Hope And Symbolism
COMPLETE: symbolism in Hope is the thing with feathers
As a quick review, a metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two objects, and it can be used to compare a symbol to what it represents.
Metaphors are often used in poetry in which one thing is pictured as if it were something else as we see in Dickinson's Hope.
Answer the following questions, citing textual evidence to support your answers.
1. In the first stanza, Hope is being symbolized as what? (Do NOT say a thing with feathers!) Cite textual evidence to show how you know this. Hope is used to symbolize a bird. “perches” “sings” “feathers”
2. In the second stanza, Dickinson uses the metaphor of the storm to suggest what about Hope? Again, cite textual evidence to support your answer. To describe the storm’s potential effect on the bird, wrenches the reader back to the reality behind the pretty metaphor; while a singing bird cannot exactly be “abashed,” the word describes the effect of the storm, or a more general hardship upon the speaker’s hopes. 3. In the last stanza, Dickinson reveals her final message about Hope. What is this final message? In times when hope is least expected, it fills the human heart with the necessary force to move on or get through a chapter in life. The best part about this whole situation is that as Dickinson explains: it never asks for a crumb. Much like how a bird gives so much through song, and then flies away without the littlest of payments, hope for Dickinson aids the soul in such a large way, and yet it never requires anything. 4. In response to the question above, how does this last stanza reinforce the symbolism of Hope. Cite the text to show you understand. Dickenson states she has "heard" (literally and through her conscious) not only birds but hope as well, in the most extremes of places. This is something that many people can relate to.
5. Finally, based on your answers above, what is the theme or central idea of this poem?
In the human
As a quick review, a metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two objects, and it can be used to compare a symbol to what it represents.
Metaphors are often used in poetry in which one thing is pictured as if it were something else as we see in Dickinson's Hope.
Answer the following questions, citing textual evidence to support your answers.
1. In the first stanza, Hope is being symbolized as what? (Do NOT say a thing with feathers!) Cite textual evidence to show how you know this. Hope is used to symbolize a bird. “perches” “sings” “feathers”
2. In the second stanza, Dickinson uses the metaphor of the storm to suggest what about Hope? Again, cite textual evidence to support your answer. To describe the storm’s potential effect on the bird, wrenches the reader back to the reality behind the pretty metaphor; while a singing bird cannot exactly be “abashed,” the word describes the effect of the storm, or a more general hardship upon the speaker’s hopes. 3. In the last stanza, Dickinson reveals her final message about Hope. What is this final message? In times when hope is least expected, it fills the human heart with the necessary force to move on or get through a chapter in life. The best part about this whole situation is that as Dickinson explains: it never asks for a crumb. Much like how a bird gives so much through song, and then flies away without the littlest of payments, hope for Dickinson aids the soul in such a large way, and yet it never requires anything. 4. In response to the question above, how does this last stanza reinforce the symbolism of Hope. Cite the text to show you understand. Dickenson states she has "heard" (literally and through her conscious) not only birds but hope as well, in the most extremes of places. This is something that many people can relate to.
5. Finally, based on your answers above, what is the theme or central idea of this poem?
In the human