1. Study a group of poems with related themes. Then write an interpretation of one of the poems that includes your expanded understanding of the way Dickinson uses the theme in other poems in the group. Choose from among the following (the poem numbers are from the Johnson edition ):
(a) poems of loss and defeat: 49, 67, 305.
(b) poems about ecstasy or vision: 185, 214, 249, 322, 465, 501, 632.
(c) poems about solitude: 280, 303, 441, 664.
(d) poems about death: 49, 67, 88, 98, 153, 182, 241, 258, 280, 301, 341, 360, 369, 389, 411, 449, 510 529, 547, 712, 784, 856, 976, 1078, 1100, 1624, 1716, 1732.
(e) poems about madness and suffering: 315, 348, 435, 536.
(f) poems about entrapment: 187, 528, 754, 1099.
(g) poems about craft: 441, 448, 505, 1129.
(h) poems about images of birds: 130, 328, 348, 824.
(i) poems about a bee or bees: 130, 214, 216, 348, 1405.
(j) poems about a fly or flies: 187 and 465.
(k) poems about butterflies: 214, 341, 1099.
(l) poems about church imagery or biblical references: 130, 216, 258, 322, 1545.
(m) poems about love: 47, 293, 299, 303, 453, 463, 478, 494, 511, 549, 568, 640, 664, 907.
(n) poems about nature: 12, 130, 140, 214, 285, 318, 321, 322, 328, 33, 441, 526, 630, 783, 861, 986, 1084, 1356, 1463, 1575.
(o) poems about doubt and faith: 49, 59, 61, 185, 217, 254, 324, 338, 357, 376, 437, 564, 1052, 1207, 1545.
(p) poems about pain and anguish: 165, 193, 241, 252, 258, 280, 305, 315, 341, 348, 365, 410, 510, 512, 536, 650, 675, 772, 1005.
(q) poems about after death or afterlife: 301, 401, 409, 413, 615, 712, 829, 964.
2. Though alone and lonely, Dickinson is said to have loved intensely. Through a selection of her poems, discuss her treatment of love.
3. Many Dickinson poems illustrate change in the consciousness of the poet or speaker. Choose a poem in which this happens and trace the process by which the poem reflects and creates the change.
4. Closely analyze the central image in one of the following poems: 754 ("My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun - "), 1099 ("My Cocoon tightens - Colors teaze - "), or 1575 ("The Bat is dun, with wrinkled Wings - ").
5. Locate images of size, particularly of smallness, in Dickinson's poetry. Working out from 185 ("'Faith' is a fine invention"), trace evidence that Dickinson perceived a relationship between size and literary authority. Alternatively, locate images of authority in the world (king, emperor, gentlemen) and contrast these with images Dickinson uses to create her own persona as poet.
6. 1862, a year in which Dickinson wrote more than 300 poems, seems to have been a year of great emotional intensity for her. Drawing on selected poems from 1862, trace some recurrent themes or designs in the poems of that year.
7. Write four alternative first paragraphs to a paper entitled "Emily Dickinson."
Study Questions & discuss topics of Emily Dickinson /埃米莉·迪金森思考讨论题
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