The Theme of ILLNESS in Emily Dickinson’s poems Emily isn’t feeling too well at the moment. My male nurse is pretty hot! The Theme of ILLNESS in Emily Dickinson’s poems 7th May 2014

Objective To understand how Emily Dickinson represents illness with her poems

If we are going to look at illness in Emily Dickinson’s poems, which poems should we examine? (You may consider different types of illness.) The main ones are probably: I felt a funeral in my brain After great pain, a formal feeling comes -- It was not Death, for I stood up, One need not be a Chamber — to be Haunted —

However, we may also consider: Most of the poems that concern death as that often seems to be the result of illness in Dickinson’s poetry

IN GROUPS You will all have ONE of the main poems and ALL of the other three on which to focus. On the sheets: Find FIVE key points about your poem (one per sheet) together with quotations which illustrate these. Highlight links with any of the three ‘secondary’ poems. You may want to consider: Different attitudes toward illness/Different types of illness How illness impacts on her life How illness and death are interlinked Her use of language/form Emotional responses within the poems The reader’s reaction to the poems Be prepared to feed back to the rest of the group and ask questions to stimulate discussion.

Another essay… How does Emily Dickinson represent illness in ‘After great pain, a formal feeling comes –’ and two or three other poems you have studied? (You can email me this if you want and I will look before next week.)