Emily Dickinson An introduction to her poetry

Taking notes on “I Started Early” We will read through the poem four times, for each time you should focus your notes for each question By the end of the fourth read through the poem you will have a wider grasp of the style, themes, poetic choices and scope of analysis needed to begin an analysis of this poem

#520 “I started Early—Took my Dog—”

2. Dickinson’s poem loosely adapts the ballad form (look at sheet you were given in class). Like a song, it uses rhythm, rhyme, and repetition to tell its story. What effect do the rhymes (and later on in the poem, the slant rhymes) have on the story she tells here (mark the poem up for rhyme: both internal and end, and find the slant rhyme)?

3. How does Dickinson’s use of dashes and capitalization help to create a sense of suspense in the sea’s growing danger (find these and mark them, then identify in margins the affect)?

4. What makes the sea, which seems to threaten to drown the speaker, recede at the poem’s end (find the motive and identify which words, punctuation, theme, style, etc. aid in this identification)? What does the speaker mean by "the Upper Floor” (explain in margin)? What are the various meanings of "started” (find and define in margin)? Why does the sea withdraw (interpret in margin)?

Teaching Tips 1.Give students several minutes to generate at least three interpretive questions about the imagery of the poem. They might ask, for example, Why did the speaker take a dog? Why are there mermaids in a ‘basement’ of the sea? Assure them that any question is fair game. Debrief in a large group, having students share their questions and possible answers.Give students several minutes to generate at least three interpretive questions about the imagery of the poem. They might ask, for example, Why did the speaker take a dog? Why are there mermaids in a ‘basement’ of the sea? Assure them that any question is fair game. Debrief in a large group, having students share their questions and possible answers. 2. Have students explore the poem’s rhythm by clapping along. Simply begin with a group reading of the poem, asking students to read the first stanza or two in unison two or three times. As they read, ask them to begin clapping to the rhythm. After modeling this process, have students explore the connection between changes in rhythm, rhyme, image, and idea, have students discuss how the meaning of the poem, as it is shaped by these formal elements. Have students explore the poem’s rhythm by clapping along. Simply begin with a group reading of the poem, asking students to read the first stanza or two in unison two or three times. As they read, ask them to begin clapping to the rhythm. After modeling this process, have students explore the connection between changes in rhythm, rhyme, image, and idea, have students discuss how the meaning of the poem, as it is shaped by these formal elements. 3. Show students the animation of Dickinson’s poem and discuss the animator’s choices. How do these choices affirm or challenge student ideas about the poem’s meaning? Show students the animation of Dickinson’s poem and discuss the animator’s choices. How do these choices affirm or challenge student ideas about the poem’s meaning?