SAMPLE IDEA MAP (EXTENDED): EMILY DICKINSON IMAGES OF JOY , HAPPINESS & FREEDOM IMAGES OF FEAR, GLOOM & TERROR UNUSUAL, ECCENTRIC APPROACH TO SUBJECTS Especially to the subject of death EMILY DICKINSON © The Institute of Education THEMES Hope Great joy Fear, terror Desolation Freedom & elation STATES OF MIND NATURE DEATH Concrete Images (metaphors and similes) used to express states of mind which are by their nature abstract Capitalised words used to make words that are central to the poem stand out in an arresting manner Dashes used to achieve the effect of normal speech; to mark off, isolate and frame ideas and images thus causing us to pause, focus on them and absorb their full impact MUSICAL QUALITY DISTINCTIVE STYLE Uses the metre of the hymns she would have sung as a child- trimeter and tetrameter - rhyme, alliteration UNUSUAL PUNCTUATION LANGUAGE concise, condensed - fragmentary like diary entries - writing for herself, not for publication CONCRETE IMAGES Like little dramas - dramatises the highs and lows of human feeling. Each poem has a definite setting (a stage as it were). Use of 1st person creates drama and immediacy Feelings are given a physical form. Action verbs: bursting, dancing, swinging, beating, treading, reeling etc. DRAMATIC QUALITY Sudden arresting openings