000 10/21/2025 Dickinson Intro

Multiple Choice

Where was Emily Dickinson born?

• Boston, Massachusetts

• Amherst, Massachusetts

• Springfield, Massachusetts

• Cambridge, Massachusetts

Multiple Choice

How did Emily Dickinson's approach to publishing her poetry differ from her prolific writing?

• She published most of her poems during her lifetime.

• She refused to let anyone read her poems.

• She wrote nearly 2,000 poems but only about 10 were published while she was alive.

• She published all her poems anonymously.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best describes why Emily Dickinson became reclusive and how it influenced her poetry?

• She was forced into isolation by her family, which led her to write poetry about loneliness & family trauma.

• She chose solitude to focus on her writing, finding community in her poetry & correspondence.

• She was ill and unable to leave her home, so she wrote poetry to pass the time.

• She disliked people and wrote poetry to criticize society.

Multiple Choice

What role did Thomas Wentworth Higginson play in Emily Dickinson's literary career?

• He was her main competitor and discouraged her from writing.

• He was a literary critic who recognized her talent and encouraged her to keep writing.

• He published all of her poems during her lifetime.

• He ignored her letters and never responded.

Multiple Choice

When Emily Dickinson died, what significant discovery did her sister Lavinia make?

• Lavinia found Emily's diary detailing her life experiences.
• Lavinia discovered Emily's collection of nearly 1,800 poems.
• Lavinia discovered a collection of Emily's letters to friends.
• Lavinia inherited Emily's collection of paintings and sketches.

Multiple Select

Which themes are most commonly found in Emily Dickinson's poetry? Select all that apply.

• Death and immortality

• Nature and solitude

• Fame and privacy

• Political revolution

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best describes Emily Dickinson's unique poetic voice?

• Conversational yet mysterious

• Strictly formal and traditional

• Detached and impersonal

• Overly dramatic and emotional

Multiple Choice

How did Dickinson's use of dashes affect the reading experience of her poetry?

• It created pauses and dramatic emphasis

• It made her poems difficult to understand

• It followed traditional punctuation rules

• It removed suspense from her poems

Fill in the Blank

Dickinson capitalized nouns that were important to her ___.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following are purposes of Dickinson's use of Capitalization in her poetry?

• To obscure the meaning of the text.
• To follow traditional grammar rules.
• To emphasize important words and convey emotional intensity.
• To create a rhythmic pattern in the poem.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is a distinctive feature of Emily Dickinson's poetic voice?

• Use of unconventional punctuation and capitalization

• Writing lengthy epic poems

• Frequent references to Greek mythology

• Strict adherence to traditional rhyme schemes

Multiple Choice

Quote: "I'm Nobody! Who are you? / Are you – Nobody – too?"

What does Dickinson's narrative voice accomplish in these opening lines?

• She creates a formal, distant tone that separates her from readers

• She establishes an immediate, conversational connection with readers who might feel the same way

• She demonstrates her superior intelligence through complex vocabulary

• She complains loudly about being ignored by society

Multiple Choice

Quote: "They shut me up in Prose – / As when a little Girl / They put me in the Closet –"

How does Dickinson's narrative voice use personal experience to make a larger point about poetry?

• She celebrates the joy of being forced to write in prose instead of poetry

• She uses a childhood memory to show how constraining traditional writing feels

• She demonstrates that girls should always obey their parents' rules

• She proves that closets are the best places for writing poetry

Multiple Choice

Quote: "The Soul selects her own Society – / Then – shuts the Door –"

What does Dickinson's authoritative narrative voice suggest about individual choice?

• People should always keep their doors open to everyone

• Society makes all important decisions for individuals

• The individual has complete power to choose their relationships

• Doors are very expensive and should be used sparingly

Multiple Choice

Quote: "How dreary – to be – Somebody! / How public – like a Frog –"

How does Dickinson's narrative voice use humor to criticize fame?

• She suggests that famous people are actually very private

• She compares celebrities to croaking frogs to mock public attention-seeking

• She proves that frogs make the best pets for famous people

• She demonstrates that being somebody is always wonderful

Multiple Choice

Quote: "The Soul unto itself / Is an imperial friend – / Or the most agonizing Spy –"

What does Dickinson's paradoxical narrative voice reveal about self-knowledge?

• People are always their own best friends

• Spies are more trustworthy than friends

• The self can be both one's greatest ally and worst enemy

• Imperial friends are better than regular friends

Multiple Choice

Quote: "I heard a Fly buzz – when I died –"

How does Dickinson's matter-of-fact narrative voice create an unusual effect?

• She makes death seem terrifying and dramatic

• She speaks about death as casually as discussing the weather

• She proves that flies are very important insects

• She demonstrates that buzzing sounds are always annoying

Multiple Choice

Quote: "There is a solitude of space / A solitude of sea / A solitude of Death"

How does Dickinson's cataloging technique in her narrative voice build meaning?

• She randomly lists things that start with the letter 'S'

• She builds from physical to emotional isolation to show increasing intensity

• She proves that space and sea are exactly the same thing

• She demonstrates that death is less important than oceans

Multiple Choice

Quote: "Himself has but to will / And easy as a Star / Look down upon Captivity – / And laugh"

How does Dickinson's confident narrative voice present the poet's power?

• She shows that poets are weak and easily imprisoned

• She demonstrates that stars are funnier than poets

• She presents the creative spirit as unconquerable and free

• She proves that laughing at captivity is always rude

Open Ended

Quote: "They might as wise have lodged a Bird / For Treason – in the Pound –"

Question: How does Emily Dickinson's narrative voice use this metaphor to explain why creative people cannot be silenced? In your response, explain what the "Bird" represents and why the comparison to "Treason" is significant. Write 3-4 sentences that show understanding of how Dickinson's voice works in this poem.