Question

Compare and contrast Dickinson with Brooks. Consider the historical, cultural, and societal contexts in which they lived.

Answer 1

Emily Dickinson
She was born in 18th century in Massachusetts. She was a hermit and prefers to stay at home. She wrote hundreds of poems but only published a few. Her poems were in iambic pentameter, personified with a male voice and she wrote about past experiences. She doesn’t title her poems.
 
Gwendolyn Brooks
She was born in 20th century in Kansas. She was an African-American poet who often wrote about racism. She moved to Chicago early in her life and went to various types of schools (all white, all black, and mixed). She was the first African-American author to win the Pulitzer Prize, first American to receive the Society for Literature Award, and first African-American woman to be a poetry consultant for the Library of Congress. She used end rhyme, repetition, simple words, cataloging, and matter-of-fact tone in her works. She usually writes about lower class people in a lyrical fashion.