Emily Dickinson

Question

Carole Jenkins

The grammatical errors in this passage are intentional.

(1) Emily Dickinson is regarded as one of the greatest American poets. (2) She was born in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a very prominent family. (3) Her childhood was normal, filled with friends, activities, and having fun. (4) As she grew older, she began to isolate herself and even to refuse to leave her home. (5) In her latter years, she wore only white and would not let anyone but her family see her. (6) She spent most of her time alone writing poetry. (7) During her lifetime, she published only seven of her poems, and she published those anonymously. (8) After her death in 1886, her sister discovered packets of her poems in her drawer. (9) Four years later, her first books of poems were published.

(10) Her poetry is wonderful to read. (11) Concrete imagery was used by her to illustrate abstract concepts, such as love and death. (12) Her unusual use of capitalization and punctuation and her use of irregular meter and rhyme make her poetry unique.

"Those who have been in the Grave"
- By Emily Dickinson

Those who have been in the Grave the longest-
Those who begin Today-
Equally perish from our Practise-
Death is the other way-

Food of the Bold did least attempt it-
It-is the White Exploit-
Once to achieve, annuls the power
Once to communicate-

You are writing a research paper about Emily Dickinson and her focus on death in her poetry. You want to prove that Dickinson felt more connected to the dead than to the living. Using the knowledge gained from Dickinson's poem, which sentence from the essay by Carole Jenkins can you use to support the idea that Dickinson felt connected to death?

A sentence 1
B sentence 3
C sentence 5
D sentence 7

Answer 1

To support the idea that Emily Dickinson felt more connected to the dead than to the living, you can use sentence 5 from the essay by Carole Jenkins: "In her latter years, she wore only white and would not let anyone but her family see her."

This sentence implies a significant level of isolation and a possible connection to themes of death, as wearing white can symbolize mourning or a connection to the afterlife. It indicates her detachment from the living, thereby suggesting a deeper connection to death.