Dickinson seemed to hold her contemporaries in contempt not so much for accepting the status quo but for their inability to question their own culture and to understand that common words could convey a variety of meanings. Weisbuch observes that Dickinson used words to their greatest ability and contrived a puzzle for the intellect giving rise to thought, not just for a moment but for long after the poem was read. Weisbuch states that Emily Dickinson set out "to make words mean as much as they can" (13).
In The Undiscovered Continent, Suzanne Juhasz suggests that Dickinson, through her imagination, contrived a house in the mind wherein she could live. The house of poetry provided safety and security while at the same time gave her the opportunity to imaginatively pursue endless possibilities. Juhasz concentrates on several of Dickinson's poems addressing the idea of enclosed mental strength. Juhasz notes that "In all of these poems the enclosure experienced in the place of the mind, an enclosure that can mean confinement and internal strife, is established with an architectural vocabulary" (19). Juhasz suggests that the imagination established a secluded haven for Dickinson. She disguised her poetry with the use of words and created a house that was perceived as open to all who could imagine it and closed to those who could not understand the meaning of the poetry. In discussing "I dwell," Juhasz notes that "This house is 'Possibility,' the imagination. Dwelling there, the lady of the manor makes not cakes but poetry . . . . because of the power of the imagination, the 'housewife' can be a poet" (20). These observances clarify Dickinson's egalitarianism wherein she believed everyone had the opportunity to access the outer limits of the mind.
In "'I dwell in Possibility': ED in the Subjenctive [sic] Mood," Suzanne Juhasz suggests that Emily Dickinson used the subjunctive verb tense in order to allow the intellect to be safe and bold at the same time. Juhasz explores "the function of the subjunctive mood in her [Emily Dickinson's] poetry, finding it to provide protection for extreme daring: a formal, rhetorical, hypothetical framework circumscribing intense, extravagant emotional reality" (105). Juhasz notes that "The subjunctive structure consistently provides protection for the speaker of the poem, so that her excessive emotional states can be expressed within a context that is overtly hypothetical" (108). Although "I dwell" is not written in the subjunctive mood, Juhasz uses it to describe that mood. Juhasz notes that "To dwell in Possibility does not mean, for Dickinson, to dwell in unreality. Possibility, as her poem on the subject maintains, is the space of the mind and of the poem: the space of emotional and intellectual experience. Dickinson's poems in the subjunctive mood are one version of that strategy with which she as woman and poet could in fact achieve both power and safety. By living in the mind, in Possibility, she [Emily Dickinson] establishes a harbor from which she can do no less than gather Paradise" (109).

On the other hand, it is important to note that this "religion" is not conventional but the newly created Transcendental myth that says, through connection to the oversoul, it is possible to reach out and "gather paradise." In other words, the realm of the oversoul is the only true place where humans and nature are in complete harmony, and for this reason it seems quite like a paradise.
Dickinson suggests, then, that the oversoul becomes the only channel in which the women of this restricted era may seek their own identity and find a connection with the whole of humanity. Dickinson illustrates this quite well throughout "I dwell in Possibility"; as Weisbuch and New demonstrate, the Transcendental ideal played a major part in her poetry, just as it perhaps played a role in the later readers of the work. Critical readings of Emily Dickinson's "I dwell in Possibility" suggest that Emily Dickinson had found a way to survive in a world not quite alien to her but a world which she viewed as being unaware of the wealth of communication available through poetry. According to critics, Emily Dickinson's poetry was her life, a life which was filled with double meanings and contradictions; these double meanings and contradictions became embedded in her poetry and provided it with provocativeness and richness. While the critics focus on different aspects of "I dwell in Possibility," they all agree that in this poem Emily Dickinson describes poetry as providing her the freedom to see beyond the obvious and thus allows her to explore endless possibilities without discretion or interruption. In Emily Dickinson's Poetry, Robert Weisbuch explains that Emily Dickinson lived in an intellectual Paradise that allowed her to use poetry to navigate her mind into uncharted and forbidden places through various meanings and uses of words. Weisbuch notes that "Dickinson discovered that the most ordinary word, tenderly nurtured in the mind's rich soil, could become a signifier of utmost mysteries . . ." (1). He explains that Emily Dickinson used words to enable her to circumnavigate the usual and invent the sublime in her mind. Weisbuch uses "I dwell" in the introduction to his book as an example of Emily Dickinson's unique vision. Words such as "chambers" and "impregnable" used in conjunction with a word like "everlasting" give rise to the idea of a dense, impenetrable, confined space. Yet the house described in the poem was not impenetrable but was, instead, a secure house of freedom.

In Emily Dickinson and the Problem of Others, Christopher Benfey says, "This poem . . . says something about privacy, as though privacy is tied in some necessary way to what Dickinson calls ‘possibility.’ The chambers must be ‘Impregnable of Eye’ if it is truly to be a dwelling place of possibility. Prose would then correspond to the public realm" (28). Benfey suggests that privacy is necessary for Emily Dickinson's opportunity. She must be completely enclosed and away from the public realm because the public realm would only interfere with a woman's attempt to establish an identity or connect to community. The private spaces are necessary because only within them will the door of opportunity open to show her the way to the "Gambrels of the Sky--." This image suggests that for Emily Dickinson creating poetry is a journey to the spiritual world. In this world, Emily Dickinson connects to the oversoul, where the "Visitors" are the "fairest" and where everything will be transparent and clear. In the last stanza, Dickinson describes the actual "occupation" of the poet as one which allows for exploration in order to reach the oversoul. She describes this exploration when she says, "The spreading wide of my narrow Hands / To gather Paradise." Here the spreading of her narrow hands implies that as she is writing her poetry she is able to surpass all that she could have conceived of achieving. In "Difficult Writing, Difficult God: Emily Dickinson's Poems Beyond Circumference," Elisa New suggests that while many of Emily Dickinson's poems may show a qualified Transcendentalism, "I dwell in Possibility" demonstrates her belief in Transcendental philosophy: Dickinson is as capable as any Emersonian transcendentalist of writing poems of heady optimism, poems of a renewed and purified Christianity. . . . 'I dwell in Possibility' promises all in one leap the simultaneous ventilation of both poetry and religion. (6)

However, Dickinson believed that the best inspiration came from doing without. I believe that this is the basis for "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" Dickinson not only chose to be a "Nobody," she preferred it. She enjoyed herself the most when she was alone, tending the gardens around her family home, writing poetry, reading. Her choice to publish her poems anonymously is a direct reflection of her choice to be a nobody. For this reason, I would argue that the poem "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" is a direct reflection of Dickinson's ideals on life."Are you -- Nobody -- too?" The friendships that Dickinson kept in her life were intimate. There were so intimate, in fact, that her sexuality is often questioned based on the letters she wrote to her friends. All of the people that theorists have connected to Dickinson as being the "love" she spoke of in her poems are people to whom she corresponded with by letters, men and women alike. This second line paired with the third, "Then there's a pair of us!" suggests that Dickinson was not so much of a recluse. Rather, she was looking for another "Nobody," another person who valued anonymity, to spend her time with.Two nobodies together are no longer nobodies. Dickinson wanted to find another "Nobody," but not because she wanted to become a "Somebody." As a "Somebody," she'd have to face the scrutiny that comes from being in the public-eye. In her life, she was scrutinized for refusing to sign an oath professing her Christianity. Additionally, she was scrutinized by the editor of the Atlantic Monthly when she submitted her poetry to them -- he asked her to revise them. Dickinson did not want to be banished from being a "Nobody" because she didn't want to have to face scrutiny from others toward her ideals, life decisions, and work. As a "Nobody," she could comfortably be herself.

The poem “I dwell in Possibility” is using possibility as a synonym for poetry. The fact that possibility also is tied into some necessary privacy, I see a relationship between privacy and poetry. None of Emily Dickinson’s poetry was published with her name until after her death, and her poetry explains her longing for privacy and individuality in her poetry. These two specific poems are examples of why not only her poetry was kept secret, but also her personal life, as portrayed in “I’m nobody! Who are you?”. In another Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Letter to the Universe” there is also a reoccurring theme of solitude and privacy. The line that says, “The simple news that Nature told, With tender majesty” means that her poetry was of the things that were obvious in life, sent with love. “Her message is committed To hands I cannot see” is a direct reflection that nature has a message for the world, the place Emily Dickinson excluded herself from.

In The Undiscovered Continent: Emily Dickinson and the Space of Mind, Suzanne Juhasz states that: "Possibility is a concept: it is the idea of the imagination itself, where what has not occurred in external reality may be thought of as occurring". The world of poetry for Dickinson then, as for many Transcendentalists, is the window to the realm of possibility, the realm of the oversoul.

The final lines of this poem, “The spreading wide my narrow Hands To gather Paradise” shows that such small hands can acquire so much, especially through poetry. Since Emily Dickinson’s poetry was never published by her, there’s no explanation to what her poems mean. However, it is contradictory on weather this poem is relating to gender controversy or not. During this time, women were not granted the same freedom as the men were, and Emily Dickinson’s poetry reflected such a longing to become free and to have many possibilities. It is certain though that this poem is about how poetry provides her the freedom to see beyond the obvious things in life and rather deeper, like chambers as the Cedars as she describes in her poem.
This poem ties in closely with “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” because they are both about being secretive and alone, but in a good way. In Emily Dickinson’s Poetry, Robert Weisbuch explains that Emily Dickinson lived in an intellectual Paradise that allowed her to use poetry to navigate her mind into uncharted and forbidden places through various meanings and uses of words. I agree with this statement and I believe that Emily Dickinson uses words to their full potential. In “I dwell in Possibility”, Dickinson uses words like “impregnable” and “chambers” and “everlasting” which give idea that it would be a hollow, perhaps a rather mysterious place that’s described. Yet the house that is portrayed in this poem is a full of windows with a roof that never ends and superior doors, which give you a sense of safety and freedom.

Procrastination is Key...wait, what?

Emily Dickinson has shown some similar themes in her poetry. Dickinson only published about ten poems in her lifetime, all of which anonymously. The style of her poetry is similar in most of her poems, where she uses dashes and unconventional capitalization. Her particular style of writing, vocabulary, and imagination bind together to create a very unique and popular lyric style of poetry. Three of Emily Dickinson’s poems, “I’m nobody! Who are you?”, “I dwell in Possibility”, and “Letter to the Universe” all share the common themes of solitude, privacy, and freedom.
In Emily Dickinson’s poem “I’m nobody! Who are you?” shows an excitement and curiosity towards finding someone who is nobody like her. Dickinson’s choice to only publish her poems anonymously is a direct reflection of her choice to be a nobody. There’s a line in the poem that reads, “Don’t tell! They’d advertise—you know!” (697) which implies that she doesn’t want the publicity in her personal life or her poetry. She compares being “somebody” to being like a frog, which in my opinion are noticed by all people, but never really thought about twice.

In the poem “I dwell in Possibility” Emily Dickinson represents poetry as being something private and personal. She uses possibility as a form of poetry and it’s comparison with Prose, the opposite of poetry. The line that reads: “A fairer House than Prose —More numerous of Windows—“relates to the opportunities and freedom that poetry creates compared to Prose. In this poem I believe that she’s talking about the House of Poetry, which is described as free, open, and creative.

Free write: Literary Analysis of "A Rose for Emily" Cont.

Once Miss Emily’s father died, the town found it a reason to have pity on her. She was described as “a vague resemblance to those angles in colored church windows –sort of tragic and serene” (208). Like her house, Emily was slowing growing older as her hair turned greyer and greyer. After time, there was hardly any commotion of people, including Emily, in and out of her house. “When the town got free postal delivery, Miss Emily alone refused to let them fasten the metal numbers above her door and attach a mailbox to it” (211) this shows that Emily prefers to live in the past, perhaps because she feels that not only will she need any communication with anyone inside the town or anywhere else for that matter. She chooses to keep her house private as well as her personal life. Once her father died, Miss Emily didn’t bother to answer the phone or show hospitality to any visitors; therefore she felt no need for postal delivery which would allow more people to bother her.
Eventually, Miss Emily was never seen outside of her house for years. She sent her black servant, Tobe, to the market for fresh foods. Emily’s house developed an awful smell, which the townspeople complained about and eventually the Board of Aldermen were sent to her house to investigate the stench. This shows how Miss Emily doesn’t bother to keep up with her own house, and shows no effort to control the situation, just as she doesn’t have any effort on keeping herself proper. The “big, squarish frame house that had once been a white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies” (206) was an example of Emily’s resistance to accept the change of the upcoming society, filled with postal service and cotton gins. Her house was a visible illustration that she is unable to accept the change. Perhaps it is because Emily finds no hope for the future and she has no will to be connected with the outside world so she remains in the past, living in the sole part of town that holds the past rather than accelerates to the future.

Free Write: Literary Analysis of "A Rose for Emily"

The story, “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner shows an important relationship between the setting of a story and the main characters in a story. This particular story is told from the point-of-view of other townspeople in Jefferson. The story is based on their portrayal of Emily and her house, but there is no context about what Miss Emily is thinking herself. Emily’s character is closely related to the setting in this story, which is primarily her house. In the story, “A Rose for Emily”, the specific details about Miss Emily’s house gives insight towards Miss Emily’s character. Her house was described as “an eyesore among eyesores” (206), “dust and disuse” (206), and “the house filled with dust and shadows” (211). These descriptions about her house are comparable to her character.
The story begins at Miss Emily’s funeral, the description “a fallen monument” (206), which could easily be described as both the house and Emily. The women of the town come to Emily’s funeral for the sole purpose to see her house, which had been private for years after Emily’s father’s death. The house was once a part of the most popular and up kept street in Jefferson, until slowly the houses decayed and soon there was only her house left. Even throughout the sporadic chronological order of this story, Miss Emily loses control over certain things as time goes on. When the city authorities come to collect Emily’s taxes, she claims that she has no taxes in Jefferson and refuses to pay. She refers them to Colonel Sartoris, who had died nearly a decade ago. This is an example of how Emily is becoming less aware of the changes in her town. She seems to enjoy keeping to herself instead of becoming involved with current town affairs. Miss Emily chooses to live in the past because she finds no grantees for her future nor does she show any interest in any changes her town of Jefferson. “After her father’s death she went out very little” (207) is an example of how she chooses to remain locked up inside her own house.

Free Journal: Intro to Paper

The setting of a story has a lot to do with the characters and the plot as well. In the story "A Rose for Emily", the setting of isolation and mystery about the house she lives in portrays her character as well. The specific context from the story gives reason why she choses to seperate herself from the rest of the town, as well as keeping her house as private as possible. The setting of her house that is described in the story as having the smell of "dust and disuse", looking like "an eyesore among eyesores", and "the house filled with dust and shadows". These descriptions of the house are the same as the characteristics of Miss Emily.

The main things that I want to focus on for this essay are the specific details of the slow decaying of the house, the occasion leaving of the house, and later people not seeing Miss Emily for long periods of a time. In this story, it is as if the house serves as a replica for Miss Emily herself, the house that once was "white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our mose select street" and now "only Miss Emily's house was left". This gives evidence that her house has not only began to grow older and more mysterious, plus the last house on the street that was once so lively, gives reasoning why Miss Emily's character is so lonely and mysterious.

Free Journal: Essay Thoughts

I have absolutely no idea what story I want to chose for my paper. I feel like there are two or three stories that stand out and I have a lot of good information for all of the stories, but not quite enough to write about just one. For a literary analysis about setting, I would choose Miss Emily's house in "A Rose for Emily". The mysterious and isolated house portrays the story in such a way that you can relate things about the house to Emily's personalitly. Like her shutting her house away from the entire town, rarely going outside of her house, this resembles her character as never wanting to open up to anyone or make any new friends after the death of her father. The other story I would consider writing about is the point of view in the story "Hills Like White Elephants". The fact that it's solely narrative and there is no outside opinions, or thoughts of the characters to clue the audience in on what the story is about, makes the story more interesting. The story is objective third person, which is where the narrator only tells what is going on the surface, simply the facts. The only information you have about this story is simply the text provided in the book. You could use expressive theory, which is when a story can be tied in with information from the autor who wrote it. The only problem I would have with writing this story is limited amount of context to support my theories.

Character & Setting

In the story, "A Rose for Emily" I find the setting and the main character, Emily, a lot alike. In the story, Emily is once described as looking like one of those "angles in colored church windows- sort of tragic and serene". Emily is a lot like her setting. The mystery of what's inside the house the entire time and why there's a terrible smell resembles her personality as well. It reminds me of how she keeps secrets to herself, yet people are still aware that she's holding things back. When Emily boards up her house upstairs, it's as if she's closing off parts of her life...she's only got so much longer to live. The solicity of her house and how it's not welcoming to others matches her personalitly because she also shuts herself away from the people in her town, just as her house is. "Already we knew that there was one room in that region above stairs which no one had seen in forty years, and which would have to be forced." This resembles how Emily has shut away herself from outside people around the town for forty years as well, just as that particular room has been shut away from the rest of the town. "From that time on her front door had remained close, save for a period of six or seven years" is another sentance from the story that relates to how Emily choses to be alone and doesn't want any visitors or anything to do with the people around the town, and this reflects on her personalitly as not only partially mourning the loss of her father, but her will to be alone and away from everyone else.

The Literary Canon

For literature to become a literary canon it must posess characteristics that are appealing to everyone, including the younger generation. In seventh grade, you are givin no choise on what you want to read. Our first book was To Kill A Mockingbird, and to me and most of our class, it wasn't a very interesting book to us at first. Some students found it hard to understand, others liked it, but most weren't interested in the book at all. It would be beneficial to include literature that students can get interested in so that they would be more willining and more likely to read more often. The literary canon should be something different for every individual human being. Wouldn't a politician's literary canon differ from an average teenager? Things that seem to be extremely important literature could be completely irrelevant to anything a student would benefit from knowing. To me, the literary canon should include three important things: The Bible, history, and human equality. This literature is so important for everyone to know and understand. People don't always realize what's right from wrong and how prejudism is ruining our world. If these three types of literature could be incorporated and understood by our generation it would change people's beliefs and help put an end to racism. Or even books about women having a higher stand in politics could influence more women to run for president. Personally, I'm tired of having men as presidents and feeling as though they are the smarter gender, but then again...I'm not about to have Hilary Clinton running our country. Racial variety to me is the very important because if a student was raised bias against a certain race, reading a required book in school could allow students to open their mind to other races. I think that literature plays a smaller role in today's culture. It's always television shows, internet, magazines that come first. People aren't as interested in literature compared to all of the additional media. I think that literature should play a larger role in people's life because certain literature, like those included in the literary canon, could be life changing.

Story w/Song Titles

"We Are Nowhere and it's Now" Bright Eyes. "When I Get Where I'm Going" Brad Paisley. "What You Waiting For" Gwen Stefani. "The Rescue" American Hi-Fi. "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" Jack Johnson. "You Have My Attention" Copeland. "Hope You're Happy" Dashboard Confessional. "Your Heart is an Empty Room" Death Cab For Cutie. "I Wasn't Prepared" Eisley. "How 'Bout You" Eric Church. "Lets Make This Moment a Crime" The Format. "Wild Thing" Joan Jett. "Lets Dance" The Beatles. "It's In Your Blood" Lydia. "Everything is Alright" Motion City Soundtrack. "Just a Matter of Time" Randy Rogers Band. "By the Way" Red Hot Chili Peppers. "I've Been Dying to Reach You" Soasin. "All Hail the Heartbreaker" The Spill Canvas. "Admit It!!!" Say Anything. "I've Seen Better Days" Sublime. "Move Along" All American Rejects. "Nothing Left to Lose" Matt Kearney. "Tell Me Something Good" The Rocket Summer. "PS I Love You" All American Rejects.


_♥Sarah

Hills Like White Elephants

In the story, "Hills Like White Elephants", I found it interesting to compare his writing to his own life. To analyze this story and for it to make complete sense, it's easier to look at Ernest Hemingway's background first. Expressive Theory simply means the relation with the literature to the writer. The setting of "Hills Like White Elepants" occours in Spain. Hemingway was once a journalist in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. The title of this story and also the comment that Jig makes about the Hills looking like white elephants makes me wonder if Hemingway once thought that too. In the story, the character Jig is known as "the girl" who's with "the American". Hemingway was married four times and allegedly had multiple romantic relationships in his lifetime. There's also reports that Ernest Hemingway did not think of women as being as wise as men. This makes me think that he is not just calling Jig "the girl" because she is very young, but because she's simply viewed as "the girl". Hemingway's title for the man as "the American" also brings question of a stereotype. Hemingway has been all over the country and would know the certain characteristics of different places and people. In the story, he also says that when the man walks through the barroom he sits down with them and takes a drink. There is no mention of him saying a simple, "Hello" to the company around him, but there isn't any of dirty looks either. The conversation in the story is about the American and Jig talking about her getting an abortion. The link to the topic and Ernest Hemingway is a little complicated. Hemingway had three children, all boys, and there's no information of about an abortion. The story is filled with symbolism, including the white elephant, a costly and unwanted burden. Consistent with the oblique style of the conversation, Hemingway never explicitly states whether or not the couple will go forward with the unspecified operation. This is familiar with Hemingway's work because he is known for the " Iceburg Theory".