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Much Madness is divinest Sense-- To a discerning Eye-- Much Sense--the starkest Madness-- 'Tis the Majority In this, as All, prevail-- Assent--and you are sane-- Demur--you're straightway dangerous-- And handled with a Chain--

This poem is all a paradox. Madness-Sense Assent- Demur In class we talked about the two main lines or two middle lines " 'Tis the Majority, In this, as All, prevail--" as meaning majori rules the thought of you being crazy or sane. But I believe this poem also is trying to say, To be assent is someone who is sane and is safe, but being demur or different is taking a different path that is dangerous because not many people choose to take it.

I agree with the person above when they say that the poem is a paradox. To have so much information, this poem is so short. All different things are being comparrd in this poem, but the main thing that Emily Dickinson is trying to compare is in the two middle lines: 'Tis the Majority In this, as All, prevail" These two lines talk about being part of the majority of people. Think about it, if you take a vote for something in class, and it goes by majority and you might have one or two less people but it doesn't matter, if more people think one thing, that is what is going to happen. In the poem, she talks about going with what the majority say. She says that if you accept the majority, then you are sane and if you demur, then you become dangerous. But what is tricky is that the rest of the poem is in paradox and that leads me to think that these two lines might be as well. So, if you accept the majority, you are dangerous and if you don't you're sane. It's confusing to think of what she is saying because at the poem, Dickinson talks about how you are handled with a chain, but for doing what? Being sane or dangerous by going with what the majority says or what you feel? I just think that she handled this poem in such a cool way becaue she turned something so simple and almost turnign the whole poem upside down and giving a whole new thought about it.1203551206ape2

This poem by emily dickinson is a very different and revolutionary to her time. the part in the poem where she talks about being sane and insane is a very clear statement to how our government was set up. The majority always ruled in this case. to me she is trying to make a statement about democracy, and how it is not fair. She is saying that the majority can rule but the majority can not decide if someone is insane or not. 1203966093

the first stanza explains that the majority of people get mad over nothing, for the littlest reasons. Meaning that since everyone does it, it is the norm and you are sane. But if you are sensible, you are insane.

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The first thing that i have to say is that to ape2 that the person above you was brtom, haha i just thought it was funny.

I think that dickinson is right with the madness thing, because if you are mad you sure have no clue because you either brought up "mad" or mentally mad. the difference? Brought up mad may be your family values are mad, or you were sent off as an orphan, or something trammatic. In these cases you are forced to be mad and have be taught to be mad and you really have no idea that you are mad because there is no changing it. Menatally mad just explains itself so i am not going to go into it. So, if you are mad in your eyes you aren't so then you are sensful to yourself. i feel that to make an objection (demur) she is saying is dangerous because people like to go with the flow, because "the flow" will not get you hurt, but if you make an objection (demur) then people start to be hurt because nobody likes to be stood up or proven wrong.

ohh, and ape2 i wasn't being a jrk by that comment.

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I agree with Gunnar very much on this poem. Madness can be taken in many different ways and among them there were 2 brought up in this poem that seem like they may be the most important. Can you be raised to be mad, can every aspect of your life turn you into a mad man, or Is becoming mad just a spark that goes off, one day you are as simple as everyone else and the next you are a madman, you have something that practically possesses you, transforms you. I believe though that every bit of your adult life is linked with your childhood. People just don’t go mad but it is a favorable question to rise up. The thing I don’t agree with that Gunnar wrote and I don’t know if the poem really takes a side on this topic is going with the flow keeps you happy and having something demur or different in your life makes you nuts. I believe everyone needs variety in their life or they will go mad. I hope I understood everything in the right way and if I didn’t don’t take offense because trying to translate these poems is not easy. 1203991237

For this poem being so small it is boggling becuase of the multiple contradictions in it. Overall this poem is saying how majority "prevails" or dominates. People can choose for you whether you are considered crazy or sane. With the majority rule, this can be benefitial or dangerous. If you assent, or agree, then more than likely you are sane; however, if you demur, or protest, then you are considered dangerous. Personally I don't like the thought process behind this poem, but I agree with it. Majority always wins and thats the end of story. Sometimes you may be on the losing end, which is a bummer, but somethings just need a way to be solved and this strategy works. Although in a case concerning sanity I do not think voting (major. vs. minor.) would be an appropriate way to solve the issue. Evidence and other studies are the way to go with that one. 1204073693

This poem is a paradox. Which I think is really cool. Although I basically understood this poem there were some words that I didn't understand....


 * Starkest-disturbingly plain
 * Demur-politely refuse
 * Discerning-figure out
 * Prevail-Dominate

This poem was kind of interesting. It was taking about madness. Emily Dickinson could be talking about two different types of madnesses. She could be talking about physo mad, or like angry mad. I feel like people can sometimes overreact to things, like get mad over nothing. This could be what she is trying to tell us. About how people shouldnt get as mad as they do for no reason. I think when she says "Demur- you're straightway dangerous--" this could mean like everyone is mad sometimes. Or when some one is like insain mad, they don't know that they are because it is just the way that they are. I think that people often judge people, because they think someone is crazy of weird, and I thin this is like what Dickinson is trying to say when she says " Tis the Majority". This poem was kind of hard for me to understand, and it was difficult for me, but overall I think I understood it ok. 1204076730

This was a very interesting and kind of hard poem to understand. My interpretation is that Dickinson is talking about madness. I don't know if this is even close to being right, but I believe Dickinson is saying madness in a person isn't always bad, Im not sure whether she is talking about a particular person in this poem or madness in general. I think its about a certain person she knew or encountered because of this line "Assent--and you are sane--." I think she is reassuring the person he is not insane. The line that contradicts that statement are the last two "Demur--you're straightaway dangerous-- And handled with a Chain." Here is saying no thank you, you are dangerous and should be handled with a chain. That contradicts my theory of the "Assent".. lines. Overall I get for the most part what the poem was ABOUT, but I couldn't understand which of those two lines I interpreted correctly, If I even did at all. 1204207178

This poem was interesting. Most of it is paradox, as stated by Br. Tom. The narrator seems to be saying that even if you are completly mad, you still are a little bit sane and that if you are completely sane, you are a little bit mad. I am probably wrong here, but this is just my view. The last few lines seem to describe someone who is mad being restrained, probably with a chain. This shows that even the most sane person on earth can go completely mad if a matter of a few days or hours. The smallest thing can set you off and make you go completely mad. For example, remember when we read //The Tall Tell Heart// last semester? The speaker in that story was driven mad by the eye of an old man. Now you may say that the old man had a "vulture eye", but it is still just an eye. This is proof of how the simplest thing can make a person go completely mad. Overall, I thought that this poem was OK. It was a little confusing, but I think I got the basic gist of it.1204246534

we talked about this poem in class and i remember brother tom saying that much madness is divinest sence. Brother tom said this was the best parodox in all of the poems that we have read. In this poem she talks about 2 kinds of madness and they are both equally important. There are a lot of different perspectives of madness, there is mentally mad and there is emotionally mad. This poem is trying to express the fact that you do not have to be normal to make sence. Crazy people can sometimes change history and they may be crazy but atleast they get some things that normal people do not.I do not know if that is right but that is what i think of the poem. 1204256202

This poem was not very long as you can see but it was pretty interesting. My though was that this poem was about madness. I do also remember Br. Tom saying that this is the best paradon in all of the poems that we have read so far. She talkings about two different kinds of maddness. She says that maddness in people are not always a bad thing. I think that she is also talking about a person because she says "Assenct and you are sane." I think that she is recalling a time from the past that she had where someone was sane and not mad. In the poem it states that you don't have to be a normal person to be sane. 1204259602

Well, I think this poem can be seen as Dickinson's response to people who think she is insane. Basically the poem is saying that it's always up to the majority of people to decide what is sanity and what is not, and once they determine you're insane, you'll be "handled with a Chain--". The majority isn't necessarily right all the time, but still, as individual, you cannot be accepted unless you agree with them. This poem seems like a hidden complaint about the unfairness of general society of not attempting to understand and appreciate Emily; it's also like a rebellion, pointing out that sometimes the world could be so harsh with individuals to repress them.

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