Leader
Lucinda MacKethanProfessor of English, Emerita, North Carolina State University
National Humanities Center Fellow
About the Seminar
Emily Dickinson’s poetry is among the most evocative and challenging in our literature. Ambiguity abounds; images amaze. Many a class has lingered over a single word. This seminar will explore the techniques of literary close reading and examine several Dickinson poems, including “The Railway Train,” “We Grow Accustomed to the Dark,” and “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” all Common Core exemplar texts.Presentation PDF
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Assigned Readings
- Poems by Emily Dickinson
"The Railway Train,”
“We Grow Accustomed to the Dark,”
“Because I Could Not Stop for Death,”
and a few select others.
Pre-Seminar Activity.
Professor MacKethan has provided the attached worksheet for use with the seminar and as a tool for use in your classroom. Please complete this exercise for each of the three poems before the seminar. Our hope is that this activity will enhance your seminar experience.
Suggested Additional Resources
- Sites that offer helpful background and secondary source material:
- Emily Dickinson, The Poetry Foundation.
- Emily Dickinson's Life, Modern American Poetry.
- The Emily Dickinson Collection. Houghton Library, Harvard University.
- The Emily Dickinson Museum.