Emily Dickinson

Question 1

marsh or swamp

Answer 1

bog

Question 2

dull, bleak, and lifeless; depressing

Answer 2

dreary

Question 3

a figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined

Answer 3

oxymoron

Question 4

courteous behavior; politeness

Answer 4

civility

Question 5

the ancestry, especially upper-class ancestry of a person or family

Answer 5

pedigree

Question 6

light, thin, and delicate

Answer 6

gossamer

Question 7

entire; whole

Answer 7

livelong

Question 8

a hereditary ruling class; nobility

Answer 8

aristocracy

Question 9

"Because I could not stop for Death-
He kindly stopped for me-
The Carriage held but just Ourselves-
And Immortality."
What important fact about the speaker is established here in the first stanza?

Answer 9

She is dead.

Question 10

What are some of Death’s characteristics?

Answer 10

kind; leisurely; civil

Question 11

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess-in the Ring-
We passed the fields of Gazing Grain-
We passed the Setting Sun-“
Stanza 3 contains anaphora with the clause “We passed..” These clauses introduce three important images, which are symbolic of what?

Answer 11

the stages of life

Question 12

"Or rather-He passed us-
The dews drew quivering and chill-
For only Gossamer, my Gown-
My tippet-only Tulle-"
How does the speaker feel about the sun sets?

Answer 12

It is cold, dewy, and chilly. She is underdressed.

Question 13

“We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground-“
What does the “House that seemed / A swelling of the Ground?” represent?

Answer 13

her grave

Question 14

“I first surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were toward Eternity-“
The fact that the Horses’ Heads are pointed toward eternity suggests what?

Answer 14

The soul is eternal.

Question 15

What is the Central One Idea [Teacher version] of the poem?

Answer 15

The soul is immortal - death will stop for all of us and transport us to eternity.

Question 16

"The pedigree of honey
Does not concern the bee;
A clover, any time, to him
Is aristocracy."
Why does the pedigree of honey literally not concern the bee?

Answer 16

Because he can make honey from the simplest flower, the clover.

Question 17

What does the clover symbolize in the poem, The Pedigree of Honey?

Answer 17

the beauty and value of the common, the regular

Question 18

What does the speaker so confidently announce in the opening line of I’m Nobody! Who are You?

Answer 18

She is a Nobody

Question 19

In I’m Nobody! Who are You?, what does the speaker feel is a dreary, terrible thing to be?

Answer 19

a Somebody

Question 20

How would you best describe the tone of the poem, I’m Nobody! Who are You?

Answer 20

satirical; ironic; witty

Question 21

“How dreary-to be …
How public-like a ___ -“
What is the missing word in the second line?

Answer 21

frog

Question 22

In the poem, I’m Nobody! Who are You?, the speaker speaks directly to the reader, including hte reader in a kind of:

Answer 22

inside secret

Question 23

“Livelong June” is kind of:

Answer 23

oxymoron