Emily Dickinson” Questions for  Discussions & Essays . Please note that Discussions are also above! Submit extended discussions or essays here at a higher value 10-15%

Use Guidelines for Reading Dickinson.docx

Emily Dickinson poems Thomas Johnson Edition of 1955

Emily Dickinson poems from ED Archive Link (The Best, but you must know the exact first line or # according to Thomas Johnson or Franklin edition).

I heard a Fly buzzwhen I died is among Dickinsons most mysterious and fascinating poems. Do a close reading and analysis of this work, and address some of its many ambiguities. What is the purpose or meaning of the fly in the poem? What is Dickinson saying about death, grief and mourning here? Is the poem meant to be funny? Be sure to include in your essay a discussion of the poems final line.
Emily Dickinson was strongly religious, but not devoutly Christian.
Defend or attack this statement based on Dickinsons poetry and, if youd like, her biography. How did Dickinson express her spirituality? How does she portray members of the clergy in her writing? In what ways do the ideas and themes of her poetry mirror and/or contradict traditional Protestant doctrine? Could one argue that any of her poems are sacrilegious, at least from a traditional Christian point of view?
An important theme in much of Dickinsons poetry is death. Looking at three or four of her poems, write an analysis of this theme in her work. Be sure to consider the many points of view she considers when dealing with death.
Dickinsons punctuation was, at the time when she wrote, extremely unconventional. Choose a single Dickinson poem that you feel contains several good examples of her use of punctuation, and write a close analysis of it. How does Dickinson use dashes, commas, periods, and exclamation points to shape the music of her lines? How does she use them to express theme, thoughts and ideas? You can also consider in your analysis her use of line breaks, which was also quite unconventional.
5. Consider the poem My life closed twice before its close, and write a personal essay in which you discuss moments in your life when your life closed. Compare your experience to what Dickinson describes. Do you believe that Parting is all we know of heaven,/And all we need of hell?