Emily Dickinson

• Where was Emily Dickinson born, and what kind of household did she grow up in?

  Emily Dickinson was born in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a strict household where her father, a prominent politician and lawyer, censored much of the reading material brought into the house.
• Which poets influenced Emily Dickinson's writing?

  Emily Dickinson was influenced by the poems of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.
• How many poems did Emily Dickinson write, and when were most of them published?

  Emily Dickinson wrote 1,775 poems, most of which were published after her death.
• What major event in American history influenced Emily Dickinson's poetry?

  The U.S. Civil War, which began in 1861, greatly affected Dickinson and is evident in her poetry.
• What themes became central in Emily Dickinson's poetry?

  The theme of death became a central focus in many of Dickinson's poems, particularly due to the high death toll of the Civil War and the loss of several of her family members.
• How did Emily Dickinson's personal life affect her reclusive nature?

  After the deaths of family members and suffering from iritis, Dickinson became more reclusive, staying at her family home in Amherst until her death in 1886.