Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman

What do you know about poetry? Rhyme Meter Stanzas Punctuation Literary Elements Style Subject matter

The “I” experience, my thoughts, my feelings, what is going on around me. Realism. But is it really real? You decide. Subject Matter of Victorian and Modern Poetry

Lived in Amhurst, Massachusetts ~ a town that preserved old Puritan ways Shy, reclusive, unique, reluctant to show her work Intense personality / Intense inner life 1862 is her most prolific poetry year 1862 is also when an unrequited love, Charles Wadsworth, moved away After he left, she took to dressing entirely in white During the last 10 years of her life, she refused to leave the house “If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever 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.” 0A64-4C8E-ABD2-7E3229DB77A5&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US Emily Dickinson

Her poetry is unique informal mysterious at times abrupt personal rhymes and sometimes doesn’t She writes on a SLANT. Emily Dickinson

Read… “This Is My Letter to the World”This Is My Letter to the World “Exultation Is the Going”Exultation Is the Going “Hope” is a Thing with Feathers“Hope” is a Thing with Feathers” “The Soul Selects Her Own Society”The Soul Selects Her Own Society “I Took My Power in My Hand”I Took My Power in My Hand “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass”A Narrow Fellow in the Grass “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”Because I Could Not Stop for Death “There’s a Certain Slant of Light”There’s a Certain Slant of Light “Tell All the Truth But Tell It Slant”Tell All the Truth But Tell It Slant Emily Dickinson

Before reading ~ What would your letter or message to the world be? After reading ~ What was Dickinson’s message to the world? How does your message compare with hers? “This Is My Letter to the World” Back to E.D. titles

Before reading ~ What would cause you or someone exultation? After reading ~ What does Dickinson compare exultation to? Do you feel this comparison is worth “exultation” or not? Why? “Exultation is the Going” Back to E.D. titles

Before reading ~ What object could you use to symbolize hope? After reading ~ What is the “Gale” Dickinson refers to? Why might she say hope never asked “a crumb – of Me.” Have you noticed anything unusual with the punctuation of her poems? What is it? Why do you think she uses this type of punctuation? “Hope” Is a Thing With Feathers Back to E.D. titles

Before reading ~ What society would your “soul” or personality select? After reading ~ What does Dickinson say happens once the soul selected her own society? Do you feel this happens with some people? Give an example. “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” Back to E.D. titles

Before reading ~ Do you think someone can have the power to “go against the world?” After reading ~ What happened to the writer when she took her power in her hand? Are there any real life examples you can relate? “I Took My Power in My Hand” Back to E.D. titles

Before reading ~ Who could be a “narrow fellow in the grass?” What’s your reasoning? After reading ~ Even though the narrator likes nature, what is her reaction at the end of the poem? What does “Zero at the Bone” mean? Is there a similar subject you could write about that would cause you to have a similar reaction? What would it be? “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass” Back to E.D. titles

Before reading ~ After reading this title, what do you think this poem might be about (besides death)? After reading ~ What evidence of personification is in this poem? What do we realize about the narrator at the end of her poem? “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” Back to E.D. titles

Before reading ~ How can light be slanted? After reading ~ There is more than just light being slanted in this poem. The author says, “But internal difference,/Where the Meanings, are—” pointing the reader in the direction of deeper thought. Make a two-sided list of the depressing words and the hopeful words. Why is this poem like an oxymoron? How would you interpret it? “There’s a Certain Slant of Light” Back to E.D. titles

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant Tell all the Truth but tell it slant--- Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth's superb surprise As Lightening to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind--- What is Slant Truth? Back to E.D. titles

Pick an object from the bag. Peek at it without removing it from the bag. Describe the object a little at a time (without saying what the object is). Be somewhat vague and ambiguous. See if your classmates can guess it. Give only the slightest hints. Make it interesting. See how long you can keep them in suspense. Describing in Slant. Your task… Back to E.D. titles

Cut out an image from one of the magazines. List on scratch paper all of the qualities and feelings your image portrays. Be vague but descriptive at the same time. Use sophisticated adjectives and imagery (all 5 senses). Now, transfer those qualities you just listed to a person. Personify your magazine image. Make it an extended metaphor. Writing in Slant Personification & Metaphor Your task… Back to E.D. titles

Walt Whitman

Born 1819 in Long Island, NY Influenced by his mother; father was a carpenter The society he grew up in was concerned with surroundings He considered life in a broader context and was open-minded. School teacher in his late teens in Cold Harbor – a peaceful place which made a good impression on him. Founded “The Long Islander” – a journal/magazine In NY, learned the trade of printing and wrote for magazines and newspapers His poetry celebrates life and nature, landscapes, injustice, optimistic democracy Loved the theater and opera Traveled to New Orleans for 3 months to establish a newspaper. Had to leave because of his voiced opposition to slavery. Walt Whitman

Supported Abe Lincoln Brother joined the Union army and became wounded. Whitman searched for his brother in the Washington, D.C., hospital base and ended up becoming a medic/orderly/nurse to help the infirm. At age 36, he wrote and self-published Leaves of Grass, his most celebrated book – a collection of poetry. He continued to update and add to this book, publishing it a total of 6 times in his lifetime, as well as having a “deathbed edition” for an actual total of 7. Walt Whitman

If you could hear America singing today, what type or style of song do you think it would be? What might the lyrics say? After reading Whitman’s version, summarize what he hears America singing about. I Hear America Singing –

What is astronomy? Have you ever learned about a subject better on your own? What was it? After reading Whitman’s poem, why do you think he was in “perfect silence?” When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer

What is reconciliation? After reading, how are Death and Night personified? Who is the author seeing in the coffin? How does the author attempt reconciliation? Reconciliation –

From whom (author) have we heard this similar phrase before? What would be your ideal dream world? After reading, what do you think Whitman’s dream world is? What reasons might he have to write such a poem? I Dream’d in a Dream