Olds-Dickinson

Henry Fagg, Linda Lin, Jacky Ng, Vickie Zhao  Red text indicates similarities  · Explores her own spirituality and soul Introspective: focus is on the individual · Avoided fancy and romantic style  of her time · Occasionally amusing and sarcastic · There's allways "someone" in her poems (eg."you may have seen him"---A narrow Fellow in the Grass) || ·  Straightforward and direct. · Shows no fear or hesitation in exploring intensely personal themes with realism ·  Separates the "life of life" and the "life or art"-- while not metioning them in real life,  writes about her parents in many poems. || (eg. A narrow Fellow in the Grass) · Death, nature of life (eg. Because I Could Not Stop for Death) · Identity · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">God || ·  <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Uncomfortable subjects with realism in a straightforward manner · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Deep feelings about her childhood · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Merges historical themes with private lives (//The Dead and the Living// volume) · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">A daughter’s loss of her father (//The Father// volumes) || · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Uses enjambment inconsistently, and almost randomly · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Uses rhyming inconsistently and unpredictable · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Uses meters of English hymns · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Alternation between iambic tetra/trimester || ·  <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Composed of one stanza · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Not much <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rhyming || · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Pure and concise imagery (eg. A narrow Fellow in the Grass: “The Grass divides as with a Comb”) || · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Simple, straightforward language <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* use of sound devices (eg. The Clasp: "crush, crush, crush...") (eg. Alcatraz: “bars like milk-white ribs”, “circle of …around the ….”) (eg. I go Back to May 1937: “ochre sandstone arch”, pillar made of tiny bricks”) || Features || · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Frequent use of dashes · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Uses rhyming inconsistently and unpredictable · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Random use of capitalization · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Lack of fluency (broken rhyming meter ) || ·  <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Long lines with little use of punctuation give a strong sense of flow · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Use of assonance (eg. 1937: “pitiful beautiful”, “chips of flint”) · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Use of anaphora (eg. 1937: “pitiful beautiful untouched body”) || Details || · <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: red; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Questioned the puritanical background of her Calvinist family · <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: red; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Refused to sign an oath publicly professing her faith in Christ · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Born into a successful family with strong community ties and lived a mostly introverted life · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Benefited from early education in classic literature · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Speculation on her sexual orientation and romantic feelings for editor Higginson || ·  <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Grew up during the 60s in San Francisco (a focal point of youth rebellion in western societies) as a “hellfire Calvinist” · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Extremely conservative and religious parents repressed liberal ideas and beliefs in their family through her childhood · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">A transitional moment in her life: completion of doctorate in English · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The imaginary sacrifice of her graduate education was an essential precondition for her artistic development. || · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Lived through American Civil War || ·  <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">1942- ||
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Emily Dickinson & Sharon Olds **
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> || <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Dickinson || <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Olds ||
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Style || · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Keen insight into the human condition
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Subject || · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Loneliness, isolation
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Structure || · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Short stanzas, usually four lines long
 * uses enjambment frequently
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Movement || · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> || ·  <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> ||
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Language || · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Creative use of metaphor
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Clear, detailed imagery
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Distinctive
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Biographical
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Time Period || · <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">1830-1886