Name. This is my letter to the world. This is my letter to the world. 1. What three adjectives might best describe the tone/mood?

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1 Name This is my letter to the world This is my letter to the World, That never wrote to Me The simple news that Nature told With tender majesty Her Message is committed To Hands I cannot see For love of Her Sweet Countrymen Judge tenderly of me! Use the side notes in the textbook (pp ) for help with definitions and questions to guide your understanding. Use your blue tone worksheet to help you discover mature adjectives. This is my letter to the world 5. Dickinson did not want her poems published during her lifetime. Do you think she expected them to be? Which line leads you to that conclusion? Hope is the thing with feathers Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul And sings the tune without the words And never stops at all And sweetest in the Gale is heard And sore must be the storm That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm I've heard it in the chillest land And on the strangest Sea Yet, never, in Extremity, It asked a crumb of Me. Hope is the thing with feathers 5. How do you interpret the last two lines of the poem?

2 Success is Counted Sweetest Success is counted sweetest By those who ne'er succeed. To comprehend a nectar Requires sorest need. Not one of all the purple Host Who took the Flag today Can tell the definition, So clear of victory Success is Counted Sweetest 5. What do you think of as you finish reading this poem? As he defeated dying On whose forbidden ear The distant strains of triumph Burst agonized and clear! Much Madness is Divinest Sense Much madness is divinest Sense To a discerning eye Much sense the starkest Madness Tis the Majority In this, as All, prevail Assent and you are sane Demur you re straightway dangerous And handled with a Chain Much Madness is Divinest Sense 5. Do you agree with her ideas on madness and sense?

3 My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close My life closed twice before its close It yet remains to see If Immortality unveil A third event to me So huge, so hopeless to conceive As these that twice befell. Parting is all we know of heaven, And all we need of hell. My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close 5. What do you think is Dickinson s attitude toward death? After Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes After great pain, a formal feeling comes The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore, And Yesterday, or Centuries before? The feet, mechanical, go round Of Ground, or Air, or Ought A Wooden way Regardless grown, A Quartz contentment, like a stone. This is the Hour of Lead Remembered, if outlived, As Freezing persons, recollect the snow-- First Chill then Stupor then the letting go After Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes 5. What emotions is the speaker trying to convey?

4 I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died I heard a Fly buzz when I died The Stillness in the Room Was like the Stillness in the Air Between the Heaves of Storm The Eyes around had wrung them dry And Breaths were gathering firm For that last Onset when the King Be witnessed in the Room I willed my Keepsakes Signed away What portions of me be Assignable and then it was There interposed a Fly With Blue uncertain stumbling Buzz Between the light and me And then the Windows failed and then I could not see to see 5. How would you describe the view of death presented in the poem? 6. Looking at Dickinson s last stanza, what does she do to make the portrayal of death a realistic one?

5 Because I Could Not Stop for Death Because I could not stop for Death He kindly stopped for me The Carriage held but just Ourselves And Immortality. We slowly drove He knew no haste And I had put away My labor and my leisure too, For His Civility 5. In the third stanza, what might the objects the carriage passes symbolize? We passed the School, where Children strove At Recess in the Ring We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain We passed the Setting Sun Or rather He passed Us The Dews drew quivering and chill For only Gossamer, my Gown My Tippet only Tulle We paused before a House that seemed A Swelling of the Ground The Roof was scarcely visible The Cornice in the Ground Overall Impressions 6. Of the eight poems you ve read, what are your impressions of Emily Dickinson? Which of her poems was your favorite? Since then 'tis Centuries and yet Feels shorter than the Day I first surmised the Horses' Heads Were toward Eternity On the next page, fill-in the chart for one of the last two poems in this packet: I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died or Because I Could Not Stop for Death

6 Element to Look for in Poem Words from Poem with Line Numbers Commentary answer questions Title What does it mean at first glance? Paraphrase Nothing here Should have summary/paraphrase next to poem Connotation What words add a negative or positive connotation to the text? Attitude (tone/mood) What word(s) would you use to describe it? Shifts Where? Type or what is the change? Title Yes, again. Any extra meaning? Figurative Language What is the figurative language term(s)? Imagery What senses does it appeal to? Diction Why do these words stand out? Detail Why is the detail important? Syntax (word order in clauses/phrases) How does this wording emphasize anything? Theme What is the overall theme? (Be sure it s a sentence!)