Emily Dickinson Poetry Analysis

Which statement best explains the situation in “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died –”?

• The speaker describes the moment of death through the eyes of a fly on the wall.

• The speaker describes the moment of death, but after the speaker has already died.

• The speaker is resting on her deathbed, surrounded by loved ones.

• The speaker is imagining what her death scene might be like.

In “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” what does the speaker compare to a frog?

• someone who enjoys being noticed

• someone who is hiding from the world

• someone who feels inferior to other people

• someone who disturbs the speaker’s solitude

In “They shut me up in Prose –,” what does the speaker compare to being shut up “in Prose”?

• being put into a closet as a little girl

• being a stray dog sent to the pound

• telling a young girl to wish on a star

• teaching a little bird to recite poetry

This question has 2 parts, answer this one and then the following one.

Part A: Considered altogether, what do the details in these examples of the poetry of Emily Dickinson suggest most clearly about her attitude toward society?

• She enjoys breaking the rules of the society of her day.

• She prefers being a private person, not a public one.

• She yearns to be a successful, world-famous poet.

• She is very sad to be alone but too shy to change.

This is the second part to the previous question.

Part B: Which quotation from the poems best supports the answer to Part A?

• Whose table once a / Guest but not / The second time is set (from “Fame is a fickle food”)

• Still! Could themself have peeped – / And seen my Brain – go round – (from “They shut me up in Prose –”)

• The Eyes around – had wrung them dry – (from “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died”)

• Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know! (from “I’m Nobody! Who are you?”)

The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A In “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died –,” what do the details suggest most clearly about death?

• The company of loved ones makes death easier to bear.

• The rituals of death vary from one culture to another.

• Death may not happen as we expect it to occur.

• Death is a blessed release from life’s cares.

Part B Which quotation from “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died –” best supports the answer to Part A?

• The Stillness in the Room / Was like the Stillness in the Air – / Between the Heaves of Storm –

• The Eyes around – had wrung them dry – / And Breaths were gathering firm

• There interposed a Fly – / With Blue – uncertain – stumbling Buzz –

• And then the Windows failed – and then / I could not see to see –

Which line from the selections is the best example of Dickinson’s use of paradox?

• Fame is a fickle food / Upon a shifting plate (from “Fame is a fickle food”)

• They put me in the Closet – / Because they liked me “still” – (from “They shut me up in Prose –”)

• A soul admitted to itself – / Finite Infinity (from “There is a solitude of space”)

• How dreary – to be – Somebody! / How public – like a Frog – (from “I’m Nobody! Who are you?”)

What is the central paradox presented in “I’m Nobody! Who are you?”

• the idea that a person can be nobody

• the idea that a frog makes noise in a bog

• the idea that some people like to advertise themselves

• the idea that no one enjoys being considered a nobody