Emily Dickinson Poems ⮚ The Soul Selects Her Own Society ● Line 1 Personification to give the soul human attributes and to make a larger point about human nature ● These details imply a lack of concern for, or interest in, the opinions and cares of the society as a whole ● The poet uses personification to portray a certain detachment in the choices the Soul makes ● What two situations cause the soul to be unmoved? ● Chariots pausing at her low gate, Emperor kneeling upon her mat ● What do you associate with Chariots and Emperors? ● Wealth, power, authority, station in life ● What pronunciation is repeated? ● Dashes. Their repetition causes the readers to pause and put emphasis on key words and phrases ● Gate and Mat: slant rhyme or words in which the final sound is similar but not identical ● Imagery of a heart – the valves if the heart ● Simile with “Valves of her attention -” used to emphasize or make the ending dramatic ● The fact that the chariots are described as “pausing” and the emperor “kneeling”, makes it seem like these symbols of wealth and power are really trying to her attention, though the soul remains unmoved ● What generalization can you make about the society or company of the soul prefers? ● The soul prefers her own, not people of power or influence; if she is unmoved by these, she probably prefers the opposite: down-to-earth ● These Details imply a lack of concern for, or in ● The poem portrays withdrawal from society ● The individual is unconcerned with what surrounds him, therefore, it shows independence ● A sense of a need to be self-reliant, withdraws and becomes non-existent to the world ● Nothing should impact the decision of withdrawal (hyperbole that means even an emperor can be rejected by her) ● Select your identity and exclude the surrounding world ● Valves of her attention: the individual could only concern with his/her self ● Satisfaction: She is satisfied with herself and casts away the entire world ⮚ The Soul unto Itself ● The conflict is with the self; the soul can either be a friend or foe (Enemy) ● The inner itself knows our vulnerability and weaknesses, what makes our greatest enemy ● Sovereignty is what makes us secure and protects us ● What can you infer from the paradoxical descriptions in the first stanza? Dickinson seems to be saying that the soul can betray us or be our best help ● Why did the poet include these details? Dickinson is reflecting upon the deepest feelings of human beings, which she says will have their way, regardless of what our more superficial selves decide ● In this poem, Emily Dickinson is showing your soul as your conscience. She is saying your soul can either be your best friend, or your worst enemy. It will ALWAYS know what you are doing or thinking, and the fact that you certainly know whether it is right or wrong. You should not be concerned that it will betray you. It will never tell your secrets or reveal your true feelings, it will ALWAYS remain loyal. The soul should be amazed and thankful for this relationship that it can always depend on. ● The inner itself knows our vulnerability and weakness what makes it our greatest enemy. ● Sovereignty is what makes us secure and protects us

⮚ Fame Is a Fickle Food ● When they know fame is not what it seems to be, that it is not worth it, they laugh and fly off to the farmer/s corn ● The crows decide to eat something that is nourishing ● Only humans are foolish enough to “eat” fame instead of something worthwhile. “Man eat of it and die” emphasizes how those who pursue fame do not benefit from it. People go after fame thinking that there are only profits to it, however, fame has its many downfalls. ● Question: the author repeats these sounds to emphasize words and ideas in the poem. Conclude the repeated sounds contribute to the cadence and rhythm of the poem, but they also add a harshness to the tone of the poem. ● The “they” mentioned is that of parental or authoritative power that is keeping Dickinson from speaking or writing her mind since she is a woman in the 19th century. It could also be that the “they” are so simple that they can only think in prose. ● Symbolizes the limitations set on women caused by expectations. (Women were expected to marry and give birth to children) this imposes that the speaker felt silenced - her words were locked up - when she had to write prose because poetry is her only form of true or free expression. ● “Prose” which refers to writing that's not poetry, is here a metaphor for the boring, restrictive, and “prosaic” codes of society, including those that expect women (like the speaker) to be quiet and obedient. ● Emily compares the “they” are confining her to when she was younger, and they put her in the closet for acting out. ● “They” supposedly referred to the parental guardians that she lived with. The closet was supposed to act like a punishment. They liked her still because they did not want her to speak or speak her mind and wanted her to behave. ● Her mind held more knowledge and power than they ever could possess. Although they have physically restrained her, she seems to remain in control through her superior mind. ● Line 6 Metaphor, Dickinson again compares her being shut up to a bird being put away in the pound. ⮚ They Shut Me Up in Prose ● If the bird (locked in the pound) just thinks to leave all it would have to do is fly. It would be so easy to do that the bird would just laugh at how easy it was and at its captors. ● Diction: In this poem, Dickinson's word choice shows the negative connotation for her experience, (example: treason, pound, shut me up, captivity) but then once she realizes that she can break free, she seems to laugh at them (example: easy as a star, laugh no more) which can inspire readers. ● Theme: is repeated and seen multiple times. It is to not blindly follow what you are told to be, and that if needed you can break out of these bonds through perseverance and rebellion. ⮚ There Is a Solitude of Space ● Paraphrase: There are many kinds of solitude. For every solitude in the society of solitudes, there is a solitude that is profounder, one that is different- has a different polarity. And that is a soul admitted to itself: oneness, that is finite, one, yet infinite, and endless. ● The overall message of this poem is that we are all alone, and once we understand and reflect on how alone we really are, we will never feel alone when we are amongst others and don't have to be by ourselves, within ourselves, looking at that "finite infinity" of space we call the soul. You can choose to follow the crowd of loneliness, or you can find greater depth within yourself. ● Profounder: genuine, different; extreme, deep ● Definition Of Society: the situation of being in the company of other people. ● This poem presents human understanding as something boundless or unlimited, unlike "They Shut Me Up in Prose" which presents it as something small and limited. ● Uses an oxymoron (Finite infinity) to explain how the mind and physical qualities a person might show can be completely different yet complement each other so well.

● Tone: is depressed and open. This because Dickinson is describing her sad life in a very revealing and in-depth kind of way. ● Repetition: Dickinson frequently repeats the word "solitude"; this illustrates her loneliness because the repetition puts continual emphasis on the word "solitude." ● Oxymoron (a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction): "finite infinity"- finite refers to boundaries or limits while infinity refers to no limits. ● Polar privacy: Two extreme sides of solitude, either alone or with people. ● Why does the speaker make a point of identifying different types of solitude? (The speaker names these forms of solitude as a comparison to the solitude of soul.) ● Conclude: What is the effect of these details? (These details provide images of isolation, but the speaker uses them as examples that pale in comparison to the "polar privacy" of the soul.) ● This poem is trying to convey the fact that there are situations and places where one can be alone. Society can provide a solitude of space, meaning you can be alone and able to reflect in different spaces throughout the world, such as the "sea." Then, there is the solitude of death, which is a removal from society entirely and the perpetual solitude of the grave. ● Dickinson says that all these types of solitude, when compared with that profonde site, "That polar privacy, " which is "A soul admitted to itself" - you'll find a different kind of solitude, one that possesses "Finite infinity." The key here is a "soul admitted to itself." meaning when you allow your soul or inner self to look inside itself, you'll understand the true nature of solitude, of being truly alone, without the illusion of being with anyone or anything. This discovery can be attributed to feeling lonely compared to a huge world surrounding you, and/or it can be a mental loneliness. ● Throughout the poem, Dickinson is dealing with a sense of solitude, whether from someone close to her dying, leaving, or simply ignoring what she thinks, says or does. She deals with this by analyzing what being alone is all about and ends with the realization that we are all alone, and once we understand how alone we really are, we will never feel alone when we are amongst others and don't have to be by ourselves, within ourselves, looking at that "finite infinity" of space we call the soul. ● Different Types of Solitude: ● Solitude of Space: The solitude of space represents the opportunity for one to find a moment of loneliness to reflect on himself in different places throughout the world. It also represents an opportunity for one to feel depression while individually reflecting on how insignificant he is compared to the large universe. ● Solitude of Sea: The solitude of sea is a great example of an open environment where one can go to be alone and reflect. It is also symbolizing the sea of humanity which can represent one getting lost in a crowd and becoming alone. ● Solitude of Death: The solitude of death represents a quiet and dark space where one can reflect individually and feel lonely as he is forever alone. ● Images: ● The solitude of space, sea and death are forms of imagery used in the poem because they provide the mental images of different forms of spaces where one can feel lonely and reflect. These images provide the basis for the whole poem to be able to compare the different places where one can experience the same feeling of loneliness. ⮚ I’m Nobody Who Are You ● Summary: ● The poem begins with an introduction from the speaker, who announces themselves as “Nobody!”. ● They ask the identity of the addressee—which could be the reader—and if they’re "Nobody" too. ● Presumably learning that the addressee is "Nobody" too, the speaker expresses that together they make a “pair” of “Nobodies.” ● The speaker instructs the addressee not to tell anyone about this, because other people would make a fuss— which, the speaker implies, is something the addressee already knows. ● The speaker then talks about how boring it would be to be a “Somebody.” ● It would leave nothing private. The speaker likens being a somebody to being a frog.

● “Somebodies” spend their time talking themselves up to anyone who will give them attention and admire them, comparable to frogs making their noises in a swamp. ● "How" is an adverb and used as an intensive to emphasize or intensify the descriptive word it modifies: dreary or public. like "how nice" or "how awful" ● Dreary: dull; boring; lifeless; depressing. ● What does the speaker say is dreary? (To be somebody). ● What does the speaker say is public? (To tell your name the livelong june to an admiring bog). ● Is being public a good thing, and how do you know? (No, everything after it in the stanza seems negative.) ● Somebody is compared to a Frog. Why is this comparison effective? (a frog croaks all throughout the month of June in a swamp; the poet is using this comparison to show that someone who is "Somebody" brags and is self-important, yet the effect is minimal as the "audience," like the frog's, is simply a bog, or a swamp.) ● Given the comparison, what can you infer about why the speaker prefers to be Nobody? (Nobody is private, not public, and probably more interesting than someone who is only self-interested.) ● Livelong: (of a period) entire. ● Bog: Swamp ● Analysis: (First Stanza) ● In the first line of ‘I’m Nobody! Who are you?’, the speaker exclaims that she is “Nobody”. The use of the exclamation mark reveals that the speaker is excited to be nobody. This is ironic because most people would like to be known as somebody. Thus, it strikes the reader as somewhat odd that this speaker says that she is nobody in a voice of exclamation. She is rather excited to be “Nobody”. The second part of the first line reveals that the speaker is meeting someone else. She exclaims her identity as “nobody” to that person, and asks the person, “Who are you?”. Then, in line two, the speaker asks in a hopeful voice, “Are you- Nobody- too?” The speaker seems to be hoping to have met another person who is also “nobody”. In line three, she exclaims, “Then there’s a pair of us!”. She is clearly excited to have met another person who claims to be nobody. The speaker then admonishes her hearer not to tell anyone about the two of them each being “nobody”, exclaiming, “They’d advertise- you know!”. This reveals that the speaker was clearly afraid of being found out. She enjoyed having no fame and no recognition, and she feared that if someone found out that she loved being “nobody” they would advertise her and make into “somebody”, and she dreaded that. ● Analysis: (Second Stanza) ● In this stanza, the speaker explains to her hearer exactly why she does not wish to be anybody. She says that it would be “dreary-to be- Somebody”. She prefers to be left alone. She fears becoming someone “public” and describes a public person as being “like a frog”. It seems odd that the speaker would compare a public person to a frog. Perhaps this is because frogs live out in the open, resting on lily pads in ponds. Perhaps this is because frogs can be loud and will croak, reminding everyone of their presence. The last two lines of ‘I’m Nobody! Who are you?’ reveal the speaker’s disgust at the idea of living her life to tell of her own name “to an admiring bog”. A “bog” describes a place in which a frog might live. This gives further insight into the speaker’s comparison of a public person to a frog. Although the frog croaks constantly, it tells of its existence only to the bog. No one seems to hear it or care that it croaks about its own existence. Therefore, the speaker does not wish to be known or advertised by anyone. She believes it would be as though she were telling of herself to a “bog”. No one would be there to care or listen, and she would feel as foolish as a croaking frog. ⮚ Comprehension Check ❖ Page 179 1. In “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” -, what leaves the soul “unmoved”? ("Her divine majority" leaves the soul unmoved) 2. In “The Soul unto Itself”, of what does the speaker say the Soul should stand in awe? (It should stand in awe of itself.) 3. In “Fame Is a Fickle Food”, what food do the crows prefer to the crumbs left by fame?

(They prefer the farmer's corn.) 4. In “They Shut Me Up in Prose -,” why do “they” put the little girl in the closet? (To be still) 5. According to the speaker in “There Is a Solitude If Space,” is death the deepest type of solitude? (No, the deepest is the solitude of soul) 6. According to the speaker in “IM Nobody! Who Are You?” what would be “dreary”? (To be Somebody) ❖ Page 180: 1. In “The Soul selects her own Society-,” what choice does the Soul make? Interpret What happens after the soul makes her choice? Generalize What is the soul’s attitude towards the word’s attractions? a) She decides who to include in her own society b) She shuts the door to the rest c) Unmoved 2. Compare and Contrast How are the souls in “The soul Selects Her Own Society-” and the “The Soul unto Itself” alike and different? Explain. Both souls are selective about whom they accept. In the second poem, the soul stands alone; in the first, it admits only a select few. 3. Interpret In “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” How does the speaker feel about receiving attention? Connect Identity two other poems in this grouping that express similar tension between the private self and a social, or public, self. Explain your choices. a) The speaker doesnt want attention b) The “the soul selects her own society” and “fame is a fickle food” both express similar tensions. In the first, the soul selects her society and shuts the door to the rest; in the second, men eat “food” of fame and die. 4. Essential Question: W hat role does individualism play in American Society? What have you learned about the nature of individualism from reading these poems? Individualism does not always mean standing out. People who are private and introspective can show individualism too.