Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Emily Dickinson Poem 254 (Group 4)

1. What is your interpretation of the poem?  What can you offer in terms of interpretation that can help deepen the understanding of the poem?  What continues to confuse you? What do you notice about the use of poetic devices?
2. Comment on a classmate's interpretaion and/or question(s).

14 comments:

  1. I think this poem is talking about hobe, and how it is omni-present, and always there for us to reach for. It is referred to as the sweetest thing in the world, and needs a very cold or sad thing to take this hope away, that has helped so many. It is everywhere, but never asks for anything in return. I especially like the lines "..And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all -" I think that we have all felt that happy feeling that we can't quite describe, and it comes without much notice. We may not even know why we feel it, but it's there, and I think Dickinson has found good words to describe such a feeling. I like the manipulation of hope becoming a bird, because it is something that embodies many characteristics of hope, and we are able to imagine what hope is much easier because of this image of a hopeful bird.

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  2. I think that Dickinson was trying to persuade readers to believe and hope for positive things. She uses personification to transform hope into a bird souring through the sky and getting through the stormy weather. I especially liked that part of the poem because it made me think about how as long as i am positive, i can get through anything just like the bird did. She also mentions how hope never asks for anything in return, which i thought was an interesting point because hope "never stops" but doesn't expect anything in return.

    Carly, I agree with you that that the world would be very cold and sad without hope. Because she describes hope as the sweetest thing in the world, it leads me to believe she wants readers to hope and not miss outon happiness.


    Leah S
    Period 5

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  3. Our group decided that this poem is obviously about the concept of hope. Hope is free, you can have hope under any condition even when you think it's the worst.
    -The first stanza is saying that hope is always with you. It has no words, it's simply always in your heart.
    -The second stanza is saying that hope is there even in the toughest conditions (the storm).
    -This last stanza is saying hope is heard all over the world, although it goes unspoken.
    "Yet, never, in extremity,
    It asked a crumb of me."
    -An extremity is a limb on the body. This line is saying that although hope is always with you, wherever, whenever, hope never asks anything of you. It's just a line to solidify that hope is valuable and should be appreciated.

    Olivia N. Period 6.

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  4. This poem was very uplifting and positive. Dickinson compares hope to a bird, I pictured the bird as a dove. A dove represents peace and the poem gave me a very calming feeling. In the second stanza, the author talks about a strom that could "abash the little bird", much in the way hard times could demolish a person's hope. I am still a little confused by the last stanza. Olivia, although you explained it, I'm still not really sure what it means.

    Leah, I agree with you that the poem is very positive and uplifting. I actually was able to get a lot out of it.

    Amanda M period 5

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  5. I believe this poem is all about hope. Emily Dickinson uses a bird as a metaphor for hope. The first section shows us that hope is always "perched" in your soul. Then she talks about how even the worst of storms can't make our hope stop "singing". Lastly, Emily wrote about how hope will come whenever and never asks anything from you in return. After our group went through the poem together I really had no more confusion. Overall, I actually liked this poem and thought that it was cute.

    Amanda M,
    I really like how you thought of the bird as a dove and it brought you peace! Then last stanza i believe is just telling how hope never asks anything from anyone.

    - Alexis a. Period 6

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  6. This poem personifies the feeling of hope as a bird. It has an optimistic tone, and says that hope 'never stops.' Also, it says that hope is 'sweetest-in the Gale,' meaning that even when times are bad, people always have hope for a better life, and that is what gets them through hard times. I think that, in this poem, Dickinson was trying to tell people to never let go of hope.
    Amanda,
    I think it was interesting that you thought of the bird as a dove; in my head I pictured it as a robin, because they symbolize spring and make me feel cheerful, which is how hope feels to me. It's interesting how people visualize the poem differently.
    Jenny L P6

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  7. I think that the poem’s main theme is about hope. Dickinson describes hope as healing force throughout every day life. It seems like she has used hope to persevere through the tough times of her life. Hope is something that is free and can help people through bad situations. Hope is always in your mind and heart no matter what. She uses birds to describe hope because birds symbolize hope. For example, she refers to birds when she uses feathers, sings the tune, Gale, and birds in the poem. It is a key symbol in the poem. Birds symbolize the flight and freedom that hope represents. Birds are full of hope so Dickinson uses them to embody the poem. Additionally, a common meter is used in the poem which shows a pattern in her style of writing.

    Amanda,
    I also think that the poem is uplifting and positive. To answer your question, I think that the last stanza represents how hope is always there for you.

    Bob T.
    Period 6

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  8. The main idea or message of the poem is the importance and precence of hope throughout all of us. Dickinson symbolizes hope as a bird which i think is a perfect metaphor for hope because they both have very similar qualities. I think that a main concept of the poem is that even in our unhappiest moments, hope is always there. It is always guiding us whether we beleive it or not and it is always something to fall back on when you have nothing left because hope looks toward something brighter and better. Emily accuartely describes hope as something that "perches in the soul". This is very similar to a stubborn bird that will perch somewhere with the intentions of staying for quite awhile. Hope is similar to birds because they are always around. I especially liked how she metaphorically described that neither the bird nor hope asked anything in return from her. I think that Emily's use of imagery and metaphors are incredibly important to our understanding of the poem and that a bird embodies the beautiful and wonderful qualities of hope which is always with us.

    Carley,
    I really like the way you interpreted the poem and I had very similar ideas of the poem. I also analyzed it as that hope is always with us and that it is always something to guide us and help us when we need it most, whether we notice it or not.

    Jake Period 6

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  9. At first when I read this poem, I thought that Dickinson was writing about an angel, as the poem read ""Hope" is the thing with feathers - that perches in the soul." As I read on, I realized that she was clearly writing about a bird. Therefore, the idea of this poem is that birds are the embodiment of hope. There chirps are the the comforting song that give people hope, continually and can be heard just about everywhere. Dickinson goes on to state, basically, that the only thing that can quiet the birds' song is a bad storm, in which it is known that animals (including birds) flee to safety. She ends the poem saying that the birds, which bring her and people hope, never ask for anything. But in the rare cases that they do, they only ask for a crumb, which I tend to take literally because many people feed birds bread crumbs and sometimes they seem to ask for them.

    Basically, after reading this poem a second time and writing out my thoughts, I have realized that this poem is pretty straight forward with the right analysis and deciphering. Dickinson tends to put a lot of emphasis breaks into the piece and also rhymes or almost rhymes every other line. I think I understand this poem completely, even though some of my thoughts about it are hard to transfer into words.

    Steph E. Period5

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  10. Olivia,

    I really like the what you wrote about hope being a limb or piece of you no matter what. I think it is a creative, clever, and very beautiful concept!

    Steph E. Period 5

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  11. This poem was featured on one of my favorite shows, Criminal Minds. The episode is about a mother who's son was kidnapped for 8 years and she never gave up hope that he was alive and that she would find him. In the end, it turns out that he is alive and his mother gave hope to all the other parents who's children were kidnapped the same way. I think that this poem is about believing in what you feel, and spreading it to others and helping them feel the hope you feel.

    I think that "Hope" or "The thing with feathers- that perches on the soul" is the gut feeling you have that something is okay. This might be Dickinson's way of saying how things might be bad but she still believes that they will be okay.

    Taylor S, P5

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  12. Redoing this because it didn't show up! ):
    I feel that Emily Dickinson was portraying hope and not giving up in this poem. She states how hope "never stops" meaning that if one keeps hoping for something, they can get to where they need to be. When she talks about the storm, I think she is trying to say that even through all of the tough times one may experience, that it's better to just live through them and in the end, all will be better.

    Olivia I really liked the stanza about the storm too. I liked how it was saying to get through the toughest of times. It's really good advice.

    -Jess B. p. 5

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  13. The porn personifies hope as a spirit that is plotting, altruistic, and eternal. It shows the importance of holding on to hope no matter what the circumstances are, whether one faces a gale or a storm. No matter where you go, you can still have hope in your heart. The greatest thin about it is that you will never have to reciprocate the grace Hope has given you. "Yet, never, in Extremity, / It asked a crumb -- of Me."

    Jake I like your interpretation that Hope is symbolized as a bird to represent it's beauty. It fits in perfectly with the rest of the poem.

    Luke S.
    Period 6

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  14. In this poem, I really admire the hopeful feeling that she creates from her writing. In the poem she compares hope to a bird, and in doing this, she conveys the fact that hope is a palpable thing. When one thinks of a bird, they think of a lightweight creature with the ability of flight. With this analogy, she makes the connection that ones hopes are lightweight and can take flight if they work hard enough. Much like the Langston Hughes poem, i feel very inspired upon reading.

    Sam B. Per. 5

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