David's Teaching Blog: AS ENGLISH LITERATURE - FEEDBACK EMILY DICKINSON

Here are some points in response to the timed essays I marked on 501.

In an introductory paragraph I expect that you will summarise the plot or substance of the poem, make a clear reference to the context of the poem - relate to other poems from the anthology studied, refer specifically to Dickinson's own life and refer to broader statements about religion - both personal to Dickinson, her family tradition and even broader statements about religion and society.
Make sure you understand the meanings of words you do not understand. The word 'rallies' is used here as a verb. It is a military term meaning to come back together or re group again to prepare for an attack. Is this a reference to the Civil War??
Once you have made an assertion in a topic sentence you must support it with evidence. A quotation!
It's really important to link together topic, quotation as well as identifying language features and their effect[s] on the reader
It's a good idea to decide before you start writing your answer what essay structure to use for this essay.

One safe structure could be to go through the poem chronologically. Pick up key points as you read down the poem - not every line but key images within lines
Another structure would be to take the poem subject by subject. Start with the most important and finish with the least.

It is really clear that some of you don't know these poems well enough to write strong confident or full length essays. Really take the trouble this week to read and annotte them for yourself. Fill out the sheet I gave you for each poem. Consider specifically the topic - what is Dickinson actually saying. Identify key words and phrases that communicate her topic and comment on the actual effect on the reader of these language features. Where you can link to context.

In this essay I'd expect you to refer to Marx's statement 'religion is the opium of the people'. However Marx had not written this statement yet. Dickinson however anticipates it through his other writing. Dickinson was writing at a time when core christian beliefs were being challenged by philosophy and science. For example Darwin's theory of evolution. Perhaps Dickinson is referring to Darwin's 'The Origin of Species' in her second line.
It is perfectly legitimate to assert a proposition, knowing that there maybe other possible readings of the poem. For example using the term 'perhaps' is a good way to assert an idea, but also suggesting the possibility of other readings.
You should clearly and simply state what you understand the meaning of the poem actually is and comment on the words and phrases that support your reading. Refer to poetic and language features and the effect of them.

this is a poem about religion like poem 721 - she challenges received ideas about the afterlife.
Here is a sort of summary of the poem. Specifically the poem asserts that there is a state of existence beyond the physical world. Although it exists there is no actual evidence of its existence. It is intangible. Yet it is attractive. It calls to us. But it cannot be measured or quantified. And therefore it confounds and confuses great thinkers. We even have to abandon earthly wisdom. Men have suffered for it. They have been tortured, hated and have died for it - specifically Jesus Christ. We struggle for meaning and clutch at any apparent evidence. The church makes a lot of fuss about it in sermons and its teaching. However the institutional gestures of the church are not able to satisfy the fundamental questioning of people.
It begins with a strong assertion in a short, simple, declarative sentence. The line concludes with a full stop. There are no other full stops. Instead she uses 18 dashes. These are used to show incomplete thoughts, emphasis and details. The effect is to creae fragmentation. It forces us to read the poem slowly.
I'd make a contextual reference about the importance of religion in Dickinson's life and her very individual challenges to received ideas.
I'd list a few key poetic devices in this poem

Refer to one continuous stanza
Line lengths 7 syllable followed by a 6 syllable line - echoes something of hymnal structure of other poems
Personification of abstract concepts
Similes
syntactic parallelism - where a phrase structure is repeated often found in lists. Found here in 'To guess it..' and 'To gain it...'

A topic sentence should be about the theme of the essay. |It should be an assertion about the poem. Observations about literary features or poetic devices should form part of a commentary on the quotation itself.

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