Emily Dickinson Poem Analysis

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Jin Yoon English 11H, Period 3 Williams May 7, 2013 Tell all the Truth but tell it slant Has anyone ever asked you something that completely surprised you? The feeling of being caught off guard or feeling overwhelmed brings an interesting perspective into the light regarding personal disclosure. In fact, the truth affects all people in different ways primarily depending on how the message is perceived by the recipient. In Emily Dickinson’s poem Tell all the Truth but tell it slant, Dickinson effectively illustrates the need for people to gently tell the whole truth while diluting it so the listener does not become devastated through the use of metaphor, literal writing style, and word-choice. Throughout the poem, Dickinson uses a natural metaphor when comparing truth to light. Dickinson herself writes, “Too bright for our infirm Delight” (Dickinson). Dickinson is saying the truth opening your eyes to new ideas is compared to light uncovering things in the darkness that were previously overlooked. Just as light is sometimes too bright and hurts your eyes or surprises you if turned on too suddenly, truth may hurt your feelings or surprise you. Consequently, the blunt truth is not always the best thing and may devastate the listener. If you tell someone the blunt truth right away, they may not have time or the experience to understand it completely and may just block it out altogether. Truth is a powerful source that can negatively impact someone when perceived directly. Through Dickinson’s use of a literal writing style, she manages to attract the reader into the poem while emphasizing her theme. Her use of capitalization, punctuation, alliteration, and oxymoron all serve a purpose to support the meaning of the poem. Dickinson writes, “Success in Circuit lies” (Dickinson) capitalizing “Success” and “Circuit” to heighten the need to be indirect when

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