Emily Dickinson...Finally

What were your first impressions of Dickinson?

My first impressions of Dickinson were that she was obviously talented but I didn't really enjoy a lot of her subject matter. She has a lot of nature involved in her poems and repeats a lot of the same words and I have a hard time getting into it. I felt like it was best read out loud so that I could really hear the words to appreciate it. This worked much better and I did find a few that were my favorites..."I'm Nobody!, I felt A Funeral In My Brain," etc.

Have your impressions changed as you’ve studied and reread her poems this semester? If so, how? Why?

My first impression did change as we've gone on and talked more in depth about her and her life. I felt the day that Heather read a few of her lines...that was pretty intense...and very moving. I also found that as I tried to write some things in her style, I could appreciate more of her work, especially trying to incorporate some of her words into my own writing was a challenge. However, I think using her words made what I wrote much more beautiful...at least to me.

What were the dilemmas of Dickinson’s life? How do these dilemmas manifest themselves in her writing?

I believe the biggest dilemmas of Dickinson's life were her unrequieted love for Susan Gilbert Dickinson and her role as a women in the time she lived. She was really intelligent and I can only imagine how stifling it was to live in that period where a woman barely had the right to be heard, let alone write. Her writing has a lot of moments of unfulfilled love and loss and you get a sense of her struggling with this feeling of frustration to be heard.

After reviewing Dickinson’s work, make a list of words that are particularly Dickinsonian.

Celestial, Vesuvian, Dwell, Thee, Ascended, Sea, Death, A Stone, Hands, Face, Dew, Earth, Harvest, Sun, Moon, Stars, Beckons, Immense, Divine, Infinite, Soul.....