1. Discuss how you feel about flies (buzzing around a room, landing on food, etc.) and say why you feel that way.
2. A keepsake is a small item kept in memory of the person who originally owned it. If you have a keepsake, explain what it means to you.
3. Think about possessions of yours which you feel embody your personality. Describe these things and explain how they represent you.
COMPREHENDING AND RESPONDING
1. What is the significance of the fact that the speaker hears the fly buzz in line one, in your opinion?
2. What type of ‘Stillness’ and what type of ‘Storm’ do you think Dickinson is describing in stanza one? Give reasons for your answer.
3. What do you think Dickinson means when she writes ‘The Eyes around – had wrung them dry ’?
4. Who do you think the ‘King’ the poet refers to in stanza two might be? Explain your answer.
5. How do you think the speaker is feeling about their imminent death before the fly appears? Support your answer with reference to the poem.
6. What, in your opinion, happens in the final stanza of the poem? Give reasons for your answer.
7. How would you describe the tone of this poem? Give reasons for your choice.
8. What theme or themes can you find in this poem? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.
9. Compare this poem to another Dickinson poem with a similar subject matter or contrast it with a dissimilar poem under the headings title, theme, tone and imagery.
CREATING
1. ‘There are too many things that we Irish do not talk about, and it is not healthy.’ Write an article for an Irish national newspaper with this heading.
2. Write a short story in which there is a death-bed revelation with far-reaching repercussions.
3. Write a radio talk in which you give listeners advice on how to deal with the different kinds of loss we can experience in life.
