ‘Tis the Majority (1-4) The â€Å"Eye† (2) is a vague image. Dickinson utilizes a synecdoche to further the image of the â€Å"Eye† to be representational of a â€Å"wise† person who has the power to label behavior â€Å"normal† or â€Å"mad†. Much Madness is divinest Sense- To a discerning Eye- Much Sense- the starkest Madness- ‘Tis the Majority (1-4) The poem opens with a statement that is a paradox. The capitalization of â€Å"Much Madness† (1) draws the readers focus to and emphasizes the juxtaposition of â€Å"Much Madness† (1) and â€Å"divinest Sense† (1). Although these words are contradictory, Dickinson finds a relationship in meaning; while society views nonconformists as mad and conformists as sane, it is actually the nonconformist who is sane and the conformists who are mad. Questions that may arise with the first two words in this line might concern what she means by â€Å"madness.† Is Dickinson referring to insanity or anger? There is a difference in the degree of madness that’s acceptable and combining â€Å"Madness† (1) with â€Å"divinest† suggests that not only madness is an important issue but also that it is connected with the divine on some level. The capitalization of the word â€Å"Eye† (2) in the second line emphasizes the pun on the pronoun â€Å"I†. When Dickinson writes, â€Å"To a discerning Eye† (2) she is specifically referring to the speaker of the poem. The speaker is the â€Å"discerning I† (2), they are the one ... Free Essays on Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson was considered to be one of the greatest American lyric poets that ever lived. Emily was born and raised in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was raised in a traditional New England. She lived a very sheltered and exclusive life, rarely venturing out of her bedroom. Emily stayed in her room and wrote poetry, and read books all day. Emily never had any of her poems published, because she hated fame, and did not want to be acknowledged for her work. Emily Dickinson was born December tenth 1830. Her father Edward Dickinson, was a successful lawyer, a member of congress, and for many years treasurer of Amherst College. Emily’s mothers name was Emily Norcross Dickinson, she was a submissive timid woman. (Emily 352) Emily had an older brother and a younger sister. Emily’s brother William Austin was a lawyer. William and Emily were not to close relationship wise; she never really opened up to anyone. Her younger sister Lavenia was in a way like Emily, she also never left the house. Lavenia was the chief housekeeper of her household. Neither Emily nor Lavenia ever married. Emily’s brother Austin married a woman by the name of Susan Huntington, in 1856. (Skiba 216) Emily used to go to school with Susan. Over the years Emily grew very close to Susan, Emily considered her to be her best friend. Susan lived right next door to Emily; she was a very big influence in Emily’s life. Many other writers such as John Keats, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Isaac Watts and many other biblical poets also influenced Emily. (Emily 352). In Emily’s childhood she was shy and different from the others. Emily did attend school, before she became completely unsocial. She went to Amherst Academy for a few years, before attending Mt. Holyoak College. (Skiba 216) Emily loved to read especially if it had anything to do with Shakespeare or Religion. While at college she majored in Chemistry and Astronomy. (Dickinson, New Book 153) Almost ... Free Essays on Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson, recognized as one of the greatest American poets of the nineteenth century, was born December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts (Benfey, 1). Dickinson’s greatness and accomplishments were not always recognized. In her time, women were not recognized as serious writers and her talents were often ignored. Only seven of her 1800 poems were ever published. Dickinson’s life was relatively simple, but behind the scenes she worked as a creative and talented poet. Her work was influenced by poets of the seventeenth century in England, and by her puritan upbringing. Dickinson was an obsessively private writer. Dickinson withdrew herself from the social contract around the age of thirty and devoted herself, in secret, to writing. She never married, finding in her poetry, reading, gardening, and close friendships, a rich and fulfilling life. Emily grew up with a privileged childhood. She was the eldest daughter of Edward Dickinson, a successful lawyer, member of congress, and for many years treasurer of Amherst College. Her father gave here the time, and literary education, as well as confidence to try her hand at free verse. Emily’s mother, Emily Norcross Dickinson, was a submissive, timid housewife dedicated to her husband, children, and household chores. The Dickinson’s only son, William Austin, also a lawyer, succeeded his father as treasurer of the college. Their youngest child, Lavina, was the chief housekeeper and, like her sister, Emily, remained a home, unmarried, all her life. A sixth member who was added to the family in 1856 was Susan Gilbert, a schoolmate of Emily’s, who married Austin and moved into the house next door the Dickinson home which they called Homestead. Emily and Susan were very close friends and confidantes, until Susan and Austin’s marriage. It was at this time tha t Susan stopped respo! nding to the notes and poems that were often exchanged between the two ( ). Emily’s letters to Su...