LITR 4232: American Renaissance

University of Houston-Clear Lake, spring 2002

Student Presentation Summary

Tuesday, 23 April: Dickinson

2981 "I reason, Earth is short--"

2981 "The Soul selects her own Society--"

2983-4 "There came a Day at Summer's full"

2984 "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church--"

Reader: Candy Berry

Discussion notes recorder: Jennifer Laubach

Emily Dickinson Presentation and Discussion Notes

            My presentation on Emily Dickinson referred to course objective three and to a handout from Dr. White pertaining to her styles and themes.  The topics from objective three which I referred to where concerning nature, the individual and the community, and the writer’s conflicted presence in an anti-intellectual society.  We have seen many examples of the latter example in her work. 

            There were three terms on the handout that really seemed to sum up much of Dickinson’s work.  Those terms and there definitions are as follows: 1)ephemeral-lasting a short time;transient, 2)evanescent- tending to vanish like a vapor;transient, and 3)mercurial- characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood;(inconsistent).  Examples of these terms are quite evident throughout Dickinson’s  works. 

            I selected three of her poems to read to the class.  The first poem was on page 2981, beginning with; “I reason, Earth is short”.  This poem dealt with death and the afterlife, referring to objective three and the handout.  The second reading was on page 2983, beginning with; “There came a day at summer’s fall”.  This poem was full of one of her common themes of nature as a symbol of spirit and intrusion of the infinite into everyday life.  This poem also refers objective three, dealing with nature.  The last poem I selected was on page 2984 beginning with; “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church”.  This poem mainly dealt with religion and it was quite conflicting to the selection from page 2983.  These conflicting poems pointed strongly to the word mercurial.

            The question that I posed to the class was; “Do you feel like she was really struggling with her thoughts on religion and the afterlife?  Do you think she had her mind made up that religion was a big joke?  If you do feel like she believed it was all fake, what do you think about her poems in which she talks of spiritual things?”  The following is how the discussion went:
                        Student: I think she found deeper meaning in the
                        world around her.
                        Rhonda: Refer to T.W. Higgins letter "they are all
                        religious except me"
                        Student: She didn't like organized religion, but
                        still believed in God.
                        Candy: That goes along with what Michael said.
                        Robin: I think she was more spiritual than religious.
                        Diana: I saw it as "I don't have to go to church to
                        go to heaven"
                        Dr. White: Something is real American about this. In
                        the U.S. up to 90% of the population believes in God,
                        but only 40-45% go to church on a regular basis.
                        Candy: Then there are other people who go to church,
                        but don't practice it in their daily lives.
                        Val: Also in the Higgins letter, I think that she is seeing that they are                               hypocrites.
                        Dr. White: Could it be transcendentalism too? She's
                        not a transcendentalist, but look at Emerson. He was
                        a minister and moves into nature. There are
                        parallelisms there          .
                        Rhonda: She does have access to a lot of books.
                        Student: She is getting her sermon outdoors.
                        Candy: Spirit of nature is her sermon.
                        Dr. White: I don't see her as a hypocrite, but more
                        so she doesn't tolerate nonsense. Hawthorne is very
                        similar.
                        Rhonda: You know, she was able to read several
                        viewpoints in Atlantic Monthly.
                        Dr. White: It's easy to exaggerate her isolation. She
                        keeps up with the writers of her time.
                        Candy: She was obviously in touch with the world
                        because of the references in her poems.
                        Rhonda: Who was the dying tutor?
                        Dr. White: There's a lot of guesswork in figuring out
                        who she is talking about.
                        Liz: It's hard to figure out "each to each" p.2983
                        ln13 because she's alone, then she suggests there are
                        others around.
                        Dr. White: In the line above, the soul is each, buts she is so indirect and                                   allusive.
                        Liz: The same is with how flowers and souls are mixed.

                        Dr. White: That's pretty standard of her. She tends
                        to move between the two.

I feel the class responded well to the question and that the discussion moved along well.  The class as a whole seemed to come to the conclusion that Dickinson viewed nature as part of her spirituality, not any certain organized religion.  This seems to be an important conclusion since a lot of her poems deal with nature and the spirit of the soul.