Emily Dickinson's Poetry - Game Script The Forgotten Fascicles


Background

Editors, we need your help!

Emily Dickinson was a very private lady. She wrote hundreds of poems and even sewed them into little handmade books, which are sometimes called "fascicles," but kept them in her home and chose not to publish much of her work.

So how is Emily Dickinson so well known??  

4 years after she passed away, Emily's sister Lavinia found her private collection and got a team to publish them in what turned out to be a bestselling book.

People LOVED her poems so much that her book was reprinted 11 times in under 2 years!! (In the 1890s, 11 editions of one book was a HUGE INVESTMENT and these books were  cranked out of a printing press BY HAND.) That's why getting her poetry RIGHT the first time was  important. 

We need your help in reading Emily Dickinson's original poems and figuring out how to print them for a new collection edited by your class!

Characters

Lavinia Dickinson

Lavinia is Emily Dickinson's little sister and the person who uncovered Emily's vast hidden collection of poems (nearly 1800) after Emily passed away. From 1886 to 1899, Lavinia devoted herself to publishing her beloved sister's poems and letters. 


Your Task

Vinnie, you want to convince Susan Dickinson, Mabel Loomis Todd, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, and the Roberts Brothers to collect, edit and publish your sister's poems!

Click here for more information about Lavinia!


Resources

Scene - 01

Mabel Loomis Todd Editor

Lavinia convinced Mabel Loomis Todd, a writer, editor and intellectual, to collaborate on the mission to publish Emily Dickinson's recovered poetry. Mabel enthusiastically helped craft a hugely successful book campaign in 1890. She later claimed ownership over a huge part of the original poems, which caused tension between her and the Dickinson family.


Your Task

Mabel, you want this book to sell. To make these poems readable to the modern nineteenth century customer, it is up to you to clean up the findings. You may choose to cut out any strange or extra markings and add titles to Emily's handwritten poems, with the good intention of getting her work out there and selling this book!

For more information on Mabel, click here. 


Resources

Scene - 01

Thomas Wentworth Higginson Editor

Thomas co-edited the first 2 collections of Emily Dickinson's poems with Mabel Loomis Todd. 


Your Task

Like Mabel, you want this book to sell and to make this huge collection of poems readable to the modern nineteenth century customer, it is up to you to clean up the findings. You may choose to cut out any strange or extra markings or add titles to Emily's handwritten poems, with the good intention of getting her work out there and selling this book!

 

Learn more about Thomas here


Resources

Scene - 01

Martha Dickinson Bianchi Editors

Emily Dickinson's niece, and a writer herself, Martha inherited much of her aunt's collection of poems (except for a hefty portion, which Mabel Loomis Todd fought the Dickinson family for). Martha revived an interest in her aunt's work with her own publication of a collection and memories of her aunt in 1914.


Your Task

As a direct descendant of Emily Dickinson, you feel it is your responsibility to share real memories of your aunt and to preserve her legacy by getting a new collection of her poems on bookshelves. Making a readable book is important to you, so like Mabel and Thomas, cutting out strange punctuation is one example of your effort to make your aunt's writing more accessible to the 20th century reader! 

Learn more about Martha here.


Resources

Scene - 01

Ralph W. Franklin Editor

Ralph is a renowned Emily Dickinson scholar who reintroduced the fascicles, or small hand sewn books, that Emily Dickinson left behind as a critical component of reading her poetry. He edited a collection with major emphasis on the fascicles in 1981.


Your Task

Ralph, you need to convince readers of Emily Dickinson's poetry and 20th century academics of the importance in studying the physical elements of what Emily left behind.  Keeping her writing exactly as she left it is the best way to understand what she meant! 

 

Check out the collection edited by Ralph W. Franklin with this citation: (1981  The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson
Edited by R.W. Franklin.  
Published by The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press of Cambridge, Massachusetts.)


Resources

Scene - 01

Scene 1: Panel of Editors


1.

Public Message

Hello Editors!

Check out this facsimile (digital representation) of one of Emily Dickinson's poems.

With your character's interests in mind, prepare your own version of the poem to share with the class at the end of the game. You can choose to type up a version of the poem, write one out by hand or even take a picture of the digital representation given here, as long as you stay true to how your character would want the poem to look.

Good luck!


2.

Private (a while after previous message)

Lavinia Dickinson:

Lavinia,

It's up to you to get your sister's poems out to the public! You know Mabel Loomis Todd and Thomas Wentworth Higgins are excellent editors and academics with the experience to help turn your sister's poems into a beautiful book. Team up to review the poem!

Mabel Loomis Todd:

Mabel, 

Lavinia enlisted you to help edit this poem into a very cleaned up nineteenth century reader's dream. Team up with Thomas and Lavinia to speed up the process!

Thomas Wentworth Higginson:

Like Mabel, you want this book to sell and to make this huge collection of poems readable to the modern nineteenth century customer, it is up to you to clean up the findings. You may choose to cut out any strange or extra markings or add titles to Emily's handwritten poems, with the good intention of getting her work out there and selling this book!

 

Learn more about Thomas here

Martha Dickinson Bianchi:

As a direct descendant of Emily Dickinson, you feel it is your responsibility to share real memories of your aunt and to preserve her legacy by getting a new collection of her poems on bookshelves. Making a readable book is important to you, so like Mabel and Thomas, cutting out strange punctuation is one example of your effort to make your aunt's writing more accessible to the 20th century reader! 

Learn more about Martha here.

 

Ralph W. Franklin:

Ralph, you need to convince readers of Emily Dickinson's poetry and 20th century academics of the importance in studying the physical elements of what Emily left behind.  Keeping her writing exactly as she left it is the best way to understand what she meant! 

 

Check out the collection edited by Ralph W. Franklin with this citation: (1981  The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson
Edited by R.W. Franklin.  
Published by The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press of Cambridge, Massachusetts.)


3.

Private (Shortly After previous message)

Lavinia Dickinson:

Vinnie, 

Thomas and Mabel are your best bet for getting this poem on the shelves and sharing your sister's poetry with the world. Team up with Mabel and Thomas to speed up the process!

Mabel Loomis Todd:

Mabel, 

Lavinia enlisted you to help edit this poem into a very cleaned up nineteenth century reader's dream. Team up with Thomas and Lavinia to speed up the process!

Thomas Wentworth Higginson:

Thomas, 

Lavinia and Mabel enlisted you to help edit this poem into a very cleaned up nineteenth century reader's dream. Team up with Mabel and Lavinia to speed up the process!

Martha Dickinson Bianchi:

Here is a version of the poem. You may choose to look at it for help or to ignore it when writing up your version of the poem, but think about whether or not your character would like this version. 

 

Questions to think about when comparing this version to the original:

Is it easier to read?

How is this poem different from the original? Is there something missing or something added?

Would your character like this version?


____________________________

Hope Is A Strange Invention


Hope is a strange invention 
A Patent of the Heart 
In unremitting action
Yet never wearing out 

Of this electric Adjunct
Not anything is known
But its unique momentum
Embellish all we own 

Ralph W. Franklin:

Here is a version of the poem. You may choose to look at it for help or to ignore it when writing up your version of the poem, but think about whether or not your character would like this version. 

 

Questions to think about when comparing this version to the original:

Is it easier to read?

How is this poem different from the original? Is there something missing or something added?

Would your character like this version?


____________________________

Hope Is A Strange Invention


Hope is a strange invention 
A Patent of the Heart 
In unremitting action
Yet never wearing out 

Of this electric Adjunct
Not anything is known
But its unique momentum
Embellish all we own 


Vote

[username], which character was the most convincing?



Option 1
Lavinia
Option 2
Mabel
Option 3
Thomas
Option 4
Martha
Option 5
Ralph

Ending message for when most people voted for option



Option 1

Looks like Vinnie took the cake!


Option 2

Mabel got the most votes!


Option 3

Congrats Thomas!


Option 4

Martha was the most convincing!


Option 5

Ralph was the most convincing!



Discussion Points

  • Is it okay to publish someone's writing without their permission?

  • If yes, what if they would not want anyone to see what they wrote?

  • If no, what if their art could impact other people's lives? Inspire other artists or change the literary canon like Emily Dickinson' poetry famously did?

  • Is it okay to change what an author wrote?

  •  If yes, then shouldn't the editor take credit? Aren't their additions essentially new creative works?

  • If no, then what if their writing won't be comprehensible? Like if no one bought Emily Dickinson's first ever published collection because Mabel and Thomas had spent no time cleaning it up for the modern audience?
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