Emily Dickinson’s poem utilizes dashes in order to emphasize the importance of a specific sentence. Every time theres’s a dash, the reader takes a slight pause in their head. If the reader were to read the line “[w]inter [a]fternoons-” without the dash, they may miss the significance of this line. The dash allows the reader to envision the imagery and mood of this sentence with the dash. Dickinson uses the dash effectively, as in the case above, to emphasize the purpose of the sentences to the poem.
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I agree that the use of dashes does help place an emphasis when needed. The use of that specific punctuation allows for readers to slow down and take in what is being portrayed. You’ve made that clear.