Along with Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson is also a poet who does not fit perfectly into either the Modernism period or the Realism period. Once again, realism is when the author attempts describes life as it really is instead of how they want it to be (Werlock). Realist writers are very specific and careful with what details they use, unlike naturalist writers (Werlock). The Modernism period was when poetry started to break away from the traditional art forms and created new ways (Fargnoli). It is obvious that Emily Dickinson loved writing poetry because during the thirty years she wrote poetry she wrote over 2,000 poems (McChesney). Before she was the famous poet she is known as today, Emily Dickinson showed signs of her poetic talent by expressing her feelings frequently and looking at life as a philosopher would at a young age (McChesney). Because only a very small amount of her poems were published during her life time, Emily Dickinson wrote with little to no feedback from anyone, positive or negative (McChesney). Some common themes found throughout Emily Dickinson's poems are "life, love, renunciation, love of nature, death, and the question of immortality" (McChesney). For example, in 677 she expresses her feelings by saying "To be alive—is Power—Existence—in itself—Without a further function—Omnipotence—Enough—" (McChesney). Emily Dickinson had a very interesting and unique way of viewing life, so to some people she was seen as crazy (McChesney).
I can also see how Emily Dickinson does not fit into either Realism period or Modernism period. One thing that I have noticed in many of the poems written by Emily Dickinson is that she uses a lot of dashes. I think the dashes are used for to make something seem dramatic or to emphasize something. Because she wrote so many poems, I feel like she probably spent a lot of her life writing poetry. She also wrote about a wide variety of themes ranging from love to death, which I think is interesting that she wrote about both. Sometimes an author will write about one or the other, but she just wrote about everything that she experienced in life. Emily Dickinson became such a famous writer not only because she was an excellent poet, but because she was different from everyone else. She wrote a lot about what she was going through in her own life and that made her poems more deep and interesting. Emily Dickinson was a total opposite from most women in her time period. She did not like to cook or sew like most women of this time period, so this is part of the reason she locked herself up in her room and began writing poetry (McChesney). Emily Dickinson has a writing style that is so unique and different, and that is why so many people thought she was crazy. Both Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman have writing styles that are not perfect fits for neither the Modernism period or the Realism period, and that is why they are known as famous poets today.
Bibliography
Fargnoli, Nicholas A., Michael Golay, and Robert W. Hamblin. "modernism and the
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McChesney, Sandra. "A View from the Window: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson." In Harold Bloom, ed. Emily Dickinson, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2002. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.
Quinn, Edward. "free verse." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second
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Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File
Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File,
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