Kirjahaku

The public is familiar with the Emily Dickinson stereotype--an eccentric spinster in a white dress flitting about her father's house, hiding from visitors. But these associations are misguided and should be dismantled. This work aims to remove some of the distorted myths about Dickinson in order to clear a path to her poetry. The entries and short essays should open avenues of debate and individual critical analysis. This companion gives both instructors and readers multiple avenues for study. The entries and charts are intended to prompt ideas for classroom discussion and syllabus planning. Whether the reader is first encountering Dickinson's poems or returning to them, this book aims to inspire interpretative opportunities. The entries and charts make connections between Dickinson poems, ponder the significance of literary, artistic, historical, political or social contexts, and question the interpretations offered by others as they enter the never-ending debates between Dickinson scholars.

The collection The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America by Anne Bradstreet--the first book of poetry published by a permanent resident of colonial America--appeared in 1650 thanks to the support of Bradstreet's brother-in-law. By this time, she had immigrated to New England with her husband; given birth to seven of her eight children; settled on her fifth and final homestead; and gained access to a network of influential Puritan leaders via the various positions held by her father, husband, brothers, and brothers-in-law within the Massachusetts Bay Colony government. This study of Bradstreet explores the literary, religious, political, social, and familial contexts of colonial America that shaped her life and work. Bradstreet embraced her identity as a poet of her time, drawing inspiration from earlier writers as well as her contemporaries, who used a common set of stylistic conventions to explore themes of love, faith, loss, and mortality. Given the scarcity of recent scholarship on Bradstreet, this book is designed as a versatile resource--a blend of biography, literary analysis, history, genealogy, reference, and textbook--that situates Bradstreet's poetry within the greater context of the seventeenth century.