Emily Dickinson's Disdain for Egotistical Human Beings

523 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of emily dickinson poem

“Apparently with no surprise” by Emily Dickinson presents the trials and tribulations that a flower must overcome if it is to survive. Dickinson creates a microcosm of the real world and a deep ecological study of human kind. Her word choice betrays a hidden disdain for human beings egotistical aims. Dickinson tucks away a series of morose words in every line with the exception of line four. One must first examine the word choice of the first word and the first line. The use of the word “Apparently” creates a standard for irony and sardonicism that is seen throughout the poem. The scenario constructed leads the audience to presuppose that an entity such as the flower should necessarily face such perils. When in fact the connotative effect is the exact opposite. If one continues down the poem to the next line she projects human emotions upon the flower when she seemingly exclaims that it is a “happy” flower. This provides an additional example of embedded irony in that the plant is being fraught with challenges yet it is happy. The projection also depicts human kinds adept ability ...

Show More
Related

  • The Flower Rhetorical Devices

    232 Words  | 1 Pages

    To several humans, flowers are perceived as mere objects to collect, grow, or decorate houses, gardens, bodies, weddings, and funerals. But no one chooses flowers that are ugly, different, or strange such as broccoli. Individuals always select the ordinary things in life so that they may fit in with society’s needs such as roses. “Strange Fruit” by Abel Meeropol best projects this concept in his work through the continuous use of rhetorical devices such as fanciful juxtaposition and figurative allusions in comparison to “The Flowers” by Alice Walker.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Graded Paper By Mark Halliday

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the poem the teacher points out mistakes such as the student’s thinking, his style of writing the paper and his grammar errors. The teacher said, “there are spots/where your thinking becomes, for me, / alarmingly opaque, and you syntax/seems to jump backwards through unnecessary hoops,” (6-9). This instance shows the error the teacher found in the paper about how the student’s thinking was not straight and would jump backwards and forward throughout the poem. Another error that the teacher finds is when the teacher tells the student that he should have wrote the paper differently or said something else. The teacher said, “I’d have said it differently, / or rather, said something else” (17-18). This instance shows that the teacher is not happy about the way the student has written he paper and tells him that he should have wrote it differently. Another instance where the teacher finds mistake in the paper is when the teacher fixes the students semicolons mistake in the paper. The teacher says, “Please notice how I’ve repaired your/ use of semicolons.”(28).This instance shows that the teacher found a mistake of semicolons, which the student did not use correctly in the paper. However, even after finding all these mistakes the teacher gives A- as an overall grade to the student. This is an example of an irony that shows that the teacher not only gave negative comments to the student, but after giving negative comments

    Read More

  • What Does Emily Dickinson Represent Individualism

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most are afraid of being themselves around other people because they are constantly thinking that someone is judging them. People should not be afraid to be themselves around others because no should be ashamed for who they really are. Many poets write about being yourself and overcoming issues like that. So, American authors portray individualism by being yourself, keeping the little things in mind, and to trust oneself. First, Dickinson and Washington use short, simple phrases which give individual power; they tell the readers individualism is being yourself.

    Read More

  • Emily Dickinson's Obsession with Death

    2687 Words  | 6 Pages

    Emily Dickinson's Obsession with Death. Emily Dickinson became legendary for her preoccupation with death. All her poems contain stanzas focusing on loss or loneliness, but the most striking ones talk particularly about death, specifically her own death and her own afterlife. Her fascination with the morose gives her poems a rare quality, and gives us insight into a mind we know very little about. What we do know is that Dickinson’s father left her a small amount of money when she was young.

    Read More

  • Emily Dickinson's Point Of View On Conformity

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    The late president John F. Kennedy once said, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” Although many may find comfort by endorsing conformity, some may disagree and think otherwise. President JFK highlighted his point of view by describing conformity as the enemy of a liberal and advanced society. In order to shed a better light onto conformity, we ought to ask ourselves questions like, why do most of us submit to the power of conformity? How does conformity shape our personal lives and our society? And most importantly the consequences that may reflect on our lives if we decided to go against conformity. In her poem, Emily Dickinson, “Much Madness is Divinest Sense” attempted to send a powerful message about conformity.

    Read More

  • The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost

    959 Words  | 2 Pages

    On the surface the poem seems to be a meditation on past events and actions, a contemplative reflection about what has gone on before. Research into the poem informs us that the poem is written with a sense of irony

    Read More

  • Loss of Innocence in The Flowers, by Alice Walker

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although imagery and symbolism does little to help prepare an expected ending in “The Flowers” by Alice Walker, setting is the singular element that clearly reasons out an ending that correlates with the predominant theme of how innocence disappears as a result of facing a grim realism from the cruel world. Despite the joyous atmosphere of an apparently beautiful world of abundant corn and cotton, death and hatred lies on in the woods just beyond the sharecropper cabin. Myop’s flowers are laid down as she blooms into maturity in the face of her fallen kinsman, and the life of summer dies along with her innocence. Grim realism has never been so cruel to the innocent children.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Emily Dickinson's I Felt a Funeral in My Brain

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    This poem is very interesting in many aspects because it reminds me of a person that I use to know. In my life I have met people just like Emily Dickinson who were mentally depressed and very unsociable. In this poem it shows how unstable her mind was in words that she wrote in her poems. I do not want people to get me wrong she was a very smart woman it was said that she attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, it also said that she was one of the best poets of all times. I do not understand were she went wrong because she lived a normal childhood in which she was very bright, witty, friendly to people, she had friends, and she went to parties. So where did she go wrong? By her early 30's she began to separate herself from everyone, even the people who she obviously loved had to speak with her from the other side of a closed door. In her life it was that she was in love with some man who died this maybe her for become very depressed. Emily Dickinson was very suicidal (meaning she tried to kill her many times, but was afraid of what it would be like).

    Read More

  • Analysis of After Great Pain A Formal Feeling Comes by Emily Dickinson

    474 Words  | 1 Pages

    Bringing reference her off syllable lines, the author of Dickinson's Fascicles, says the first stanza is held together by the structured iambic pentameter, in addition to using rhyming couplets as in, ?Bore? and ?before.? Due to Dickinson?s submergence in nature, she emphasizes organic matter, with both her use and capitalization of ?Heart? and ?Nerves.? Although she draws attention to those of which are organic, she shifts to emphasize those of which are inorganic, for those of ?Ground,? ?Air,? and ?Quartz.? Analyzing the two four syllable lines, ?A Wooden way/Regardless grown? (7-8), the way can be viewed as an insincere mourning path that society attempts to set individuals toward to cope with their emotions during troubled times. Wood, even though an organic matter is used negatively here to describe an artificial reconstruction of this natural element into a coffin. Looking further at an inorganic element, quartz, it signifies the sharp pain of a loss.

    Read More

  • William Cullen Bryant Examines Nature

    786 Words  | 2 Pages

    "The Yellow Violet" vividly expresses the nature of life in a very simple way. Bryant takes the cycle of a yellow violet and uses it to describe the humanistic world around him. It is very clever, too, that when he does this, he uses personification. A "modest flower" (2674) pops out from the dark, damp leaves below and "[makes] the woods of April bright" (2675). While the rest of the forests and fields go on with their life cycle this tiny flower does itsí best to make things pretty and happy. The persona describes this sight as an "early smile" (2675) and that is what kept a smile on his own face. Even the various blooms and colors that surface in May are not as joyful because when the violet blooms, it is the first color you see after a long winter of gray. This modesty of the meek flower is compared to that of a person. It's usually the poorer, less known people in the world that are the ones who really cheer you up. They will never let you down. As the persona in the poem points out, "So they, who climb to wealth, forget" (2675). This is the most important line of the entire poem. It is basically saying that those who are wrapped up in material things are just th...wrapped up. They are not dependable. Thus, the yellow violet is the modest person, which are far and few, who you can always count on to stand by you in the end and brighten up your day. This is the illustration of the nature of life.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Irony In Annabel Lee

    887 Words  | 2 Pages

    Irony is an effective way for a poem, playwright or author to lighten an otherwise dark or cryptic story while simultaneously putting emphasis the story’s dark elements; in its obvious absence, the darkness of the story becomes more apparent. This is effective in many poems, such “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe, which is about the death of a childhood lover. The persona, assumed to be male, highlights the youth of the his lover, Annabel Lee, referring to her as “this maiden” (Poe line 3) and “a child” (line 7) to underline the fact that she died too young and too soon. He blames this on the angels, who “coveted” (line 12) them and their love. Poe uses irony to contrast, and, therefore, puts emphasis on, the negative circumstances surrounding Annabel Lee’s death by retelling the events in an idyllic tone. Poe’s irony is successful due to his employment of diction and rhyme, which cause the poem to emulate the sing-song style of a nursery rhyme.

    Read More

  • Loneliness in Works of Emily Dickinson

    1211 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the poems of Emily Dickinson, there are many instances in which she refers to her seclusion and loneliness, and how wonderful the two can be. In a book entitled, Emily Dickenson: Singular Poet, by Carl Dommermuth, she writes: "She (Dickinson) apparently enjoyed a normal social life as a school girl, but in later years would seldom leave her home. She was passionate yet distant." This distance Dommermuth speaks of is quite evident in Dickinson's works. Dickinson not only loves her loneliness but also feels as though she cannot live without it.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis of Emily Dickinson's Poetry

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    Literary Analysis of Emily Dickinson's Poetry. Emily Dickinson is one of the most famous authors in American history, and a good amount of that can be attributed to her uniqueness in writing. In Emily Dickinson's poem 'Because I could not stop for Death,' she characterizes her overarching theme of Death differently than it is usually described through the poetic devices of irony, imagery, symbolism, and word choice. Emily Dickinson likes to use many different forms of poetic devices and Emily's use of irony in poems is one of the reasons they stand out in American poetry. In her poem 'Because I could not stop for Death,' she refers to 'Death' in a good way.

    Read More

  • Emily Dickinson's Quote Interpretation

    432 Words  | 1 Pages

    Emily Dickinson is an author, that once wrote a quote I felt was very puzzling. I read the quote quite a few times, when finally I understood the message the author was trying to get across. The quote is " A word is dead When it is said, I say, it just Begins to live that day." Due to my personal experiences, I can say I agree and disagree with this quote. I believe what ones says may be immortal or may die out once said, but it all depends on your audience. It also depends on how you combine the words together, if using more than one. Another important factor would be how powerful the words are. Two words can have the same meaning, but when said, one may sound weaker than another. As for example, if you go deep into the roots of the words hate and dislike you'd see they both carry the same meaning, yet hate sounds a lot stronger and more powerful than dislike.

    Read More

  • Psychoanalytic Criticism on Emily Dickinson

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    Psychological criticism is known as the type of criticism that analyses the writer’s work within the realms of Freud’s psychological theories. Such approach can be used when trying to reconstruct an author’s position throughout their literary writings, as well as understanding whom the author was and how their mind created such works. When considering the work of Emily Dickinson, psychoanalytic criticism comes into play with the role of explaining the many meanings behind her poetry, as to make the reader relate to such poetry on a deeper level or not to who she was as a human being.

    Read More

More about Emily Dickinson's Disdain for Egotistical Human Beings

Open Document