外国文学欣赏_Dickinson.ppt

Emily Dickinson (1830—1886) Teaching Plan 1. Introduction to Dickinson 2. A Bird Came down the Walk- 3. I died for beauty—but was scarce 4. Because I Could Not Stop for Death Introduction to Dickinson Emily Dickinson is the greatest American woman poet as well as one of the world’s greatest women poets. More and more readers have recognized that she is a fine poet, a playful humorist and a passionate rebel who is daring in her feeling, thinking and expression. Since the 1920s, many critics have praised her, along with Whitman, for pioneering modern poetry. She has been given grown recognition as a poet of significance. Her view of poetry as an intensely personal vision of the world All her poetry provides candid insight into her own state of consciousness. She said, “This is my letter to the world.” She saw the world as dubious and treacherous, and she thought that only art could construct meaning and sustain her troubled mind. She said in one of her poems, “Much madness is divinest sense.” In other words, conventional standards and values are often stupid, and apparent madness and aberration may be the highest wisdom. Characteristics of Dickinson’s Poetry She transfigures common things into special meanings. 2) She suffuses her poetry with a lambent wit. 3) She experiments upon the traditional poetic form. 4) Her syntax and diction are aimed for compactness and concision. 5) Her imagery is daring and precise. 328: “A Bird Came down the Walk—” 1. What did the bird do in stanza 1? What is the implied meaning of the second line? 2. In stanza 2, the bird hopped sidewise to let a beetle pass. Why? Was he afraid of the beetle? 3. Why was the bird frightened in stanza 3? What did the speaker do in stanza 4? Interpret the implied meaning of her action. 4. What does the speaker compare the