...Emily Dickinson believes that conformity limits one’s ability. She has written poems about societies’ views on conformity and the containment society has on different ideas and people. She even gives examples of this by explaining how society expected women to act as a wife. Through her poems, Emily Dickinson portrayed her views of conformity through the explanation of domesticated housewives in “She Rose to His Requirement” and the views of conflicting new ideas in society in “Much Madness is Divinest Sense.” “She Rose to His Requirement” explores what women during Emily Dickinson’s time had gone through. As the title suggests, women were expected to become a domesticated housewife to their husband. The first stanza describes that these housewives have to give up everything for the husband, “to take the honorable Work / Of Woman, and of Wife“(line 3-4). The “honorable work” Dickinson writes about is that women were relied upon to be in charge of the house. The ironic tone sets up the following stanza. It talks about everything a woman gives up when she becomes a wife. The wife loses things, “Of Amplitude, or Awe – / Or first Prospective – Or the Gold” (6-7). She loses her potential of becoming a great person when she decides to marry. She is also not given the chance to experience new things or even get a job for herself. The last stanza expresses the wasted potential of the wife. Dickinson compares a wife’s potential to a pearl that, “lay unmentioned… But only to Himself”...
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...guidance of the author, during my reflection and brainstorming for this essay, and pursued the guidelines on pages eighty nine and ninety. As what needed to be followed in the instructions was stated, some of the wide-ranging generalities and expectations that came to mind while thinking over the words knowledge and individual power are what I penned down. The way toward individual power above one’s individual atmosphere is paved by the possession of knowledge. The ability for you to be a much sounder person and to be able to progress the surroundings for those that are around you. An ideology and the power is instilled in you that you will be confidently encouraged to feel and live better. Assistance in coming up with better choices and lead you in the direction of righteousness in your everyday life is received from knowledge and individual power. The readings that I selected were “Crazy Courage” by Alma Luz Villanueva, “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, and “Much madness is divinest sense” by Emily Dickinson. I logged on to the internet upon completion...
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...The poem “Much Madness is divinest Sense” by Emily Dickinson is written in the spirit of transcendentalist beliefs, and in the voice of someone who has long since stopped believing that conformity and normativity was the way to live any true life. In it, the narrator lays down their three truths: One, that in madness is the truest sensibility found; Two, that the “sense” that the majority of society possess is indeed “the starkest madness”; and finally, Three, that however much one believes in the aforementioned truths, that to society if you assent to its madness of mundanity you are sane, but if you choose to vocally disagree you are labeled dangerous without haste and handled as if you were wrapped in a chain. (1,3,4-8). Dickinson gives...
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...Emily Dickinson didn’t title many of her poems, which I enjoy very much in the sense that I don't especially like trying to come up for a title for any of my pieces. But, for the sake of making this reflection easier to follow, I am going to call poem 1263, Tell all the truth, poem 620, Much Madness, and poem 1096, A narrow Fellow. All three of these poems by Dickinson talk about the interaction with people in our everyday lives. Tell all the truth was probably one of my favorite poems written by Emily Dickinson. She states in the poem that you should “tell all the truth” but not in a straight up/direct way, it is too hard to handle directly. I always hear people saying the right thing the to do is to tell the truth. After reading the poem...
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...Emily Dickinson spent a large portion of he life in isolation. While others concerned themselves with "normal" daily activities, Emily was content to confine herself to her house, her garden, and her poetry. Due to her uncommon lifestyle, she was considered odd and was never respected as the great poet she is now recognized as. Living life as an outsider, her poems are written from a perspective we are not used to seeing in our popular culture. Even so, her works contain such themes as human nature/behavior, independence, the meaning of life, and optimism in a grim world. After reading and studying Emily Dickinson's works I have noticed many similarities between her beliefs and mine. I believe that most people would have to agree she was far more intelligent than anybody would have even considered and that one comes to understand our world better after contemplating her works. The most numerous type of poem that Dickinson wrote was that which dealt with human nature. In "Success is counted Sweetest," she points out that the people who can truly enjoy success are those who have felt the pain of failure. Most of the pleasure of success comes from subconsciously knowing that since you have succeeded you don't have to feel the pain of failure. Throughout my life, especially in regard to athletics, I have won many times in big situations and lost many times in big situations. Every time I've won, without really thinking about what I was doing, and only for a very brief time, I've...
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...barbaric tradition, and a narrative poem about preconceived notion and how it makes us ignorant and prejudiced. Also, there are works of literature that demonstrate the goodness of breaking away from conformity and finding yourself and your own values. The literary works of the past illustrate the evils of conformity and the need to challenge ourselves to break out of the bubble. A strong critic of conformity, Emily Dickinson, in her poem “Much Madness is Divinest Sense” asserts her belief that the mindless unison of idea is dangerous. As the title suggests, the poet believes it is better to be “mad” and different than to obey the norm. She states “Assent− and you are sane−/ Demur−you’re straightway dangerous−”(ll 6-7) pointing out how those who break the norm are considered as outsiders or anarchists and those who do not are welcomed in the society. Also, the poet suggests that it is those who conform that are mad as she states: “the starkest Madness−/’Tis the Majority”(ll 3-4), strongly criticizing the idea of majority-established society. Following the ideas that Dickinson established, Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery”, displays how dangerous and powerful conformity can be. The story starts out with seemingly innocent everyday people who live in a bucolic countryside, but is later revealed that they participate their long tradition of “the lottery” in which the winner is stoned to death for good harvest. The monstrous power of conformity is evident in the story in that...
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