FINAL ENGLISH TEST REVIEW! By: Joel, Chiara & Maricelis

William Luce  October 16, 1931 in Portland, Oregon (USA)  He wrote his Broadway and London success The Belle of Amherst  Other famous plays:  My Business Is To Love  Barrymore

The Belle of Amherst  It’s a one-woman play, based on Emily Dickinson, a delicate and shy woman, who maintained most of her social contacts through letters, expressing her own feelings in poetry, that she mostly kept from public view. Emily Dickinson's letters and poems were adapted to create the play about the poet's life as well as life in the nineteenth-century in New England.

I never saw a Moor I never saw a Moor -- I never saw the Sea -- Yet know I how the Heather looks And what a wave must be. I never spoke with God Nor visited in Heaven -- Yet certain am I of the spot As if the Chart were given --

 I never saw a Moor is a lyric poem; short poem of songlike quality.  Use of Inversion: This is when a phrase is shifted from its default post verbal position to one before the main verb.  Ex: “Yet certain am I of the spot As if the chart were given.”  Dickinson says “certain am I” instead of I am certain.  Parallelism: Dickinson uses the words “I never” at the beginning of each stanza to emphasize.

Mini Quiz ! What is the message of this poem? The message is that even if she hasn’t seen the sea or a Moor, she believes in them, and she has imagined them. Therefore, she believes in God, even if she is not able to see “him”, and she is certain that a place in Heaven awaits for her.

 This is my letter to the World That never wrote to Me — The simple News that Nature told — With tender Majesty Her Message is committed To Hands I cannot see — For love of Her — Sweet — countrymen — Judge tenderly — of Me

Mini Quiz !  What is the point of view in this poem?  The point of view in this poem is from a person who died and tells the people how great the world is and not to judge her by her poetry.  Who is the protagonist of this poem?  The protagonist of the poem is nature because she continues to mention it throughout the poem and the poem is dedicated to nature.

 Rhyme in which either the vowels or the consonants of stressed syllables are the same.  “Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all.” Both soul and all have the long l sound.”

 The words “sings the tune” are a sound effect because they tell us the sound that is made which is the tune that is sung.  SUPER MINI MINUTE QUIZ : In which line is a metaphor used? In the first, because she compares hope with a bird (would be the thing with feathers)

Emily Dickinson  Born December 10, 1830 – died May 15, 1886 (Poétesse)  Born in Amherst, Massachusetts and lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life,  she became known her unwillingness to greet guests or, later in life, even leave her room,  her friendships were by letters,  Not all of her poems were published during her lifetime, and the ones that were, were altered by the publishers to fit the poetic rules  Her poems contain short lines, many lack titles. She uses often slant rhyme as well as unusual capitalization and punctuation.

Success is counted sweetest Success is counted sweetest By those who ne'er succeed. To comprehend a nectar Requires sorest need. Not one of all the purple host Who took the flag to-day Can tell the definition, So clear, of victory! As he, defeated, dying, On whose forbidden ear The distant strains of triumph Burst agonized and clear!

Success Is Counted Sweetest  The message of this poem, transmitted through metaphors, is that those who succeed never truly appreciate it, only those who fail appreciate how wonderful it would be if they did succeed. Those who “ne’er succeed” can count it “sweetest” to succeed. This means, then, that no one ever truly appreciates success to its full desert, because those who could, once offered the chance, lose the ability to. It is also about want and desire, to truly understand all the wonderful aspects of nectar, and to be satisfied by it. For example, only the starving can truly appreciate food. In the final stanzas Dickinson compares the perspectives of winning and losing sides in a battlefield. She says that the winning soldiers never truly appreciate victory or success. But those who lose do feel successful because they must listen to the other team’s celebrations of their victory.

Mini Quiz !  What poetic devises can you identify in this poem?  Alliteration: In stanza one, the s and n sound are repeated.  Assonance: The words who and took have the same “oo” sound. Ex: ”Not one of all the purple Host Who took the Flag to-day”

 Connotation Ex: “As he, defeated, dying, On whose forbidden ear The distant strains of triumph Burst agonized and clear!”  With these words Dickinson is telling us that the soldier was killed in battle and the battle was lost.  Diction Ex: “Success is counted sweetest By those who ne'er succeed.”  Dickinson uses the word ne’er to say never because that is her diction.

 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-

Much Madness is divinest sense  This poem states that what is often called madness is actually the most profound kind of sanity, when viewed by someone with “a discerning Eye.” What is often called sense or sanity is in fact not just “Madness,” but profound madness. It is only called “Sense” because it is not defined by reason, but by what the majority thinks. Since the majority rules, the act of agreeing, no matter to what, means that you are, in the public mind, sane. If you disagree, or even hesitate in your assent, you are not only declared crazy, but dangerously so. The act of disagreeing with the majority leads to a loss of freedom, thus one can either be physically free, but ruled by the majority, or imprisoned with their own beliefs. 

Mini Quiz !  What poetic devise is used in this poem?  Alliteration: There is the double m in “much madness,” and the s at the end of the words “madness,” “is,” and “divinest.” Also, the word, “Sense,” has s at both the beginning and the end.

 Tell all the Truth but tell it slant--- Success in Cirrcuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth's superb surprise As Lightening to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind---

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant  This poem is about truth, and how it should not be told fully right away, but in order not to offend anyone, it should be told gradually. The truth told in moderation is the best way to reveal it. Even if at times “white lies” seem the best thing, they are not.

Mini Quiz !  What are some literary terms?  Consonance Ex: “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant--- Success in Cirrcuit lies”  The words tell, truth, but, tell, it and slant all have the letter “t” sound and are in the same line in the poem.