The poetry of Emily Dickinson was almost entirely unpublished during her lifetime. After her death in 1886, her sister Lavinia discovered nearly 1,800 poems stitched into hand-sewn booklets. Early editors, judging the poems' irregular meter and dashes to be errors, regularized them for publication; only in the 1955 edition by Thomas Johnson were Dickinson's poems printed as she wrote them.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
- A
Dickinson wrote nearly 1,800 poems.
- B
Lavinia Dickinson was the most important poet of her generation.
- Ccheck_circle
Dickinson's distinctive style was obscured by early editors and only later restored.
- D
Dickinson's poems were widely published before her death.
Explanation
The passage centers on the editorial smoothing and eventual restoration of Dickinson's style — B. A contradicts the text; C is unsupported; D is a fact in service of B.