Lesson 6.02: The Recluse

Introduction
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Introduction

Essential Question: Where do we look to find truth?

Emily Dickinson

The American poet Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886) was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, attended Amherst College, and died in Amherst. Needless to say, Miss Dickinson didn't travel far from home. She did, however, like to spend her days baking, gardening, reading, and writing.

Dickinson began writing poetry in her teens; however, in her early twenties, she began writing, revising, and saving hundreds of poems. Only a few of Dickinson's 1,700 plus poems were published during her lifetime. She created titles for only a few of those, mainly the ones she sent in letters. If you see titles on her poems, it is primarily because editors assigned them a title. Most titles are simply the first line to her poem.

There is speculation as to why she lived a life of reclusion. Some thought it may have to do with an eye condition resulting from sensitivity to light. Others think it may have been something more serious. Whatever the cause, her reclusive nature constructed a way for Miss Dickinson to observe nature in every aspect.

People often overlook the little things. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in Nature, "Every word ... if traced to its root, is found to be borrowed from some material appearance. Right means straight; wrong means twisted. Spirit primarily means wind; transgression, the crossing of a line; supercilious, the raising of the eyebrow."

Watch The PBS NewsHour: "Garden Roots of Emily Dickinson's Poetry" (5:33) to learn about attempts to recreate the green spaces and gardens that inspired the writings of Emily Dickinson.

Download and complete Imagery. Keep this in your English 10 notebook. You will use it later.

Lesson Objectives

Following successful completion of this lesson, students will be able to:

Engage in textual analysis and critical thinking of poems.
Use imaginative writing techniques for creative and critical purposes.
Recognize poetic devices used in writing.

The above objectives correspond with the Alabama Course of Study: English Language Arts, Grade 10 objectives: 1, 2, 4, 22, 22a, 22d, 26, 34, 35, 40, 41, 41a, and 41b.