Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts, the second daughter of Edward and Emily Dickinson. Emily and her siblings, Austin (older brother) and Lavinia (younger sister) were raised in a quiet family headed by their father Edward. Throughout Emily's life her mother wasn't quite there for her, which some believe led to her oddness. Being brought up in the strict Christian beliefs of the 1800's in Massachusetts, they were expected to take up …showed first 75 words of 863 total…

…showed last 75 words of 863 total…mastermind. The other mastermind was Walt Whitman, of whom Dickinson heard his poems were intolerable to the world. Rich once stated, "I have a notion that genius knows itself; that Dickinson chose her seclusion, knowing she was exceptional and knowing what she needed she did not seclude herself to be sheltered away from the world but a seclusion in which she cleared her mind and came up with brilliant ideas to write about." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**