"Hope is a thing with feathers" by Emily Dickinson

"HOPE IS A THING WITH FEATHERS"

by Emily Dickinson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her family was well known in Amherst. Her father was a lawyer, and her grandfather had helped found Amherst College.

• In the early 1860s Dickinson sent a few poems to a literary man to ask for his advice. He thought they were good, but he told her not to publish them. Although some friends later tried to get her to publish her poems, she chose not to.

Multiple Choice

Where did she live the majority of her life?

• Boston, Massachusetts

• Washington, DC

• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Amherst, Massachusetts

Multiple Choice

What time period was she alive?

• 1800s

• 1750s

• 1600s

• 1900s

• Dickinson lived a very quiet life with her parents and her younger sister in the family home. She started writing poems in the 1850s.

• In the early 1860s Dickinson sent a few poems to a literary man to ask for his advice. He thought they were good, but he told her not to publish them. Although some friends later tried to get her to publish her poems, she chose not to.

• She died on May 15, 1886, in Amherst. Her family then discovered that she had collected many of her poems in small books. She made the books by sewing together several sheets of paper. Her sister had some of the poems published. All of her poems finally appeared in 1955. Her letters have also been published.

Multiple Choice

Emily Dickinson was born, died, and buried in Amherst, Massachusetts.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Emily Dickinson was outgoing and social.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Emily Dickinson was famous for the seven poems she wrote.

• True

• False

• Emily Dickinson

" I dwell in possibility. " 

dwell: live in or at a specified place.

“Hope is the thing with feathers”

by Emily Dickinson

Multiple Choice

How many stanzas does this poem have?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

Multiple Choice

Each stanza of this poem has how many lines?

• 3

• 4

• 12

Multiple Choice

What is the rhyme scheme in the second stanza?

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard-

And sore must be the storm-

That could abash the little Bird-

That kept so many warm

• aabb

• abac

• abab

• No rhyme scheme

Multiple Choice

What does Dickinson compare Hope to?

• a heart

• a butterfly

• a bird

ABOUT THE POEM

• Hope is the major theme that runs throughout the poem. Emily says that hope resides in the hearts for good. It liberates us from despair and gives us the strength to move on. It only empowers us and, in return, demands nothing. Briefly, as the sole theme of this poem, hope has been personified to show its importance to weak souls.

• The poem “Hope is the thing with feathers” shows Dickinson’s strong commitment to positivity. She says that every soul, whether it is low or high, has hope in it. It stays alive and works when a person experiences low moments in life.

Multiple Choice

Hope is all of these in “Hope is the thing with feathers” EXCEPT which?

• Hope can always reach you.

• Hope has motivational words.

• Hope is deep inside you.

• Hope sings nonstop to inspire or uplift you.

Multiple Choice

What does Dickinson compare Hope to?

• a heart

• a butterfly

• a bird

Multiple Choice

A theme of this poem is most likely

• Hope can help us get through the tough times life throws our way

• Listening to music can help us get through storms

• Hope is something that can leave us when we need it most

• Birds provide hope to many people

Multiple Choice

According to the last line of the poem hope _________.

• Is selfish and does not give

• Needs crumbs to survive

• Gives and asks for nothing in return

• Is a bird that eats crumbs when it is hungry

EXTENDED METAPHOR

• Using extended metaphor, the poem portrays hope as a bird that lives within the human soul; this bird sings come rain or shine, gale or storm, good times or bad. The poem argues that hope is miraculous and almost impossible to defeat. Furthermore, hope never asks for anything in return—it costs nothing for people to maintain hope. By extension, then, “Hope is the thing with feathers” implores its readers to make good use of hope—and to see it as an essential, deeply valuable part of themselves.

Multiple Choice

What is an Extended Metaphor .?

• An allegory

• A comparison

• A particularly long sentence with a metaphor in it .

• A metaphor which is developed in detail and throughout lines and sentences or line in a poem .

Multiple Choice

Why would an author use extended metaphor .?

• To provide a warning of something yet to come .

• To help the audience visualize the idea or story .

• To both create a stronger 'visual' experience and a stronger comparison .

• To create a stronger comparison between the two subjects .

Multiple Choice

1. Extended metaphor is a feature of a _________ that presents comparison over several lines throughout the poem

• epic poem

• lyric poem

• limerick

• “Hope” is commonly used to mean a wish : its strength is the strength of the person's desire. Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large.

• But in the Bible hope is the confident expectation of what God has promised and its strength is in His faithfulness. To live with hope is to cultivate good expectations.

• True hope comes from the One who created hope: God. True hope comes by trusting God even when circumstances are difficult. One way to know whether you’re trusting God is whether you’re obeying his Word. Trust produces obedience, which produces hope, which results in joy and peace; and that is the power of the Holy Spirit.

ABOUT HOPE

• "Hope doesn't let us down because God gives us love" Romans 5: 5

• "The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love." Psalm 147:11

• "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

• "That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe."1 Timothy 4:10

• "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."Isaiah 40:31

Bible verses about hope

Multiple Choice

Romans 15:13 ”May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with ____ by the power of the Holy Spirit"

• hope

• love

• joy

• expectation

Multiple Choice

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still ___________, Christ died for us.

• perfect

• sinners

• angels

• messy

Multiple Choice

Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Everyone hopes for something. It’s an inherent part of being a human being.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Hope is the belief that something beneficial is to come, the idea that what is currently seen is not the end of the story, but that something greater is ahead.

• True

• False

Multiple Select

Which can be an antonym for HOPE?

• despair

• trust

• optimism

• TO PERCH: to sit on or near the edge of something.

• This "Hope" bird “perches” in the soul, showing that the soul itself is hope’s home. Hope is thus directly linked with the human spirit, where it sings without ever stopping. This perseverance, then, is a representation of humanity’s infinite capacity for hope. Even in the depths of despair, the poem seems to say, people can still have hope—and this hope will sustain them.

​"Perches in the soul"

Multiple Choice

The word "perches" means __________________________.

• to put or place in a horizontal position or position of rest; set down

• sit somewhere, especially on something high or narrow

• to move or jerk suddenly, as from surprise or shock

• to produce melodious sounds

Multiple Choice

Where does the bird perch?

• on a branch

• in the soul

• on a window sill

GALE is a very strong wind.

• This new stanza picks up where the last one left off. The fancy poetic term for that is enjambment. And the idea that it continues is this: the hope-bird is always singing, and it sounds "sweetest" when there's bad weather going on.

• A gale is a storm, and that is when the bird’s song is sweetest.

​"in the Gale"

Multiple Choice

What is a Gale?

• a windy/strong storm

• a type of poem

• an article of clothing

Multiple Choice

The poet uses the words "gale" and "storm" as metaphors. What might these words represent?

• times of bad weather

• pleasant times

• times of success and growth

• hard or painful times

Multiple Choice

The poet says that hope "sings the tune without the words." Why might the poet have written that the tune has no words?

• to indicate that people who are always hopeful are also often forgetful

• to emphasize that hope does not need to be put into words to be felt

• to suggest that people are usually unable to understand the feeling of hope

• to point out that it is very difficult to express whether they feel hopeful or not

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is the best summary of the poem?

• Hope is like a hawk which consumes challenges like a hawk would attack a small bird.

• A hopeful bird travels through storms, over seas, and through cold lands and still survives.

• Hope is compared to a bird inside of people that never gives up even in the face of great challenges.

• A bird, although hopeful, starves and dies during a dangerous flight.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is the best generally worded

thematic message/lesson for this poem

• Hope is like a storm inside of people that blows powerfully through difficult times

• We should never expect hope to get us through the bad times.

• Hope can live on inside of people even when the challenges seem impossible to overcome.

Multiple Choice

The poet uses lines 11 & 12 to show what?

"yet, never, in extremity,

it asked a crumb of me?

• Nothing is for free; not even hope

• Hope does not require anything fro you to have it

• You have to work hard to have hope

• People feel bad or crummy if they don't have hope