Here’s a full analysis of the poem ‘I’m Nobody! Who are you?’ by Emily Dickinson, tailored towards A-Level students but also suitable for those studying at a higher level. Enjoy and feel free to leave feedback if you found it useful!
Includes:
POEM
VOCABULARY
STORY / SUMMARY
SPEAKE...
Dreary - boring and tiring
Public - the opposite of private, available for everyone to see
Livelong - entire, the whole length of something, an emphasis on boredom or a long
period of time passing
Bog - a swamp
STORY/SUMMARY
Stanza 1: I’m Nobody! No one knows my name or remembers me - who are you? Are
you Nobody too? Then there’s a pair of us! Don’t tell anyone about us! They’d start
, advertising us - you know - and then we’d be somebody and people would know our
name, and we don’t want that!
Stanza 2: How boring and tiresome it must be to be - Somebody! How horrible it
would be to have your life and actions made public for the whole world to see - like a
Frog - to talk about yourself and your name the whole month of June - to people
who sit there and lap it up, like an admiring swamp!
A Frog in a Bog, photo by Elizabeth Spencer on Unsplash
SPEAKER/VOICE
Employing a humorous, ironic tone, Dickinson explores the positives and negatives of
fame in this poem. The sentiment is certainly that it would be boring, tiring and
inconvenient to achieve fame during one’s lifetime, because publicity would change
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller natashatabani. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £4.59. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
