English 11 Homework Help

[Degenerate39]

The teacher gave us an assignment today about Emily Dickinson. We were each given one of her poems and we must read the poem, write the general meanings of each line, analyze each line, and we have to relate the poem to her life.

I'm having trouble with all of the above. If you can help me it would be much appreciated or if you could send me a link to a website that would help it would also be appreciated.

Emily Dickinson - This is my letter to the World (441)

This is my letter to the World
That never wrote to Me--
The simple News that Nature told--
With tender Majesty

Her Message is committed
To Hands I cannot see--
For love of Her -- sweet -- countrymen --
Judge tenderly -- of Me.

This assignment is worth 200 points so I really need a good grade.

[OSUmed2010]

I was never very good at the poetry stuff... but if you ever need any help in math or science, I'm all over it!

Anyway, I'd suggest doing a quick google/wikipedia search for Dickenson or the title of the poem. You could probably find more than enough to get you started and on the right track. Here's the wiki article to get you started, it has some pretty good info on her life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Dickenson

Disclaimer: Wikipedia is written by users, so there really isn't a good way to judge whether or not the information is valid. So always check it against other stuff.
Disclaimer 2: Make sure you don't plaigarize off of websites! Plaigarism is the fastest way to fail.

[Degenerate39]

Originally Posted by OSUmed2010

I was never very good at the poetry stuff... but if you ever need any help in math or science, I'm all over it!

I'm taking Botany and Algebra 2 next year so that's where you can come in . I'm decent at math but terrible at science. I'm good at English but just not at poems.

[OSUmed2010]

Originally Posted by degenerate10

I'm taking Botany and Algebra 2 next year so that's where you can come in . I'm decent at math but terrible at science. I'm good at English but just not at poems.

Botany? That is the one that I have no experience whatsoever, outside of your normal college biology. I focused more on the good stuff in science... like human biology, physics, chemistry, etc. Wow... that probably sounds incredibly dorky, but it's served me well, lol.

[Degenerate39]

Originally Posted by OSUmed2010

Botany? That is the one that I have no experience whatsoever, outside of your normal college biology. I focused more on the good stuff in science... like human biology, physics, chemistry, etc. Wow... that probably sounds incredibly dorky, but it's served me well, lol.

We haven't done our schedules for next year yet but I was leaning towards Botany but I'm not sure which I'm going to take. I'd like to take Anatomy but Botany is easier or so my senior friends say.

[rotnoid]

Originally Posted by OSUmed2010

Botany? That is the one that I have no experience whatsoever, outside of your normal college biology. I focused more on the good stuff in science... like human biology, physics, chemistry, etc. Wow... that probably sounds incredibly dorky, but it's served me well, lol.

Ditto. Botany's for the real nerds.

[OSUmed2010]

Originally Posted by degenerate10

We haven't done our schedules for next year yet but I was leaning towards Botany but I'm not sure which I'm going to take. I'd like to take Anatomy but Botany is easier or so my senior friends say.

Botany may be easier, but I'd probably still suck at it cause it's so boring to me. I could never get excited about learning about plants. I mean c'mon... they're plants! They don't do anything. I took anatomy this fall, complete with a dissection of a cadaver... you probably won't get to do that in high school, but it was a mind-blowing experience. It makes you appreciate the intricacy of the human body on a whole new level.

But alas... I can remember being a high school senior and a college senior, and all I wanted to do by that point is take the easiest classes to graduate.

Senioritis is real. Embrace it, and enjoy it.

[paintmered]

Originally Posted by degenerate10

We haven't done our schedules for next year yet but I was leaning towards Botany but I'm not sure which I'm going to take. I'd like to take Anatomy but Botany is easier or so my senior friends say.

You may not want to hear this, but take it from someone two months away from college graduation. Do not go easy your senior year of high school - epecially when it comes to math and science. Kick your butt now, it will make your life easier next year.

[Handofdeath]

Originally Posted by degenerate10

The teacher gave us an assignment today about Emily Dickinson. We were each given one of her poems and we must read the poem, write the general meanings of each line, analyze each line, and we have to relate the poem to her life.

I'm having trouble with all of the above. If you can help me it would be much appreciated or if you could send me a link to a website that would help it would also be appreciated.



This assignment is worth 200 points so I really need a good grade.

I would suggest going to your library and getting a book that critiques her work. There is also a series called 19th Century Literary Criticism( or NCLC for short.) The library should have that. Two things that you should keep in mind. One, poetry meanings can be very subjective. There is not necessarily a right answer. Two, Emily Dickinson was a lonely and troubled woman. Now get off this website and do your homework!

[Degenerate39]

Originally Posted by paintmered

You may not want to hear this, but take it from someone two months away from college graduation. Do not go easy your senior year of high school - epecially when it comes to math and science. Kick your butt now, it will make your life easier next year.

I mean either way I'll get my 4th science credit that I need and I won't be using either one of the classes after high school. Except for college. I plan on pushing myself in math though.

[Falls City Beer]

Originally Posted by degenerate10

The teacher gave us an assignment today about Emily Dickinson. We were each given one of her poems and we must read the poem, write the general meanings of each line, analyze each line, and we have to relate the poem to her life.

I'm having trouble with all of the above. If you can help me it would be much appreciated or if you could send me a link to a website that would help it would also be appreciated.



This assignment is worth 200 points so I really need a good grade.

Dickinson's life was spent in almost complete seclusion in Amherst, Mass, and her works were only "discovered" posthumously. In many ways, she was achingly aware of the fact that her poetry would never reach a mass audience, largely because she was a woman. This was a painful fact for her. So in that sense, the "letter to the world" that "never wrote to" her was perhaps the way her art engaged a world that did not reciprocate; only Thomas Higginson and her sister-in-law Sue saw the main body of her work during her lifetime.

As far as explicating the poem itself, I would ask yourself a handful of questions: 1. Who is speaking to whom? 2. To what antecedents do the pronouns "Her" and "Me" refer? 3. Which lines/phrases might contain multiple/ambiguous meanings? Which are more certain? 4. Which words are repeated? Why are they repeated? 5. Which lines rhyme? Why? 6. Now obviously Dickinson used dashes constantly, but not without reason: why the flurry of dashes at the end? (Yes, even THEY are significant).

[reds44]

This should be right up my alley, but it's not.



Good luck.

[marcshoe]

You might want to mention that most of Emily's poems, including this one, can be sung to the tune of either "I'd like to teach the world to sing" or "Amazing Grace".





Or you might not.

[BoydsOfSummer]

Originally Posted by OSUmed2010

Botany may be easier, but I'd probably still suck at it cause it's so boring to me. I could never get excited about learning about plants. I mean c'mon... they're plants! They don't do anything. I took anatomy this fall, complete with a dissection of a cadaver... you probably won't get to do that in high school, but it was a mind-blowing experience. It makes you appreciate the intricacy of the human body on a whole new level.

But alas... I can remember being a high school senior and a college senior, and all I wanted to do by that point is take the easiest classes to graduate.

Senioritis is real. Embrace it, and enjoy it.

I'm in the Honors program and we dissect a cadaver in A&P that regular classes don't get to do. I can't wait. It's part of the reason I joined Honors. I'm twisted a little I reckon.

[zombielady]

Originally Posted by degenerate10

We were each given one of her poems and we must read the poem, write the general meanings of each line, analyze each line, and we have to relate the poem to her life.

I think that kinda defeats the purpose of poetry doesn't it? I mean, I'd hate for someone to analyze the poetry of my youth... oh the things they would think about me and my life!