EMAIL<\/a> | SYLLABUS<\/a> | POLICIES<\/a> | QUESTIONS<\/a> | PRESENTATIONS<\/a> | JOURNALS<\/a> | PAPER<\/a> | EXAM<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Note: see Journals page for details on keeping your journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Assigned: Dickinson, Emily. \u201c320\u201d (Norton Vol. C 97); \u201c340\u201d (Vol. C 99); \u201c448\u201d (Vol. C 102); \u201c479\u201d (Vol. C 102-03); \u201c591\u201d (Vol. C 103-04); \u201c598\u201d (Vol. C 104); \u201c620\u201d (Vol. C 104); \u201c764\u201d (Vol. C 107); \u201c1263\u201d (Vol. C 108); \u201c1668\u201d (Vol. C 108).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 320\/258. (\u201cThere\u2019s a certain Slant of light\u201d)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. In \u201cThere\u2019s a certain Slant of light,\u201d what exactly is the \u201ccertain Slant of light\u201d referenced? Does it merely reflect the perception of someone in a depressed state of mind, or does it create that feeling in the first place — what does the poem suggest in this regard? Moreover, what do you understand by the words \u201cinternal difference — \/ Where the meanings are\u201d in lines 7-8?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 340\/280. (\u201cI felt a Funeral, in my Brain\u201d)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. What is the role of \u201creason\u201d in \u201cI felt a Funeral, in my Brain\u201d? What is Dickinson perhaps suggesting about the limits of our ability to know anything about death? Moreover, in what manner does Dickinson represent the inner life or thoughts of her isolated speaker, and what might strike us as odd about that way of representing interiority?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 448\/449. (\u201cI died for Beauty –\u201d)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. In \u201cI died for Beauty –,\u201d the speaker died for beauty, her interlocutor in the next tomb died for Truth, yet the latter says both things are \u201cOne.\u201d How might we interpret that claim? Are truth and beauty really the same thing, or should the point be interpreted differently? Explain. Moreover, how do the poem\u2019s final two lines change the value of the ten lines before them<\/p>\n\n\n\n 479\/712. (\u201cBecause I could not stop for Death –\u201d)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. In \u201cBecause I could not stop for Death –,\u201d what assumptions and attitudes about the speaker\u2019s past as a living being are solicited and perhaps transformed as the carriage and its civil coachman (Death) proceed, passing by various scenes and making their way towards the grave? Why, at the poem\u2019s end, does the speaker still feel surprised by the first day of her passing even though it occurred centuries ago?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. In \u201cBecause I could not stop for Death –,\u201d what seems to be the point of treating death in such a strangely civil, slow-paced manner, and of employing such an odd figure as a coachman to embody death? How does that differ from treating death as, say, a reaper with a sickle?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 591\/465. (\u201cI heard a Fly buzz — when I died –\u201d)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. In \u201cI heard a Fly buzz — when I died –,\u201d why do you think Dickinson she has chosen a buzzing fly to convey the instant of death? How might this poem be a meditation on the thinness of the line between life and death, and on the significance that the living give to death?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 598\/632. (\u201cThe Brain — is wider than the Sky –\u201d)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. What relationship between human beings and nature, and between human beings and God, does \u201cThe Brain — is wider than the Sky –\u201d posit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 620\/435. (\u201cMuch Madness is divinest Sense\u201d)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 8. \u201cMuch Madness is divinest Sense\u201d belongs to a tradition of thought about the way we determine who is sane and insane. What is Dickinson\u2019s speaker suggesting about the validity of this powerful opposition?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 764\/754. (\u201cMy Life had stood — a Loaded gun –\u201d)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 9. In \u201cMy Life had stood — a Loaded gun –,\u201d the speaker takes on the perspective of a \u201cloaded gun.\u201d It has sometimes been said that the poem deals with an indefinite feeling of rage on the part of a female speaker. Do you read it that way, or some other way? Give your own brief interpretation of this enigmatic poem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1263\/1129. (\u201cTell all the Truth but tell it slant –\u201d)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 10. \u201cTell all the Truth but tell it slant –\u201d might well be read as a gloss on Emily Dickinson\u2019s poetic style and philosophy. How so? How — and why — does she \u201ctell it slant\u201d rather than simply and directly? What might she be implying about the subjects upon which her poetry dwells?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1668\/1624. (\u201cApparently with no surprise\u201d)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 11. What vision of nature are we offered in \u201cApparently with no surprise\u201d? How does this treatment of nature compare to the representations of nature you have come across in other poems by Emily Dickinson or, for that matter, in other poets, such as one of the English romantics?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" EMILY DICKINSON QUESTIONS FOR E222 AMERICAN LITERATURECSU FULLERTON, FALL 2014 Note: see Journals page for details on keeping your journal. Assigned: Dickinson, Emily. \u201c320\u201d (Norton Vol. C 97); \u201c340\u201d (Vol. C 99); \u201c448\u201d (Vol. C 102); \u201c479\u201d (Vol. C 102-03); \u201c591\u201d (Vol. C 103-04); \u201c598\u201d (Vol. C 104); \u201c620\u201d (Vol. C 104); \u201c764\u201d (Vol. C 107); […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"wf_page_folders":[11],"class_list":["post-768","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ajdrake.com\/academic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ajdrake.com\/academic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ajdrake.com\/academic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ajdrake.com\/academic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ajdrake.com\/academic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ajdrake.com\/academic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4718,"href":"https:\/\/www.ajdrake.com\/academic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/768\/revisions\/4718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ajdrake.com\/academic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"wf_page_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ajdrake.com\/academic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_page_folders?post=768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}