Essay
Analysing 'There's a certain Slant of light'
Analysing 'There's a certain Slant of light' by Emily Dickinson, an A grade exam style answer.
[Show more]
Content preview
‘There’s a certain Slant of light’Explore how Emily Dickinson presents pain/a sensory/inner experience in ‘After great pain, a formal
feeling comes -’ and make connections with one or two other poems from your collection.
You should consider Dickinson’s use of poetic and stylistic techniques and significant literary or other
relevant contexts.
In ‘There’s a certain Slant of Light’ rapidly fading light in winter induces feelings of despair at the
meaningless inevitability of darkness and death. She expresses the inner experience engendered by
the ordinary moment of time of day and years.
Dickinson uses the sense as a means of communicating an inner spiritual experience. She begins by
observing a ‘Slant of light’ that has a direct correlation to her internal psychological state of mind. In
the simile ‘like the heft of Cathedral tunes’ creates the image of a weighty burden, a synaesthetic
attribution of weight to sound, with the the anglo saxon monosyllable and fricative heft’. This is
emphasised by the lexical choice of ‘oppressed’. ‘Cathedrals’ has connotations of God which may be
related to her sceptical questioning of her devout puritan surroundings, and her image of God as an
oppressor through the verb ‘oppresses’. This suggests that she saw God and religion as an
unavoidable, hugely powerful force that she could not ignore - like the full ringing sound of a
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 stu123. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £5.49. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
64438 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 14 years now