Emily Dickinson
(Questions-Answers & Interesting
facts)
1.
When and where was Emily Dickinson born?
-
Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst,
Massachusetts, United States on December 10, 1830
2.
How many poems had Dickinson written,
during her lifetime?
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Dickinson had written nearly 1,800 poems and
one letter, during her lifetime.
3.
What are the dominant themes in many of
her poems?
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The dominant themes in many of her poems are of
death and immortality, aesthetics, society, nature and spirituality.
4.
What is special about her poetic-style?
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Her poems were unique for her era. They
follow conventional poetic rules, contain short lines, lack titles, and often
use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation.
5.
Who was Lavinia?
-
Lavinia was Emily’s younger sister, who after
Emily’s death in 1886, discovered her cache of poems and made them public.
Interesting
facts:
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Dickinson spent much of her life in
isolation.
-
She had an inclination for white clothing.
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Most of her friendships with others depended entirely
upon correspondence.
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Her first collection of poetry was published
in 1890.
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Eleven of Dickinson's poems were dedicated to
her sister-in-law, Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson.
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A complete, and mostly unaltered, collection
of her poetry made available, for the first time by Thomas H. Johnson, in 1955.
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Her brother, Austin and her younger sister,
Lavinia were intellectual companions for Dickinson during her lifetime.
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Dickinson’s poetry was heavily influenced by
the Metaphysical poets of seventeenth-century England, her reading of the Book
of Revelation and her upbringing in a Puritan New England town.
-
Emily was a well-behaved girl and had
affinity for music, particularly for the piano.
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Dickinson studied English, classical
literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy," and
arithmetic at the Amherst Academy.
-
Emily's strongest and most affectionate
relationship was with her sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert.
-
Susan played the role of "most beloved
friend, influence, muse, and adviser" for Dickinson.
- The relationship between Emily and Susan is portrayed in the film Wild Nights with Emily and explored in the TV series Dickinson.
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