Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was the oldest daughter in a prominent family (McChesney). Her grandfather was important in the government and her father followed his successful ways by becoming a treasurer. Emily's mother was a quite women who took great pride in her family and in a clean house (McChesney). Emily graduated from the Amherst Academy and was extremely well read. Although she was really good in school, her life revolved around her family (McChesney). Her family would have a lot of important guests over and she would entertain them with her poetry readings. She was very popular with her age group, too (McChesney). She found an interest in the bible and works by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Shakespeare, and Anne Bronte (McChesney). Unlike her family, Emily did not follow in her parents foot steps. Instead, she withdrew from activity in the community. She had a nac for literature and wanted to pursue it. She had an artistic way of life as a child. There were many signs that Dickinson was going to grow to become a famous poet that would never be forgotten. Another sign of her nac for writing was that she would be very open with her feelings. She would share her opinions and feelings very openly with people (McChesney). While other teens were concerned with clothes and popularity, Dickinson was on her way to become a philosopher (McChesney).
Emily Dickinson spent her whole life analyzing her life. Experiencing life, she felt the need to find an intelligent way of living (McChesney).A common theme in Dickinson's work is love. She used a lot of her poetry to find an escape from her problems with love or to soar to an unreal realm of life where love was perfect (McChesney). I think that she was a very loving women who should be a role model for all young girls. She also had religion as a common theme in her writing. She had a lot of information from the bible. Nature was another common theme. I think that she got this theme from Ralph Waldo Emerson because he was a strong believer in incorporating nature into everyday life. She would follow the changes of the seasons with her writings. Her writing went where no other writings have gone before. She found a new way to view nature that could paint a picture for you just with her words (McChesney). Dickinson also focused on death and immortality. Her writing was very creative with this topic. A lot of people did not write about death because it is a scary topic. She wrote about how she personally dealt with it which must have been hard because when I lost a loved one I had no interest in talking about it.
With her unique perspective on life, a lot of people during her time viewed her as crazy or as eccentric (McChesney). Knowing that she would write poetry alone in her room made others quick to jump on the crazy wagon.
Dickinson would sometimes use a dash to replace a period or a comma in her poetry. This unique style of writing made her interesting to others. She used the dash instead to emphasize her point (McChesney). She would also add English hymn writing styles in her poetry (McChesney). She made her own style that was very creative and interesting to people to this day.
