Exploring the Text

1. What does Hans Ostrom’s pairing of Elvis Presley and Emily Dickinson suggest about the poem’s idea of heaven?

   Chapter 11 - Emily Dickinson and Elvis Presley in Heaven - Exploring the Text: What does Hans Ostrom’s pairing of Elvis Presley and Emily Dickinson suggest about the poem’s idea of heaven?
2. The poem depends somewhat on the reader’s familiarity with the works of Dickinson and Presley. Look up the references you don’t recognize—such as Dickinson’s poems “I taste a liquor never brewed” and “Hope is the thing with feathers,” Presley’s song “Love Me Tender,” Little Richard, Amherst, and naugahyde. Then reconsider Ostrom’s poem with all the blanks filled in.

   Chapter 11 - Emily Dickinson and Elvis Presley in Heaven - Exploring the Text: The poem depends somewhat on the reader’s familiarity with the works of Dickinson and Presley. Look up the references you don’t recognize—such as Dickinson’s poems “I taste a liquor never brewed” and “Hope is the thing with feathers,” Presley’s song “Love Me Tender,” Little Richard, Amherst, and naugahyde. Then reconsider Ostrom’s poem with all the blanks filled in.
3. What is the intention and effect of the period after “friends” in line 9?

   Chapter 11 - Emily Dickinson and Elvis Presley in Heaven - Exploring the Text: What is the intention and effect of the period after “friends” in line 9?
4. In nearly every stanza, Ostrom uses enjambment—a stylistic device in which one line ends without a pause and continues into the next line for its meaning. What is the effect?

   Chapter 11 - Emily Dickinson and Elvis Presley in Heaven - Exploring the Text: In nearly every stanza, Ostrom uses enjambment—a stylistic device in which one line ends without a pause and continues into the next line for its meaning. What is the effect?
5. In the last two stanzas, Ostrom says God made Presley and Dickinson roommates for three reasons. What do these reasons suggest about the importance of pop culture in America?

   Chapter 11 - Emily Dickinson and Elvis Presley in Heaven - Exploring the Text: In the last two stanzas, Ostrom says God made Presley and Dickinson roommates for three reasons. What do these reasons suggest about the importance of pop culture in America?