Soul selects her own Society. If you were coming in the Fall. My life closed twice before its close. The. by Emily Dickinson. Learning Objectives

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1 Learning Objectives For pages , 312 In studying this text, you will focus on the following objectives: Literary Study: Analyzing rhyme. Analyzing personification. Reading: Analyzing sound devices Clarifying meaning. If you were coming in the Fall My life closed twice before its close The Soul selects her own Society by Emily Dickinson If you were coming in the Fall/My life closed twice before its close/the Soul selects her own Society 139

2 Before You Read If you were coming in the Fall My life closed twice before its close The Soul selects her own Society Connect to the Poems In brief, reflective poems, Emily Dickinson wrote about such diverse subjects as immortality, loss, solitude, and society. Choose one of these abstractions and quickly write your immediate thoughts and feelings about it. Build Background Emily Dickinson was born into a prosperous, religious, and well-educated family in Amherst, Massachusetts. She spent most of her life in solitude at her family home. Dickinson was unknown during her lifetime because her friend, the editor of the Atlantic Monthly, advised her not to publish her poems. Dickinson s poems are characterized by her unusual punctuation and capitalization, her short lines and stanzas, and her use of figurative language. Based on the information above, write two questions you have about Emily Dickinson s life and poetry. Set Purposes for Reading As you read Emily Dickinson s poems, look for the ways in which she experiments to create a new poetic style. 140

3 Literary Element Rhyme Rhyme is the repetition of sounds at the ends of words. Full rhyming words have identical vowel sounds in their final accented syllables. Dickinson also uses slant rhyme, or approximate rhyme, in which the rhyming sounds are similar but not exact. Prove and glove and today and victory are examples of slant rhyme. The pattern of rhyme in a poem, or rhyme scheme, can be designated by letters. A different letter of the alphabet signals each new rhyme (for example, ababab). With a partner, list several examples of full rhyme and slant rhyme. Discuss ways in which slant rhyme might contribute to a poem s effect. Reading Strategy Analyze Sound Devices Sound devices are techniques that appeal to the ear. They create a sense of rhythm, emphasize certain sounds, or add to the musical effect of poetry. Rhyme is one type of sound device. Others include alliteration, consonance, and assonance. Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or accented syllables, such as singing songs of sun and sea. Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds at the ends of words or accented syllables, as in then with cracked hands that ached. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in conjunction with dissimilar consonant sounds, as in the repeated i sound in the mountain at a given distance. As you read, use the chart below to note examples of different kinds of rhyme and other sound devices. If you were coming in the Fall Rhyme Alliteration Consonance Assonance My life closed twice before its close The Soul selects her own Society If you were coming in the Fall/My life closed twice before its close/the Soul selects her own Society 141

4 If you were coming in the Fall If you were coming in the Fall, I d brush the Summer by With half a smile, and half a spurn, As Housewives do, a Fly. Literary Element Rhyme Circle the words in the second stanza that produce a slant rhyme. What is the sound that these words share? 5 10 If I could see you in a year, I d wind the months in balls And put them each in separate Drawers, For fear the numbers fuse If only Centuries, delayed, I d count them on my Hand, Subtracting, till my fingers dropped Into Van Dieman s Land. 1 Reading Strategy Analyze Sound Devices Underline the letters in the highlighted line that create consonance. 1. Van Dieman s Land is the former name for Tasmania, an island that is part of Australia. 142

5 If you were coming in the Fall If certain, when this life was out That yours and mine, should be I d toss it yonder, like a Rind, And take Eternity But, now, uncertain of the length Of this, that is between, It goads me, like the Goblin Bee That will not state its sting. Read and Discuss With a partner, read aloud the last stanza of the poem. As you listen to each other read, underline examples of alliteration. Compare your results and discuss how the alliteration contributes to the poem s meaning. How does the alliteration work with the simile of the Goblin Bee? READING CHECK Question What is it that goads the speaker like the Goblin Bee at the end of the poem? If you were coming in the Fall 143

6 My life closed twice before its close Reading Strategy Analyze Sound Devices On the lines below, give an example of assonance from the first stanza. 5 My life closed twice before its close It yet remains to see If Immortality unveil A third event to me So huge, so hopeless to conceive As these that twice befell. Parting is all we know of heaven, And all we need of hell. Literary Element Rhyme What is the rhyme scheme of the second stanza? With a partner, discuss how the rhyme scheme and sound devices support the meaning of the lines. Summarize What is this poem about? READING CHECK 144

7 The Soul selects her own Society 5 10 The Soul selects her own Society Then shuts the Door To her divine Majority Present no more Unmoved she notes the Chariots pausing At her low Gate Unmoved an Emperor be kneeling Upon her Mat I ve known her from an ample nation Choose One Then close the Valves of her attention Like Stone Literary Element Rhyme Underline examples of rhyme in the first stanza. What is the rhyme scheme of this stanza? Reading Strategy Analyze Sound Devices The first and third lines of the final stanza are longer in both sounds and syllables than the second and fourth lines. How does this reinforce the meaning of the poem? READING CHECK Clarify What is the central metaphor of this poem? The Soul selects her own Society 145

8 After You Read If you were coming in the F a ll My life closed twice before its close The Soul selects her own Society Connect to the Poems Look back at the freewrite you did on page 140. In which poem do you notice similarities between Emily Dickinson s thoughts and your own? What connections do you see? Literary Element Rhyme Look back at the poems, and find one example of full rhyme and one example of slant rhyme. Make a note of the examples in the spaces below. Then describe their effects. Full Rhyme Example: Effects: Slant Rhyme Example: Effects: Reading Strategy Analyze Sound Devices Use the sentence frames below to summarize how sound devices affect meaning in the poems. 1. Alliteration in If you were coming in the Fall emphasizes the lightness or playfulness of tone in the first stanza through the repetition of _ 2. Assonance in My life closed twice before its close emphasizes the focus of the speaker on herself by repeating _ 3. Consonance in The Soul selects her own Society emphasizes the finality of the speaker s decision through _ For more practice, see page