The Second Challenge Check-In

Check-in #2: Update on the progress of your challenge on your blog in the form of a memo. Either upload the text or provide a link to the document on your blog.


TO: Mikayla Beaudrie

FROM: Shawn Rosselet

DATE: July 26th, 2014

SUBJECT: Challenge Check-In #2


After reading only a few of the texts provided under the Literary Analysis section, it has become clear that Emily Dickinson's poem is the best choice for this paper, as it is clear that it represents the Gothic. The only difficulty is the poem's short length; the quantity of evidence is scarce, so hopefully the idea of 'quality over quantity' is true for this poem. This is because quality is necessary for a lot of information to be extracted from the few ideas that are present in the poem. Thus, a deep analysis of the poem will be necessary to meet the assignment's word count minimum. Many details will need to be provided for each reason.


Potential Reasons

There are a few aspects of this poem that can be pinpointed as a source of representation of the Gothic. It may also be useful to research the context of this poem (e.g. date of publication, the author's life at the time, etc.). Although these aspects are not yet solidified and may change in the near future, potential aspects at this point are as listed:

• use of symbols
• portrayal of ideas
• literary devices
• format/structure
• diction

Analyzing these aspects of the poem and figuring our the role they play in representing the Gothic will lead to a successful paper for this assignment. The use of evidence in the form of quotes will be necessary to convince the audience of the role that each aspect plays. Logical and reasonable arguments will have to be made in order to construct a persuasive paper. Meeting the mentioned criteria will result in an effective argument that Emily Dickinson's poem represents the Gothic.