Emily Dickinson Biography Born December 10 1830 the

Emily Dickinson Biography Born December 10, 1830 the second of three children to a Calvinist family in Amherst, MA. Her father was a lawyer and one of the wealthiest and most respected citizens in the town, as well as a conservative leader of the church Educated at Amherst Academy, Dickinson was a serious student with a mischievous streak. At 17, began college at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary; she became ill the spring of her first year and did not return.

Emily Dickinson Biography In the mid-1860’s, Dickinson seems to have had a devastating emotional experience, related perhaps to a disappointment in love. At this point, the poet settled into a quiet, reclusive existence with her parents and sister. Although she rarely ventured beyond the family Homestead, she did entertain several significant visitors, including Thomas Wentworth Higginson, whom she met in person for the first time in 1870 when he visited her at home in Amherst.

Emily Dickinson’s Biography Manuscripts dated to this period appear less finished than those of her intense writing period (1858 -1865), and scholars are increasingly intrigued by what these later manuscripts—some of which are written on scraps of paper—suggest about her writing process. She wrote 1775 poems total, but only seven of them published in her life time. Before her death, she asked her sister, Lavinia, to burn all her poems; however, her sister published them instead. Dickinson died May 15, 1886 of nephritis (kidney disease).

Emily Dickinson Biography She almost always wore white, though she was normally photographed in black or blue, and stated that she preferred printed calico to anything else. She loved the innocence of children, and often lowered snacks and treats in baskets to neighborhood children from her window, careful never to let them see her face.

Poetry A type of literature in which ideas and feelings are expressed in compact, imaginative, and musical language. Poets arrange words intended to touch readers’ senses, emotions, and minds.

Stanzas and lines A group of lines within a poem. A stanza is like a paragraph in a work of prose

Shifts

‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ by Robert Frost Where is the shift? Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village, though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer 5 To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. 10 The only other sounds the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, 15 And miles to go before I sleep.

Speaker The voice that “talks” or “sings” to the reader. The speaker can be ANYTHING in poetry. People, dogs, or even rocks.

Mood The atmosphere or “feeling” that the literary work creates. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. "'Tis some visitor, " I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door- Only this, and nothing more. " Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” ( one of the most famous poets and poems of all time ) has a chilling and creepy mood to it.

Tone The attitude a writer takes toward the audience, subject, or a character I see trees of green, red roses too I see them bloom for me and you And I think to myself what a wonderful world. I see skies of blue and clouds of white The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night And I think to myself what a wonderful world. - Louis Armstrong, “Wonderful World” Louis Armstrong has a positive tone in this song, he’s optimistic about the world we live in!

Meter English poetry employs five basic meters, including: Iambic meter (unstressed/stressed) Trochaic meter (stressed/unstressed) Spondaic meter, (stressed/stressed) Anapestic meter (unstressed/ stressed) Dactylic meter (stressed/unstressed)

Meter Short Examples of Meter People become what they believe. (Trochaic meter) Those who can dream it, they really can achieve it. (Dactylic/Spondaic) Don’t search faults. Find remedies. (Iambic meter) When you give and accept gratefully, you feel blessed. (Anapestic meter) The safest place on planet earth. (Iambic meter) Be happy, be positive, be you. (Spondaic meter) Life is short to hold grudges. (Trochaic meter) If you know why to live, then you can tolerate anything. (Dactylic meter)

Rhyme Scheme- The pattern of rhymes in a poem. The “poem” below would have a rhyme scheme of ABAB There once was a big brown cat a That liked to eat a lot of mice. b He got all round and fat a Because they tasted so nice. B

Types of Rhyme

Free Verse Poetry without regular patterns of rhyme and rhythm When I heard the learn'd astronomer, the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them, I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars. When I Heard The Learn'd Astronomer -

Poetry Project 1. Poem Written, with title and author’s name. 2. 4 elements of author bio. (Label as Biography) 3. 4 elements of figurative language – written and identified (line number) (Label as simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, imagery, alliteration, allusion etc. ) Explain the figurative language. 4. Summary of the poem (Label as Summary) 5. Illustration that reflects the poem 6. Rhyme (Slant? Real? ) (Label as Rhyme and give an example) Label AB etc on the poem. 7. Meter? Example (Label as Meter) 8. Central Image (Label as Central Image) (Explain with evidence) 9. Speaker (Label as Speaker) Prove with evidence and explanation. 10. Tone (Label as Tone) Prove with evidence and explanation. 11. Any unique features of the poem or author’s style (Label as Author’s style)