Write an essay that examines Dickinson as a religious writer.
1.Dickinson once described herself as a literary artist by saying, My business is circumference. Looking at one or two poems in detail, discuss how they both explain and express this characterization of her poetry.
2.Looking at two or three of Dickinsons poems, compare and contrast them in regards to their them; symbols or imagery (fly, death, that slant of light, etc.); tone; her use of abstraction; perspective, etc. OR look at how the rhythm of certain lines relate to their meanings and contribute to the overall meaning or effect of the poem. You are welcome to do some research and use sources if you so desire, but this does not have to be a research paper. At this level, I would rather see students working out their own readings of Dickinsons work.
3.Write an essay that examines.
A.Dickinson as a religious writer
B.Dickinsons characteristic brevity in the explanation of situations and the expression of ideas
C.Dickinsons use of personal but not totally disclosed subject matter
D.Dickinsons use of imagery and symbolism: sources, types, meanings
E.Dickinsons humor and irony
F.Dickinsons ideas about love, separation, personal pain, war, death, faith, religion, science, the soul
G.Dickinsons power as a poet
H.Dickinsons poems as they appear on the page: the relationship of meaning to lines, stanzas, capitalization, punctuation, the use of the dash
I.The structuring of a number of Dickinsons poems: subject, development, conclusions
J.The character of the speaker in a number of Dickinsons poems: personality, things noticed, accuracy of conclusions. If there appears to be a listener in the poems, what effect does this listener have on the speaker?
K.Dickinsons verse forms and use of rhymes.
L.Themes of exhilaration, sorrow, pity, triumph, and regret in Dickinson
4.Consider the subject of war as brought out in Jarrells The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner, Hardys The Man He Killed, and Northrops Ogichidag. What ideas are common to the poems? What ideas are distinct and unique? In an essay, on the basis of your comparison, argue that poetry is an excellent vehicle for the expression of moral and political ideas.
5.In an essay, describe how accurate the proposition is that poetry is a particularly compressed form of expression. To support your position, you might refer to one or more of the following poems: Dickinsons Because I Could Not Stop for Death, Franciss Catch, or Frosts Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.
