Exploring the Text

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  1. In the opening stanza, what is “a formal feeling”?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - In the opening stanza, what is “a formal feeling”?
  2. What connotations are associated with “formal,” “ceremonious,” and “stiff”—the language used in stanza 1? What words in subsequent lines carry similar connotations?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - What connotations are associated with “formal,” “ceremonious,” and “stiff”—the language used in stanza 1? What words in subsequent lines carry similar connotations?
  3. Who is the “He” in line 3? How does that reference connect with line 4?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Who is the “He” in line 3? How does that reference connect with line 4?
  4. What stage of grief is described in the second stanza? How does the sufferer experience it? Is there any kind of peace or relief suggested by the oxymoron “Quartz contentment” (l. 9)?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - What stage of grief is described in the second stanza? How does the sufferer experience it? Is there any kind of peace or relief suggested by the oxymoron “Quartz contentment” (l. 9)?
  5. What are the various meanings of the word “Ought” (l. 6)? Which meaning do you think is most fitting here—and why?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - What are the various meanings of the word “Ought” (l. 6)? Which meaning do you think is most fitting here—and why?
  6. What are the possibilities for the final stage of grief, as described in the third stanza? How does the metaphor Emily Dickinson develops illuminate those?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - What are the possibilities for the final stage of grief, as described in the third stanza? How does the metaphor Emily Dickinson develops illuminate those?
  7. Dickinson does not give us a first-person speaker, nor does she anywhere in the poem refer to the grief-stricken person as a whole human being. How, instead, does she refer to those who are grieving? What is the effect of this choice?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Dickinson does not give us a first-person speaker, nor does she anywhere in the poem refer to the grief-stricken person as a whole human being. How, instead, does she refer to those who are grieving? What is the effect of this choice?
  8. Dickinson does not indicate the specific event that causes the grief in this poem. What is the impact of not creating a more specific context? Does the abstraction add to or diminish the power of the poem?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Dickinson does not indicate the specific event that causes the grief in this poem. What is the impact of not creating a more specific context? Does the abstraction add to or diminish the power of the poem?
  9. How would you describe the tone of the poem? Cite specific lines and phrases to support your description.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - How would you describe the tone of the poem? Cite specific lines and phrases to support your description.