At first glance, Dickinson's poem made no sense to me. I then, however, tore it apart and came up with the following explication. Line one basically states "tell me the whole truth, but don't be so direct. Don't just come out and say it." In line two, when the speaker refers to a circuit, she is most likely comparing the way they tell the truth to the way circuits wind their way around a room, mostly hidden, but getting their job done. Lines three and four are saying the direct truth may be too much to handle, such as the sun may be too bright to look at directly. Lines five and six are telling this person to explain the truth like one mi

Dickinson's style appears almost childlike in its descriptions including fogs and bogs, as well as lively energy expressed by the poem through its use of dashes and brief wording. Dickinson seems to be addressing her spinster, hermit-like existence (I'm nobody) and her preference to it. The poetess seems to relate that her situation has not left her without a sense of humor. Dickinson's emphasis is less on humor and more on expressing irony. It expresses the quality of brevity and lightness in that it's composition is full of dashes, with even full sentences broken into short, quick actions that easily roll off of the tongue when spoken aloud (How dreary - to be - Somebody). The technical composition of this poem is two stanzas, however, Dickinson is able to refresh the form with her use of dashes and short words to give it energy and liveliness. She mocks the conventional need for self-importance through publicity (How public - like a Frog - / To tell one's name - the livelong June -), suggesting that the audience isn't that interested (/ To an admiring Bog). She instead seems to idealize her solitude by creating the mysterious feeling of a secret society of social outcasts (Don't tell! they'd advertise - you know!).

The speaker of "Tell all the Truth..." is saying exactly that- tell all the truth but tell it slant, while the speaker in "Harlem" is more contemplative, asking what happens to a dream deferred. The imagery of both poems leaves me with solid pictures in my mind. In "Tell All The Truth..." the Truth takes on this certain aura, where you feel that experiencing it would be something wonderful, and it would dazzle you to no end. Also, as mentioned above, "Harlem" creates the picture of a dream deteriorating, in one way or another. Hughes's use of language easily put these images in front of us for us to

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1241
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)