6-3 Edith Wharton's, "The Other Two"

This story was very interesting.  It seems that this was a situation that is quite unlikely.  It was sad to see everything that was going on, it felt like I was in a soap opera. Mr. and Mrs. Waythorn are a newlywed couple and dealing with a very sick little girl.  The little girl is from a previous marriage and belongs to the now Mrs. Waythorn.  She is very much in love with her husband and seems to hang on his every word.  He is also completely taken by Alice.  He knows about her past, including her two past husbands, and still pursued her.  In those times and especially when speaking about high society this situation is very unlikely. 

It seems that things are already stressful during this time and both Mr. and Mrs. Waythorn are trying to keep calm.  Things get more complicated when Mr. Haskett, Lily's father, wants to come and see her.  He wants to make sure his daughter is doing well, and also wants to have an active part in her life.  Even though his relationship with Alice ended in divorce, Mr. Haskett gave up everything to be near his daughter.  At first Mr.Waythorn was almost enraged at the thought of Mr. Haskett being around, but over time he realized that his intentions were pure.  He could not be mad at him.  It made him question everything his wife had said about her relationship.  While dealing with this, he also has to deal with the fact that he has taken over a business deal with her other ex-husband.

At first he lets these things eat at him.  Through all these encounters with Mrs. Waythorn's ex's he begins to realize that it dosent change how he feels about her.  He still loves Alice unconditionally, and her past has made her who she is now.  What is the point in focusing on the past?  Alice is a wonderful wife and mother.  She is so devoted to her husband that she is willing to put herself in horribly akward position by acting completely at ease having to be around her two ex husbands.

Her husband through meeting these men realizes why he has such a wonderful wife.  Her first marriage has caused Alice to appreciate what she has and has helped her kind nature.  The second marriage that ended in fidelity, has caused Alice to appreciate the strong bond of marriage.  In the end he realizes that because of her past she is everything he has ever wanted.

6-2 Stephen Crane's, "The Open Boat."

I did not really enjoy "The Open Boat."  I know we can not all be expected to enjoy every story we read, but it just was not my cup of tea.  Four mean were out at sea after there ship sank.  They all four were very different and worked together in order to survive.  Each man had their own strength whether it be actual strength or smarts.  They shared a boat so small they had a hard time moving without tipping it over.  They had no food and were growing weak.  They all seem to stay in high spirits regardless of the face they were stuck out at sea.  All four men were in high hopes when they spotted a beach with a man waving.  They all assumed the man was going to come and save them.  If I were out at sea, I would assume the same thing.  They waited and expected for someone to send a boat and save them.  The men waited and waited until they grew tired, and eventually decided to swim for it.  When I read this part of the story it made me think about life in general.  People were all over the beach watching and almost waiting for the four men to drown.  No one on the beach got any help.  This is a lot like people in the world today, and how they watch people suffer and offer no help.  In my opinion that is exactly the point Crane was trying to make.  The four men represented humanity and the people on the beach represented the universe.  The universe does not care you are here and is not going to help you.  I am not saying that this is what I believe, but given Crane's outlook on life, this is what I assumed he was talking about.  In the end they decide to fight to save their own lives, and one man dies.  I honestly thought it would be the captain, since he was injured, but I was wrong.  After all the working together not everyone could make it.

Stephen Crane's Poetry

Stephen Crane was raised by a Methodist preacher.  He was raised with the idea that man was important in the universe, we all have free will, and God is good.  Like many children, he grew up to attack these ideas.  He had originally planned on going into the military, but ended up going to college instead.  He became a free lance journalist, and began publishing poems in 1895.  Crane was known for his use of irony and his christian symbolist.  Crane wrote many novels as well as poems and is known for his novel, "The Open Boat."

We were asked to read several poems written by Stephen Crane.  Many of his poems are full of irony.  It seems like he has a bitter view of the world.  His poems give me a sense of sadness, and give the feeling that man means nothing.  He addresses the deep conflict man has with himself and God.  Often times people write about what they know, so I am assuming that Crane struggled with religion for most of his life.  I have had several friends who are the child of a preacher, and often times they struggle the most with their own faith.  They never had the chance to decide for themselves what is true and what is not true, and rebel against religion as they grow older.  Crane does not title any of his poems.  I can relate to him for not titling any of his poems, because when you write with so much feeling in your heart you just can not chose a title.  I write poetry weekly and have never titled any of them.  My favorite poem I read was "In the Desert."  It told of a man eating his own heart.  The man asked him if it was good, and he replies yes.  He said it was bitter but he liked it because it was his own heart.  We all have feelings of bitterness, but it is our feelings.  It is our heart.  Everyone has their own feelings, and reasons behind why we feel that way.  We have our own way of thinking and would not want it to be any other way.  I also enjoyed "Do Not Weep, Maiden for War is Kind."  I love to be sarcastic and the irony of this made me smile.

I enjoyed Crane's poetry and found it easy to understand.  I loved how he used irony to get his point across in much of his work.

5-2 Charlotte Perkins Gilman "The Yellow Wallpaper"

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was oppressed from the start.  She was from a impoverished home and had little formal education.  She did marry but was very unhappy and wrote about her oppression.  Considering the time she lived she was expected to be a devoted wife and mother.  Women were expected to listen to their husbands and conform to society's expectations.  She began having episodes of depression.  The doctor suggested she refrain from basically all expression including writing, painting, and reading.  she continued to be unhappy and realized freedom and independence was her best option.  In my opinion she came to her senses and divorced her husband.  She did marry again later on to George Gilman.  This time she was engaged in a successful marriage.  She was a strong advocate of women's rights and even after being remarried she continued her crusade.  Throughout her career she had a profound impact on women.  She was also an advocate for health care, civil justice, labor rights, and poverty.  She spoke of many topics and reached a wide audience. 

In the story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" Gilman drew from her own life to create one of her most renown stories.  Her experiences with mental depression and suffering help to create such a complex story.  One of her reasons for writing the story, according to the text, was to expose the mistakes made by medical science in treating the insane.  This story saddens me because you can feel her sadness.  She is locked up in her room with her illness.  Her husband thinks he is helping her by keeping her locked up in her room, but he is only making her worse.

At first she is fascinated with the yellow wallpaper, and soon obsessed with it.  It takes on a life of its own, and consumes her completely.  She is the yellow wallpaper.  She is spiraling out of control, and is trapped in her own mind.  Her isolation is worsening her illness and day after day you can sense her falling apart.  I felt remorse for Gilman, because I knew this related to her life.  The more isolated she was the worse her depression was getting.  I think that in today's time anyone would agree that isolation is probably the worse thing for depression and mental illness.  The horror was the fact that she was suffering so greatly and yet her husband was ignoring her plea.  He wanted her to get better, but he did not listen to her.  She begged to get rid of the wallpaper, just like she begged for a change in her life.  In the end she ripped the wallpaper free and herself.  It directly relates to Gilman's life when she broke free of her first marriage.  She ripped the wallpaper down and felt free and relieved. 

5-1 Kate Chopin "The Awakening"

Kate Chopin was born into a considerably wealthy family, and was given a really good education.  She was married at the age of nineteen to Oscar Chopin.  He was a wealthy man and when he passed away Kate was left with plenty of money to keep her satisfied.  Even though Kate had six children to keep her busy, she became bored and began writing.  Her writing was unconventional and received a lot of criticism.  She wrote of things that were taboo and in her time no one wanted to hear those things.  If she were a writer in our time she would be praised for her writing, but in the 1800s women were expected not to speak of things like that. 

In Kate Chopin's, "The Awakening" she wrote of passion and infidelity.  This was one is her most criticized works and now one of her most well-known.  The main character is Mrs. Pontellier a wealthy young woman married to a well-liked businessman. They are spending the summer in Grand Isle with their two children.  The women envy Edna, she has the "perfect husband".  He makes enough money to give them a very comfortable life.  He is always concerned about his children, and makes a point to send his wife gifts every time he is out of town.  Edna is simply spoiled in the eyes of the other women, but Edna is unhappy.  She does not enjoy the things that the other women seem to enjoy.  While many of the women are devoted entirely to their husband and children, Edna is distant.  She is concerned with many other things, and is not the mothering type.  Her husband senses these things about her, but pushes his thoughts aside and tries think the best of his wife.

Edna meets Robert while they are staying at Grand Isle.  During her time with Robert Edna begins to change.  Her attention becomes more and more directed towards him.  At first she thinks nothing of it, and soon it develops into much more than a friendship.  She finds herself wanting Robert when he is away.  Everything in her life is seeming to change, and everyone is noticing.  People are asking questions and growing suspicious of what is going on. 

In this story Chopin shows how a woman opens up and discovers herself.  Edna finally felt alive, she finally felt free with Robert.  She was a mother and a wife, but Robert brought out the true Edna.  Her emotions were awakened with this new found passion.  Edna had her own voice, thoughts, and feelings.  It was like she was a child all over again.  This story was captivating because I could see her opening up to herself.  The thought of her betraying her husband and family did bother me, but her new found self made me happy.

4-4 Joel Chandler Harris

Mr. Harris was a well-known author.  He used many stories he had heard while working with people of color.  Stories that had been passed down for generations, to teach morals and bring smiles to children's faces.  I like how Harris used Uncle Remus to tell these stories.  He was old and uneducated, but brought a certain flavor to the stories. 

In Joel Harris's story, "How Mr. Rabbit Was Too Sharp for Mr. Fox" the dialect was very difficult for me.  It took several readings to get through the story.  It is an old classic and a story of trickery.  In fact I use that on my son all the time, reverse psychology.  The fox catches the rabbit and wants to hurt him so bad.  The rabbit says anything but the Brier patch.  Which we all know is exactly where Mr. Rabbit is begging to go.  Mr. Fox being ignorant of course throws him into the Brier patch.  I think life is like this many times, and the rabbits outsmart the foxes.  You just have to be calm and wait it out.  It seems all light hearted and funny, but the story in the end has its moral also.



I really enjoyed, "Free Joe and the Rest of the World."   Free Joe seemed like such a humble man.  Once a slave, now free.  It was such a sad story, because Free Joe felt more free as a slave.  He smiled, sang songs, and whistled as a slave.  He lived a good life, according to him.  He had a faithful wife, who he loved endlessly, and was always so faithful to himself.  Free Joe was freed one day when his owner could not control his gambling problem, he lost everything.  So he went and let Free Joe become free and then he took his own life.  The only problem was that Joe's wife was lost in that gambling to the judge.  Everything seemed great and Joe could see his wife whenever he wanted, she was well taken care of, until the judge died.  Which it seems like something horrible as this happens every time a story is going well.  His property including his slaves went to Calderwood.  A man who was mean and spiteful.  The opposite of Joe.  Joe continued to visit his wife until one day Calderwood said he was not allowed there anymore.  Of course he was not going to just stop seeing his wife so they devised a way to see each other anyway.  The old poplar tree Joe would sit and Lucinda would visit him.  I found it sad that people could not just be happy for them, and it came back to Mr. Calderwood.  He just snatched her up and took her six miles away.  Joe wanted to find a way to see Lucinda, but in the end never saw her again.  He waited and waited and was convinced his little dog Dan would bring Lucinda back to him.  His devotion was amazing and what I think someone truly in love would be like.  He waited until he died under that popular tree, smiling waiting for Lucinda.  He was a man than many men wish they could be like.  I feel like he was such a great character and it had me cheering for him throughout the story.

4-3 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Ambrose Bierce lived from the middle of the 1800s to the early 1900s. He was born to a poor family of farmers in Ohio.  His parents were very religious and in this case, he turned against it.  He developed a hatred for it, and expressed that in his writings.  He left home as quickly as possible, becoming an apprentice.  Soon after enlisting in the military during the civil war, he re-enlisted twice before getting out.  He served during a time when many bloody battles were fought.  He eventually like every other author got a job writing, and was known as "bitter Beirce."  He wrote of broken families, death, separation, and maiming.  His childhood really left him jaded in my opinion, but it served him well in his writing career.  What do we write from but experience?

In the novel "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" his life experiences and talents are really evident in this particular story.  He really puts himself into the story and uses his military life and childhood to develop the characters.  This story surprised me.  I was completely unaware until the very end, that in fact he imagined it all.  This was my absolute favorite story of all.  I was so surprised at first I did not even know how to respond to it.  This story takes place at Owl Creek Bridge Peyton Farquhar was caught and is now a prisoner of war.  A man with a wife and kids to support, it was a time of war and for that no one cares about who the enemy is, just the fact they are the enemy.  The soldiers were so cold in the movements and facial expressions.  I am sure Bierce was able to describe this scene so well because he had lived it.  It automatically made me wonder what he had done while in the military and what he had seen.  At the same time he was the enemy, the man with a wife and children. 

Different stories are said about what happens when you die.  I wonder if imagining your escape is something that ever happens.  I was sure he had dropped from the bridge and escaped into the water.  The man was so set on getting free and I was caught up in the story.  I see where the bitterness of Beirce's writing comes into play, making the reader beleive the man was free.  When you feel happy that he has escaped he tears the happiness away with the reality that the man died.  I actaully laughed I was so surprised, but I should have expected it.

4-2 Tennessee's Partner

Bret Harte born in the mid 1830s in Albany, New York.  Harte claimed to be a genius, reading Shakespeare at the tender age of only six.  Although he was born in New York, he moved in 1854 to the west.  This is where his novels were inspired, and he spend most of his life writing of it.  He had many jobs throughout his life: a school teacher, riding shotgun on a Wells Fargo Stagecoach, and writing for several newspapers.  Overall I believe his experiences shaped his writing and helped him to write some of his best work.  The time he spent in the west probably helped him develop many of his characters, and stereotypes.  Harte took a job once as a professional writer, and ended up running for his life after he said a little too much about a mobster.
His life seems as if it was very exciting, until he grew older.  His stories became stagnant and all the same.  He even admitted himself, he was churning out the same old stuff.  Most of his stories were similar, but after some time they became old.  There was no new development of characters and the stories were all to predictable.

In the novel, "Tennessee's Partner" Berte kept the tradition going.  The story is set in the wild west and the characters are all too predictable.  At first I have to admit I read the story and made no distinction between Tennessee and Tennessee's partner.  They were one and the same until I was about finished with the story and was highly confused about it all.  I quickly reread the story with the understanding that these were two different individuals.  Tennessee's Partner was a calm and collected man, and I would have to say loyal.  Tennessee's partner went out to find a wife, quickly found one and was married.  Tennessee also lived with them and one day he ran off with his friends wife!  When Tennessee returned alone he was welcomed with open arms from Tennessee's Partner.  I honestly do not know anyone who would welcome some one like that back.  To me they are opposite.  I am guessing that is a normal reaction since everyone was expecting a shooting.  They were partners.  Partners in crime nonetheless, but partners.  I guess that meant more to them than anything else.

Soon it seemed the guilt had built up in Tennessee, but it was a little too late.  He had met his match and was now going to be captured.  How ironic that the judge himself was the one to catch him.  As they stood their with their guns and ammunition, Tennessee realized he was no match and gave in.  The court system was unusually fair.  They wanted him to give a defense, and gave him every chance to defend himself.  Even though they say this, he was thought to be guilty before he even was caught.  Which I think is true of many people.  Their fate is decided before they have a chance to defend themselves.

Tennessee's partner once again shows his loyalty, when he arrives at the courthouse.  There to defend his partner to the end.  He stated everything with such confidence, I could see him walking around the courthouse in my head.  Taking up for a man that did not deserve it.  In his eyes that was his partner.  He even attempted to bribe the judge, which put his own life in danger.  I was surprised that Tennessee's partner went as far as he did to try and save this mans life. 

Tennessee knew his fate.  When his eyes met with his partner and they shook hands, his gratitude for at least trying was understood.  They were never to meet again both alive.  Tennessee was put to death in the morning saying nothing and holding his head high.  After his death Tennessee's partner was there ready to take the body of his partner.  He seemed so calm and collected as always.  I believe out of curiosity many men followed the cart, but slowly dropped off as time went.  It reminded me of friends in life, they all slowly drop off but one or two.  It reminded me of the dedication Tennessee's partner had for him.  Tennessee's partner was bringing Tennessee home for the last time, a thing a best friend would do.

4-1 Editha

William Dean Howells was known for many things.  He wrote novels, edited a magazine, and was a well known critic.  He was unexpectedly from a small town in Ohio, the son of a printer.  As a child he showed promise and was remarkably smart.  He spent much of his childhood days reading, and I have noticed that many well known writers and poets spent much of their life reading.  He went on to be the editor of several magazines, and wrote over a hundred novels.  I can not imagine the dedication this man must have had to accomplish the amount of work he did in his career.  Howells was a writer who made characters very real and did not make out a hero in every novel.  I admire the realness of his stories, because life is not full of heroes.  It seems to focus on real life situations, and things that would actually happen.  Humans are not perfect and I like to read stories that are portrayed in that manner.

We were asked to read William Dean Howells, "Editha" a short story.  Editha was very real to me, maybe because we are recently in a time of war.  This story really hit home.  Editha is a beautiful young women caught up in the idea of having a hero.  She is determined to have her fiance go to war.  Does she even know anything about war?  Her reasoning behind him going is almost childish.  She wants him to go so bad, but she has no true reasons for him to go.  Her boyfriend Gearson is very committed to Editha.  At first as they are talking, Gearson is against war.  There are many valid reasons he is against war, and he does not understand why people resort to such fighting.  She presses and presses him to think her way.  Women are very good and saying things in a way that manipulates, and sometimes they do not realize what they are saying.

She was so set in her way of thinking, believing she needs him to prove he is a hero.  What better way than to fight for your country?  He leaves distraught, and thinking a lot about what she has said.  She is so convicted that he must go to war she even writes him a letter saying so.  Her mother is against the idea, and I think her wisdom is a reason for that.  Editha is very young and has not experienced life or death.  She does not think about the bad things that could happen, because like most people "it can't happen to me" holds strong in their mind.  When Gearson comes back he is excited and has completely done turn around from the talk they had had before.  Gearson is now going to war, and sends a sense of thrill through Editha.  She is excited by the news and encourages Gearson to go.  He is so "high" on the idea of going to war, that in that moment no one was thinking about what could happen.

It turns out to be very ironic, which I already predicted.  Gearson is killed in battle.  The news comes very soon, since he was one of the first to go to war.  Editha is shocked and does not know what to think.  She had promised to visit his mother and so she did.  His mother was furious, because she knew why Gearson went to war.  She knew that Editha was a child and had wanted a hero.  Now all she had was sadness and  the dream of her hero coming home was gone.  It was all fantasy built up in her head, like a love story.  Gearson's mother spoke the truth and Editha finally realized and felt the pain of losing Gearson.  In the end we all witness the moment when Editha moves from a world of fantasy to a world of realism.

3-3 Jewett

Sarah Orne Jewett by far was my favorite writer of short stories.  She was raised by her father, a doctor, and frequently made rounds with him to visit patients.  Similar to Freeman, Jewett was a sickly child.  She found much pleasure in reading.  Soon her passion for reading developed into a passion for writing.  She closely studied the dialect of the native people, and the way they lived their daily lives.  She was fascinated with the hardships the villagers and farmers endured, yet they seemed happiest of all. Jewett focuses intensely on the character  making sure the reader understands the intense hardships many of them endure.  Although she captures this in her short novels, she shows great compassion for her characters. They live a life of poverty, loss, hard work, but still have so much joy.   Jewett's writing skills only further improved and she grew up to become an accredited author.

In Jewett’s short novel, “A White Heron”, Jewett focuses on a little girl named Sylvia. Originally from the city she has moved to live with her grandmother. Although you would think that moving from the city to the country would not be favorable for a little girl, Sylvia loved it. Her grandmother had picked her out of her other siblings to come and help on the farm. As she first set eyes upon her grandmother’s home in the country she said it was beautiful and she never wanted to go home. Sylvia’s memories of the industrialized city only made her shutter, she finally felt alive on the farm with her grandmother.


The story opens up with Sylvia searching for her cow, what used to be the job of her grandmother. She is having fun enjoying the evening light and looking for the cow in a playful manner. This scene in my opinion really captures the essence of childhood innocence. The way children enjoy nature and seem to take everything in, a freedom that only a child can seem to enjoy anymore. When she meets the stranger she is frightened, which is understandable. I am sure it is human nature to be frightened of a random stranger. When Sylvia made it back to her grandmother’s house she was surprised to see how openly she took in the stranger. I think this really showed a huge difference between southern hospitality and people in the city. I am sure in the city most people would not dare take in a stranger.

Soon the stranger revealed he was a hunter. He was tracking down a white heron and was wanting the little girl to help him find it. He was wanting to add it to his collection of birds he had stuffed. Sylvia did not want him to kill the beloved bird, and had fond memories of watching it fly by. She tracked down the bird, but in the end kept the secret to herself. She loved the country and everything about it. This story really captures the importance of nature and preserving its beauty. It really captures the heart of farmers and the people who live in the country. Which is Jewett’s main focus often times.

3-2 Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

Mary Freeman was from a time when things were tough.  It was the years following the Civil War and many shops were closed down.  Things seemed to be decaying.   As a young girl, Freeman suffered in her health and because of that focused on reading.  As Freeman grew older, her love of reading progressed into writing. Many people began to move to the west, but many unmarried women stayed behind.  These women were strong willed and often referred to as a "stern old maid".  As stated in the text, it was these women who became the brunt of many jokes in poems, cartoons, and songs.  As Freeman grew older her works began to pick up popularity , and she was published many times.  Our class was asked to read Freedman's short story, "The English Nun." 

The opening setting paints a perfect little picture of a woman sitting by the window sewing.  To me an almost cliche scene, that automatically places the woman in her traditional role.  She is very dainty and meticulous about how everything is arranged and looks.  She picks her own tea slowly and carefully.  Almost every movement she makes has a particular purpose, in which she finds pride in.  Although Louisa Ellis was no better off than any other person in her town, she likes the finer things.  She decorated   her coffee table with fine linens, and used to best china.  At first I assumed that she would have company over for tea, but she only had a single cup out.  In my opinion the description of Louisa Ellis fits the stern old maid stereotype. 

Soon we are introduced to another character by the name of Joe Dagget.  He is seemingly a sweet and well reserved man.  He is a love interest of Louisa Ellis.  When we are first introduced to Joe Dagget, it would seem as if he was just a friend.  The story begins to unfold, and we realize that they are engaged to be married.  This along with many other stories, is not the happy ending it seems.  At a time Louisa Ellis was in love with Joe Daggot.  Unfortunately, he was determined to go off and make enough money to start a family with her.  Fourteen years later, Joe Daggot is back with his fortune.  He seems as though he is ready to settle down and be married.  During his years away, Louisa has spent the majority of her time alone.  She had grown accustomed to her own way of living.  The thought of changing her entire life for a man she no longer is in love with does not seem like an option anymore.  She had grown into a different person. 

I noticed the meticulous why she quickly fixed everything he touched.  In my opinion it symbolizes the fact that Louisa does not want to change, she likes everything the way it is.  She brushed his footprints off her carpet like she was brushing him away.  The thought of taking care of a large household, and Mr. Daggot's sick mother only encourages her feelings of wanting to be free. 

In the end Louisa Ellis hears a private conversation between Joe and Lily Dyer.  They had been having a secret affair.  Louisa feels hurt, but in a way relieved of her duty to marry Joe.  She was not in love with him, but was still going to go through with the occasion.  I think originally she was marrying him simply out of obligation, and the fact that she was expected to have a husband. I found it sad that she was sewing her wedding dress.  After hearing their conversation, she simply stopped.  To her there was no reason to finish sewing the dress. It seemed to turn out to be a happy ending for all.  The nun, Louisa Ellis, who is devoted to her home and perfectly content with that.  Then Joe, who seems just to want to settle down and start a family.  In this story their is no bad guy and no hero.  Just a man and a woman who once felt that they were in love.  After many years apart, their feelings have changed and they are different people.  One happy to be alone, and the other looking for love.

3-1 Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson has been regarded as one of the most gifted poets of her time. She was born in 1830 and lived until 1886. Dickinson was from a prominent family and was well educated. She spent much of her life in her home in Amherst, Massachusetts. Throughout her years she spent countless hours alone writing poetry in her bedroom. At a glance it would seem that Dickinson was withdrawn from society and therefor understanding human emotion. In fact she was deeply connected with it all: writing of love, death, nature, and immortality.


In her early thirties she developed a relationship with Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a man her worked as a poetry critic. She sent him many of her poems, and in return he corrected and criticized them. Although he had much to say about her style and grammar he could not deny genius that Dickinson possessed. Maybe this is the reason they carried on this relationship for twenty-two years, all the way up until her death. I am not surprised that only eight of her poems were published while she was alive. It seems that many of history’s famous poets and authors did not get their break until after their death. When Dickinson’s work was discovered in her room there were 1,800 poems neatly packed together, which makes me think it was her pride and joy. Although many of her poems were not published during her lifetime, or even read by others, Dickinson took immense pride in her work.

I cannot say I completely understand what she was thinking as she sat hour after hour writing her poetry, but I do know the joy I feel when I finish a poem. Often times, even if no other eyes will ever see it, I feel relieved when I am finally finished. Dickinson was withdrawn from society and only shared a few meaningful relationships with other people. She used poetry as an outlet for all the thoughts and feelings she could not express otherwise.

Emily Dickinson’s poetry for me is very hard to read and to understand. The words are from a time where the language was different. Although I do not understand the meaning of all the poems or exactly what she is trying to say, I see the passion in her work. I particularly liked poem 732 and did feel like I found meaning in its words. I know that Dickinson spent her years alone, and was left with her sister to run the house. I get the feeling that she felt trapped in her own home. In poem 732 I get the feeling that Dickinson was not very fond of the idea of marriage and the role that women played in it at the time. During her time, women were expected to cook, clean, raise the kids, and be obedient to their husbands. Emily believed in women pursuing their hopes and dreams. Overall this is just my opinion of this poem and could be completely wrong.