Poetry Explication Paper: Intervention Technique and Rough Draft with Feedback

Invention Technique: Outline

I wrote an outline for assignment 3. I used this outline to help structure my paper. I listed the topic, thesis, conclusion, and each literary device I observed throughout the poem “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” by Emily Dickinson. This outline helped me create a plan for my final draft.

Invention Technique: Detailed Notes

I created bullet points to help visualize the information of each literary device I listed in assignment 3. I was able to jot down a small description of how each literary device was used by Emily Dickinson in the poem “Because I Could Not Stop For Death.” By using the bullet points I was able to get an idea of the type of information I needed to include in this assignment.

Rough Draft and Feedback

The purpose of this assignment was to explain the use of the literary devices Emily Dickinson used within the poem “Because I Could Not Stop For Death.” To my surprise my rough draft consisted of small errors. Two of my errors were the fact I did not cite my sources in MLA format, and I also used an authors first and last name after I already cited him within the assignment.

Instructor Feedback:

I listed my rough draft below. The errors my instructor advised me to fix are no longer there. I listed my updated draft with a few pictures of the draft before and after receiving feedback. I highlighted each error.

Amberlyn Easterly

Professor Nall

Composition II

24 July 2022

“Because I Could Not Stop For Death”

“Because I Could Not Stop For Death” is a poem written by the author Emily Dickinson. “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” is a lyrical poem written around 1863 and happened to be around the third year of The American Civil War. Around this time, many people, both male and female, died during this war. This poem was later published in 1890 under the title “The Chariot,” which Thomas Wentworth Higginson assigned. Thomas Wentworth Higgins was the literary mentor to Dickinson. The poem now has the title “Because I Could Not Stop For Death,” which happens to be the very first line of the poem. No one knows the true meaning behind this poem due to the fact it was published after Dickinson passed away, but it is obvious the poem was written about death and the afterlife; mortality and immortality. Dickinson uses personification, symbolism, metaphors, and imagery to evaluate the story and convey a deeper meaning. It was written from the first-person point of view. This poem is one of the longest and most intriguing poems written by Emily Dickinson and ended up being in the top 15 poems she ever wrote.

The first literary device I would like to discuss is how Emily Dickinson used personification within her poem. Personification is one of the main elements used with comparing death. It also is the first literary device used in this poem. Personification is used when Dickinson describes death using human traits. Personification has become very obvious throughout the poem as it occurs just within the first stanza. Mark Spencer explains how Death and Immortality are both personified by Emily Dickinson. Dickinson compared death to an admirer; someone who seeks her attention (Spencer). Spencer described how the carriage represents the journey from life to death (95). Dickinson expresses death to be kind and civil for taking her on the carriage before going to her house (lines 2,8). Dickinson portrays death as a person. So comparing Death to the carriage, she represents something/someone with manners people wait on. Death is personified as a guide to the speaker's “Eternity” (Dickinson 24). The speaker was too busy to stop for death, so death kindly stopped for her.

Symbolism is used to help elevate the story and convey a deeper meaning in which the readers understand. Collamer Abbott stated that the “House” expands the symbolism immeasurably beyond the moldy receptacle of an underground grave to a hospitable dwelling (Abbott). “The grave my little cottage is” Dickinson is talking about life after death in a “Little cottage” (Abbott). Symbolism was used to define the three stages of life. Dickinson used “We passed the School, where Children strove” to symbolize the first stage of life (Dickinson line 9). The first stage of life meaning life after birth. She used the representation of a child to symbolize her childhood experience, which compared children to death. During her second stage of life, Dickinson compared “We passed Fields of Grazing Grain” to represent her adulthood. The time which she majored and soon would meet death (Dickinson line 11). In the third and final stage of life, she used “We passed the Setting Sun” to symbolize she was ready for death, that once the sunset faded, her final stage would be over, leading to death.

After the three stages of life, the speaker and death stopped at their final destination; a house. A “House” is used as a metaphor for a burial vault, also known as a grave. Dickinson uses metaphors to portray one's experience of life after death. Abbott ( I used the authors first and last name when I only needed his last name because I had already introduced him in the paragraph before.)stated that Dickinson sees the “House” as “a new-made grave” (Abbott). “We paused before a house” The house is simply being used as a resting place while waiting for eternity (line 17). The “House” as a metaphor for the grave shows that the speaker not only accepts death but is comfortable with it. The grave is not something to fear, as our bodies are finally going home.

The journey the speaker travels with death contains imagery. Death is pictured as an admirer in a carriage in this poem. We do not receive a physical description of death; but Dickinson does state that death is kind and civil. Imagery is also introduced when the carriage passes the school while children are playing at recess, as well as passing the grazing gain and the setting sun. Those examples are all reminders of what the speaker is leaving behind once she reaches her final destination; death. We can visualize each stop as if we were the ones riding on the carriage.

Patricia Encle states that the phrases “School,” “Grazing Grain,” and “Setting Sun” are all examples of the three stages of life which we can visualize. Dickinson had the will–and has now perhaps the way–to shuffle the slants of light through which we now see her work (Encle).

The poem “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” is Emily Dickinson's perspective of death. Within this poem, Dickinson tries to capture the imaginative journey one meets with death. She defines it in 3 stages and has no fear of what is to come. She accepts death and is comfortable with it. Dickinson has written many poems related to death as if she is trying to persuade her readers about the perception of death. Emily Dickinson uses personification, symbolism, metaphors, and imagery to evaluate the story and convey a deeper meaning.

Works Cited

Abbott, Collamer M. “Dickinson’s BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH.” The Explicator, vol. 58, no. 3, 2000, pp. 140–43. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.1080/00144940009595964.

Engle, Patricia. “Dickinson’s Because I Could Not Stop for Death.” The Explicator, vol. 60, no. 2, 2002, pp. 72–75. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.1080/00144940209597660.

Spencer, Mark. “Dickinson’s Because I Could Not Stop For Death.” The Explicator, vol. 65, no. 2, 2007, pp. 95–96. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.3200/expl.65.2.95-96.

(I listed my sources in the wrong format. They needed to be in MLA format)

Before feedback: