Acceptance in The Serect Poems of Emily Dickinson and The Velveteen Rabbit

Obtaining a sense of belonging is an intrinsic desire inextricably linked to our human nature. However, the inherent yearning to identify with a society, personality or context; can ironically lead to the compromising of one’s values that in turn hinges our sense of belonging. Such paradoxical interplay between a sense of connection and a loss of self is evident in Emily Dickinson’s poems I Died for Beauty; I had been Hungry all these Years and This is my Letter to the World, David Grossman’s reflective essay Writing in the Dark and Jason Reitman’s film Up in the Air. All three composers highlight the impracticality of humanity’s

We are in a world that strives for conformity. People who are “different” are socially outcasted. To be a conformist means to be similar to everyone else. I personally don’t want to conform to society. I am afraid that if I’m not the same as everyone else, I may be outcasted. It’s a difficult battle. Either being true to myself or conforming to society. American Individualism means to have the will power to choose to be an individualist or a conformist and it also means to be your own self no matter the consequences.

Emily Dickinson was an exceptional writer through the mid-late 1800’s. She never published any of her writings and it wasn’t until after her death that they were even discovered. The complexity of understanding her poems is made prevalent because of the fact that she, the author, cannot expound on what her writing meant. This causes others to have to speculate and decide for themselves the meaning of any of her poems. There are several ways that people can interpret Emily Dickinson’s poems; readers often give their opinion on which of her poems present human understanding as something boundless and unlimited or something small and limited, and people always speculate Dickinson’s view of the individual self.

-Essay: 1300- 1500 words. ‘A sense of belonging is never permanent.’ Discuss in relation to TWO poems and TWO pieces of related texts.

“I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean” (Socrates). What does it mean to be this type of poet? How can someone accomplish such success in poetry, the answer is just two words Emily Dickinson. Emily Dickinson spent a large portion of her life in isolation, not because she was forced to or because she was ill, Dickinson simply wanted to be alone and because of her isolation she became one of the greatest female poets of all time. Emily Dickinson set the bar high for other female poets and created some of the most renowned poems in the world. The two poems “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” and “Tell all the Truth but Tell it Slant” are drastically different poems that tell two different stories, but there are some aspects that cause them to be similar: Imagery, tone, and the statement that the two poems make.

The perceptions and ideas of belonging and its insights concerning barriers to belonging are exposed in William Shakespeare’s tragedy play Othello (1604) and the poem Peter Anderson and Co. (1896) by Henry Lawson. Not belonging is caused by the existence of social constructs in civilisation. Specifically, both texts reveal how not belonging is caused by the prejudices possessed by the individual and by the incapacity to conform to said social norms. This leads to the alienation and having conditional experiences about belonging of an individual.

The late psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross said: “The most beautiful people I’ve known are those who have known trials, have known struggles, have known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.” This inspirational quote suggests that adversity provides people with new opportunities and can drive people to improve their life. Adversity comes in numerous forms, such as emotional, physical, and financial. Individuals have a choice to learn from adversity or allow it to break their character. However, certain types of adversity, such as severe chronic conditions or diseases, do little to improve character and the human condition. Thus, all types of adversity, pain, and suffering are not beneficial, however, most work to improve an

“Success is counted sweetest, by those who ne’er succeed.” -Emily Dickinson. When Dickinson speaks of the pain of failure and the satisfaction of victory, she speaks from experience. The hermit-like poet wrote nearly 2,000 poems by the time she died at 55. Emily Dickinson was a reserved poet and her work was largely unpopular during her life. She wrote under the topics of mortality and romance, however her works are always questioned of originality and for their vague nature.

The impact of connection or disconnection to places on an individualʼs perception of belonging is also perceivable in the line “We may inhale despair”. Through the use of of low modality in the verb ʻmayʼ, Dickinson portrays possibility and uncertainty, depicting the different perception and reception that each text may receive. In this way, Dickinson conveys her negative perception of belonging due to her lack of connection with her place as a writer, as her uncertainty blatantly expresses the lack of confidence she has in herself writing properly. Nevertheless, Dickinson also explores how a positive perception of belonging can also be achieved through connecting with her place as a writer in this line. The use of the verb “inhale” communicates the human condition, as all humans need to inhale to survive. Therefore, the persona is connecting with her place as a human in society as she is united through the human experience, therefore promoting a positive perception of belonging. This connectedness to place in made clearer through the use of the inclusive pronoun “We”, which signifies unity rather than solidarity, and indicates the personaʼs warm perception of belonging due to connecting with her place as a person. The influence of connection to place in regards to an individualʼs perception of belonging is also explored in a similar manner in Sean Ascroftʼs 2006 short film, The Story of Bubble

Belonging permeates all aspects of life, and to gain fulfillment, individuals must acquire a genuine and enduring sense of belonging to self, people and society. In Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, the composer provides the reader with an insight into what it means to belong through the dominant nature of Stanley, and to not belong through the fragility of Blanche’s character. William’s explores the psychological effects of not belonging, therefore emphasising how vital it is to feel acceptance for a person’s identity. As individuals, we feel a strong connection to customary places such as our homes, through the comfort and familiarity it provides us with, which is significant to the way we belong. The play is introduced to the

Two literary pieces, Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by, Dylan Thomas and Because I Could Not Stop for Death by, Emily Dickinson are both poems that discuss the topic of death. While there are some similarities and comparisons between the two poems, when it comes to the themes, both poets writing styles are quite different from one another which makes each poem unique. Thomas and Dickinson both use identical figurative language devices and other literature symbolisms as they explain their main themes which contrasts the differences to the concept of death. These distinct variations between poems are apparent in both the form, and how the choice of words is used in the poems. Dickinson and Thomas have presented two different ideas on the topic and concept of death. The poems are well distinguished literature devices, they share minor similarities and differences between each other and how they present the meaning of death to a toll.

     After evaluating my perception of The Last Night that She Lived, by Emily Dickinson. The message in this poem is we take life for granted and we don’t appreciate it until we are threatened with losing it. Emily used what seems to me as free verse with no apparent rhyme but alliteration at times. This is a Narrative poem that tells a story about a death of a young woman.

     Emily Dickinson is one of the most famous authors in American History, and a good amount of that can be attributed to her uniqueness in writing. In Emily Dickinson's poem 'Because I could not stop for Death,' she characterizes her overarching theme of Death differently than it is usually described through the poetic devices of irony, imagery, symbolism, and word choice.

Emily Dickinson’s reclusive life was arguably a result of her proposed bi-polar disorder. This life and disorder unduly influenced the themes of her poetry. She chose not to associate herself with society and volumes of her poems, published posthumously, examine this idea as well as the themes of nature and death. The clearest examples of these themes are presented in the following analysis of just of few of her

At first Glance, “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” by Emily Dickinson is puzzling, even meaningless. However, upon further analysis it is clear that the poet has made several deliberate choices to assist the reader in discerning the poems meaning. Her deployment of poetic devices correlates to the narrative she is writing, allowing the reader to deeply perceive the poems message. Emily Dickinson’s “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” provides commentary on an individual’s ability to decide who can enter the most intimate parts of her life, which the reader can empathize with through figurative language, repetitive sounds, and enjambment.