As imperceptibly as grief - Emily Dickinson

Question 1

when was Emily alive

Answer 1

in the 19th century

Question 2

what type of poet was she

Answer 2

an American poet

Question 3

what was Emily both obsessed and afraid with/of

Answer 3

death

Question 4

what did her bedroom over look

Answer 4

a cemetery

Question 5

what was Dickinson an avid writer of

Answer 5

letters

Question 6

true or false?
Dickinson was a recluse

Answer 6

true

Question 7

who was Dickerson a career for

Answer 7

he mother, who’s health was declining

Question 8

how do we know that dickinsons writing was very personal?

Answer 8

most of her work got published after she dies and was never intended to be published

Question 9

what does impercetible/y mean

Answer 9

so slight, gradual or subtle

Question 10

what theme or themes does the title foreshadow

Answer 10

the theme of death, establishing the importance of the poem and creating a melancholic tone or mood

Question 11

“as imperceptibly as grief the summer lapsed away-“

Answer 11

the simile suggests that like summer passing, grief takes a long time to fade away

Question 12

throughout the poem some of the nouns are capitalized
In the first stanza “Grief” “Summer” “Perfidy”

Answer 12

capitalization suggests importance and almost personifies them

Question 13

what is the importance of the everyday language used throughout the poem

Answer 13

suggests that grief is quite a normal thing to experience

Question 14

what could the dashes represent

Answer 14

an unstable mind

Question 15

“a quietness distilled as twilight long begun”

Answer 15

these lines suggest that grief is intense and long lasting

Question 16

“as twilight long begun”

Answer 16

time imagery could suggest that grief is inevitable

Question 17

“or nature spending time with herself”

Answer 17

nature as been personified as a women who is isolated

Question 18

“quietness” “distilled”

Answer 18

grief seems almost peaceful and comforting

Question 19

what is the effect of this half rhyme scheme
“ begun…afternoon”

Answer 19

the imperfect half rhyme could represent the speakers imperfect feelings

Question 20

“dusk drew earlier in”

Answer 20

the passing of time is uncontrollable

Question 21

“foreign” “harrowing grace”

Answer 21

happiness is strange and unfamiliar to the persona

Question 22

“as guest that would be gone -“

Answer 22

time has been personified as a guest who wants to leave

Question 23

what are the importance of the dashes

Answer 23

represent the speakers increasingly fragmented thoughts

Question 24

“and thus”

Answer 24

a logical, conclusive tone has been created at the start

Question 25

"wing" "keel"

Answer 25

summer/grief needs no assistance to pass. Its natural.

Question 26

"our" summer....

Answer 26

plural possessive pronoun. makes the passing os grief a shared experience

Question 27

"light"

Answer 27

adjective suggests a lightness and ease

Question 28

"into the beautiful"

Answer 28

beautiful creates a positive tone - the passing of grief is something to celebrate

Question 29

why is the poem ending in a full stop important

Answer 29

its the poems only full stop which could symbolize acceptance

Question 30

what is - unusually - absent in this last stanza

Answer 30

lack of dashes suggests that the speakers thoughts are collected and that their pain is over

Question 31

what is the meaning of this poem?

Answer 31

- Dickinson compares the fading of summer to grief passing over time - grief or the passing of time is shown to be very raw, and an intense emotion - grief can be very isolating - as grief fades away a new start is welcomed which feels strange but equally feels good

Question 32

what is the mood of this poem

Answer 32

- reflective and mournful - describes the feeling of grief using metaphors - the mood shifts towards the end of the poem and becomes more positive

Question 33

what was the motivation for writing this poem

Answer 33

- grief was constantly in her life, and Emily was both fascinated and scared of it - she embraces grief in her writing and appears to accept it - the positive end of the poem could be seen as Dickinson celebrating the joy as her grief is passing

Question 34

how is the theme of power shown in this poem

Answer 34

said to be about the power of grief and what it does to a persons life

Question 35

how is the theme of time shown in this poem

Answer 35

about the passing of time, and how grief passes slowly and can consume someones life

Question 36

how is the theme of man shown in this poem

Answer 36

its about a women, and talks about human emotion and how we process loss

Question 37

how is the theme of death shown in this poem

Answer 37

grief is caused from death and the feelings of loss