4. read the passage. emily dickinson is considered one of america’s greatest poets, but few of her poems were published in her lifetime. born in 1830, dickinson grew up in amherst, massachusetts, and attended school there and in nearby holyoke. she was no doubt familiar with other popular new england writers of her day, especially ralph waldo emerson. dickinson had a fairly normal social life until she reached her mid-twenties, after which she rarely left the home she inherited from her parents. instead, she may have been able to understand the world better by viewing it from a distance. with a sharp eye and keen intellect, she pondered nature, friendship, love, and death in poems of powerful simplicity. only about seven of her poems were published during her lifetime, all without her consent. when she died in 1886, relatives found over 1,500 more of dickinson’s poems, many of them written on napkins and slips of paper neatly tied up with ribbons. from this biography, what can you conclude about emily dickinson? a. she imitated other new england writers. b. she was clever but unfriendly. c. she wrote about topics she knew little about. d. she was talented but shy.

Frequently the subject of blues songs has to do with some challenge or problem faced by the writer. everyone faces personal challenges. sometimes music us deal with these problems. do you know of times when music has you or people that you know cope with difficult situations? think about your life experiences and challenges or the experiences of someone you know. then write your own twelve-bar blues song that describes one such experience that you or another person has had. your blues song should have three verses. you may write a fourth verse for extra credit. each verse you write should have three phases and should be written in call-and-response form. the first two phases of each verse should describe the experience, challenge, or problem and should act as your “call” phrases. the third phrase should describe the solution to your challenge or problem, or the next step in your story, and should act as your “response” phrase. review “sneaker blues” to see an example of a call-and-response song with three verses. “sneaker blues” my sneakers got a hole and my feet are killing me; my sneakers got a hole and my feet are killing me; i’m gonna get my sneakers fixed just you wait and see. the man said twenty dollars; you have got to be kidding me; the man said twenty dollars; you have got to be kidding me; twenty dollars is what he said, i might have to let them be. the hole in my sneakers is getting bigger every day; the hole in my sneakers is getting bigger every day; twenty dollars is what he said, that’s what i’ll have to pay. write your song title and verses as the answers to the questions. after you have written your song, try putting it to music using one of the online music samples. original twelve-bar blues song (2 points) score 1. title(6 points) score 2. verse 1line 1: line 2: line 3: (6 points) score 3. verse 2 line 1: line 2: line 3: (6 points) score 4. verse 3 line 1: line 2: line 3: