Emily Dickinson Is Often Cited Thesis

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" typical way in which a poem by Dickinson is structured is by the use of the "omitted center." This means that an initial statement is followed by an apparent lack in development and continuity and the inclusion of strange and seemingly alien ideas. However, these often contradictory ideas and images work towards a sense of wholeness and integrity which is essentially open-ended in terms of its meaning. "Often the openendedness, the sense of incompletion, is achieved by sound as much as by visual imagery"

Diction is another aspect that is often mentioned with regard to this poets particular style. "...it is her study of the individual word and her masterly discovery of the right word that chiefly defines her distinction."

In essence Dickinson uses many techniques such as slant rhymes and dissonance to create a disturbing and evocative atmosphere which leads to further questioning. This style is possibly an aspect that can be referred to in ascertaining the reason for her significance for modern poetry. In many cases reading a poem by Dickinson reminds one of the postmodern emphases on paradox and open-ended statement, combined with jarring combinations of images.

Conclusion and summary

In conclusion one could state the significance of Emily Dickinson's works lies in both style and content and the way that these two aspects are integrated to become an exciting exploration of poetic expression. The following extract fro her writing possibly expresses the inner note that resounds throughout her works and which is suggestive of the reason for their continued literary significance.

Much Madness is divinest Sense-

To a discerning Eye-

Much Sense -- the starkest Madness-

Tis the Majority

In this, as All, prevail-

Assent -- and you are sane-

Demur-you're straightway dangerous-

And handled with a Chain-

These lines express the modern view that the role of the poetry is to question assumptions about reality that most people take for granted through the use of evocative and insightful large and imagery. The poetry of Dickinson is from one point-of-view a form of 'Madness' but also the "divinest Sense." She was in effect an innovator, not only in terms of style, but also in terms of the larger role that allowed poetry to question and confront issues such as the conflict between the individual and society in a modern context.

Works Cited

Emily Dickinson [essay online]; available at http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/selects.html;Internet: accessed 13 July 2008.

Harvey P. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. London: Oxford University Press, 1967.

Knox, Helene. "Dickinson's the Poets Light but Lamps." Explicator 41, no. 1 (1982): 31-31. Database online. Available from Questia, http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=99229862.Internet. Accessed 15 July 2008.

Leder, Sharon, and Andrea Abbott. The Language of Exclusion: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson and Christina Rossetti. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987. Book online. Available from Questia, http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=27480769.Internet. Accessed 15 July 2008.

Mitchell, Domhnall.
Monarch of Perception. Amherst University of Massachusetts Press, 2000. Book online. Available from Questia, http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=11023238.Internet. Accessed 15 July 2008.

Short Biography Emily Dickinson [essay online]; available at http://www.biographyonline.net/poets/emily_dickinson.html;Internet: accessed 13 July 2008.

The Soul Selects Her Own Society. [essay online]; available at http://library.thinkquest.org/23846/library/poems/thesouls_01_poem.html;Internet: accessed 13 July 2008.

Wells, Henry W. Introduction to Emily Dickinson. New York: Hendricks House,1959.

Ward, R. Bruce. The Gift of Screws: The Poetic Strategies of Emily Dickinson. Troy, NY: Whitston Publishing, 1994. Book online. Available from Questia, http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=88972894.Internet. Accessed 15 July 2008.

Short Biography Emily Dickinson [essay online]; available at http://www.biographyonline.net/poets/emily_dickinson.html

Internet: accessed 13 July 2008.

Short Biography Emily Dickinson [essay online]; available at http://www.biographyonline.net/poets/emily_dickinson.html;Internet: accessed 13 July 2008.

Wells, Henry W. Introduction to Emily Dickinson. (New York: Hendricks House,1959) xvi.

Harvey P. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. (London: Oxford University Press, 1967.) 233.

Wells, Henry W. Introduction to Emily Dickinson. (New York: Hendricks House,1959) xi.

Emily Dickinson [essay online]; available at http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/selects.html;Internet: accessed 13 July 2008.

Wells, Henry W. Introduction to Emily Dickinson. (New York: Hendricks House,1959) 2.

The Soul Selects Her Own Society. [essay online]; available at http://library.thinkquest.org/23846/library/poems/thesouls_01_poem.html;Internet: accessed 13 July 2008.

The Soul Selects Her Own Society. [essay online]; available at http://library.thinkquest.org/23846/library/poems/thesouls_01_poem.html;Internet: accessed 13 July 2008. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=99229862

Helene Knox, "Dickinson's the Poets Light but Lamps," Explicator 41, no. 1 (1982): 31. [database online]; available from Questia, http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=99229862;Internet; accessed 15 July 2008.

Bruce Ward, the Gift of Screws: The Poetic Strategies of Emily Dickinson [book online] (Troy, NY: Whitston Publishing, 1994, accessed 14 July 2008), 2; available from Questia, http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=88972903;Internet.

Domhnall Mitchell, Monarch of Perception [book online] (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2000, accessed 13 July 2008), 2; available from Questia, http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=11023253;Internet

Bruce Ward, the Gift of Screws: The Poetic Strategies of Emily Dickinson [book online] (Troy, NY: Whitston Publishing, 1994, accessed 14 July 2008), 4; available from Questia, http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=88972905;Internet.

Wells, Henry W. Introduction to Emily Dickinson. (New York: Hendricks House,1959) 276.

Sharon Leder, and Andrea Abbott, the Language of Exclusion: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson and Christina Rossetti [book online] (New York: Greenwood Press, 1987, accessed 14 July 2008), 1; available from Questia, http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=27480792;Internet......

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