Kelly, Milyza, Erika V
Although pain can be suffered for many different reasons, the impact of a great pain influences each individual similarly. In the poem 341, writer Emily Dickinson speaks of nerves and heartache. After she confesses this feeling of loss, she states, “The Feet, mechanical, go round-/Of Ground, or Air, or Ought -/A Wooden way,” (484). These powerful words create an image of how sadness can affect the mind so greatly that it impacts physical activity. When she says, “A Wooden way” I pictured the movement of a doll or nutcracker — something that is very unnatural. I think this way of movement that Dickinson attributed to the person was caused by a daze from all of his or her suffering. Picturing this movement on a person made us think of someone deep in serious thought, just walking without realizing where he or she is. The person is so consumed in their thought that they’re operating on autopilot, walking in a “mechanical” way.
11 responses so far ↓
k.vataj // Oct 23rd 2015 at 10:18 am
I really like this interpretation of pain. This accurately describes someone experiencing a great deal of pain and suffering. It is true, when people are in deep thought rather than being mindful and in the moment, they are less of aware of what is actually happening in front of them. This is because they are in fact in their thoughts. “The feet mechanical…” I would of came up with the same interpretation, this makes me think of something robotic, as if a person is going through life without paying attention to their surroundings, they are simply alive and not living. It was good to note that pain is experienced for different reasons, this poem is definitely describing a psychological response to suffering.
s.kazinets // Oct 23rd 2015 at 2:00 pm
I agree with you an the interpretation that you gave about pain and how it affects us. I think that pain can truly make a person into who they are and change their mind set. It was really interesting how you interpreted the part about wood. When we are in pain we tend to start thinking irrationally and like you mentioned almost in a trans state, where we are not sure of what is the next move to do. It’s like when someone loses a loved one, and usually the next words are “how do we go on”, and people don’t have an immediate reaction expect that time will tell. It was a really interesting way to think about this poem.
aj166127 // Oct 23rd 2015 at 6:20 pm
Great line to pick for your interpretation. It was easier to visualize what you wrote when you compared the walking to that of a nutcracker. Pain can bring about a sense of being lost. Lost as in we’re just going about our business mechanically, without any life. Great analysis.
c.hazan // Oct 23rd 2015 at 7:04 pm
I love this interpretation! Before I continued on after the quote, I read it slowly and I interpreted it to myself, and it was the same analysis as yours. Pain has a way of immobilizing people and putting them in a daze where they are just going with the flow but not actually present. I think this quote really expresses that, and you definitely seem to have felt where the poem was going and how the narrator felt. The words “A wooden way,” really express the way that a person is suffering is sometimes detached from their emotions because the mind has a way of protecting people. It sounds like the person suffering is in a state of shock. Great quote and great interpretation!
yg111658 // Oct 23rd 2015 at 8:41 pm
This is a great lined you picked for your interpretation.I would have never understood the meanings of those words in first reading but your explanation really clarifies it up. I can definitely see where you are coming from and it was very helpful. Your explanation was written in a very imaginative way and i can envision the scenario in a real life context.
v.barreras // Oct 23rd 2015 at 11:20 pm
I definitely agree with your interpretation. The structure of your paragraph is really good as well. You picked a good quote and then tied it to your topic with analysis. It was good that you tied the interpretation to Emily Dickinson’s life as well as how it can relate to the real world. Good job overall.
m.lee // Oct 24th 2015 at 1:15 am
You picked a fantastic quote and I like how you were able to develop it out by mentioning what you interpreted as “A wooden way”. It’s interesting how you were able to tie in together the concept of suffering with the doll/nutcracker. I never thought about a nutcracker in that sort of way but it’s true that its movements are unnatural and it could be seen as suffering. Not being able to move about as you wish is terrible and it’s like you’re not even living. Nice job.
t.zar // Oct 24th 2015 at 10:50 am
I really enjoy this interpretation of pain in the poem. Your comparison between the mechanical, unnatural movement of a doll or a nutcracker provides great imagery into exactly how pain can influence people and their physical feelings. Moreover, pain can clearly affect the mind and you asserted that by using a great quote. The quote itself shows the mental pain people can feel and the struggle of everyday life of somebody in pain.
y.kim // Oct 24th 2015 at 11:29 am
This is a great interpretation. The group chose an excellent quote to explain how pain causes the mind to become less connected to the body. When an individual suffers from the pain of sadness, he or she is unable to function as he or she would normally do. As a result, the body of the individual will continue to perform its daily activities, but the mind of an human will wander somewhere else. Once an individual overcomes sadness, whether its through time or another solution, he will realize that the body has been functioning in”a wooden way”. The disconnection between the mind and body that was caused by sadness portrays how an extreme emotion has a great impact on a person.
JMERLE // Oct 24th 2015 at 1:23 pm
Kelly, Milly, Erika,
This is essentially a solid construction, but I have some important suggestions:
You first two sentences are getting towards a topic, but they are too general. State, immediately, what that feeling/reaction seems to be. Your intro. to support and your quotation are quite good, and you do a fairly nice job of explaining your quote, except that because your topic is so general, you never actually get to a specific interpretation. Remember, too, to stay close to the quote; try to use even more words as you explain.
Also, take more care with your sentence construction (proof read).
Grade: 8/10
Brandon Andujar // Oct 24th 2015 at 5:59 pm
Your interpretation of pain is very well done here. All of the sentences flow one after the other and connect with one another.Your capturing of specific moments and images with the ability to relate them back to your topic was very well done. As a reader, being able to connect the thoughts to each other of a paragraph makes it exceptionally good.