The Teaching Style Of Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman is a famous American poet. His work is a combination of romantic and realistic characteristics like emotion, nature, free thought, individualism, imagination, yet with the depiction of life in an objective manner. Like Whitman claimed, “the proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it.” In other words, the life in his country influences writing. However, unlike most famous American writers, Whitman was self-taught and is the father of free verse, as stated by many universities and scholars. In relationship to Whitman, Whitman’s “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer, is about a student deciding to learn from nature than from the lecturer. This reflects Whitman’s self-taught experience.

Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes. Two highly renowed poets. One of Whitman's most known poems, "I Hear America Singing", is about living the American life; he explains multiple types of people in his piece of work and how they are all a part of America. Similar to this, Langston Hughes wrote the poem "I, Too, Sing America", and in this, he includes African Americans, suggesting that Whitman left some people out. Also saying, that blacks are proud and just as big of a part of America as anyone else. Along with this, both are similar in the sense that they are about people in America. Aside from this, there are three other ways in which the poems "I, Too, Sing America", and "I Hear America Singing", are similar. Becasue of this, the poems

Walt Whitman was an American poet whose writings are a major landmark in the history of American literature. A worldview is a system of beliefs and perspectives that inform and guides every decision we make. The worldview of Walt Whitman in his poem "O Me! O Life!" is that even when you feel useless and that all your aspirations are hopeless, you can still contribute a verse to the powerful play of

I believe that the characters in Whitman’s writings have a sense of individualism and by comparing and contrasting each of the main character in “Song of Myself” and “Drum Taps” it will show others what it is like to share individuality as a whole with the world, but to be different as well based on the experiences some may have to go through.

When taken literally, the warning derived from the book threatens death, misery, and the strangulation of my significant other should I seek glory as a student instead of education. Hopefully this is not the case. I enter Whitman excited to come to learn. I will learn from my teachers, peers, friends, and classes, among other things. I will remain open to new ideas and excited to consider them. I will work hard to empathize with those around me, and remember not to judge a book by its cover. I will not create a

Michael Conlin, professor at the University of Wisconsin, stated, "But Whitman was, in the 1850s, consumed by the coming of the Civil War. It was in the midst of the crisis that Whitman wrote some of the most egalitarian and profound verse relating to African Americans." Being born into a lifestyle where he was taught to take full advantage of white privilege and to show nothing more but hatred towards blacks can explain why he was often between mind and matter when expressing himself. The Civil War caused dismay for many whites because they believed that blacks would make life in the North chaotic. Post Civil War drew in even more worry and tension between black and white men. As humans we all want feel accepted by our peers and sometimes worrying about validation from them drifts us away from our own self beliefs. That may have happened to Walt Whitman as well. Deep down he knew that even a scientific theory could not come to the conclusion that integrity, wisdom, and lack of humane quality was based on race. With that thinking, his works provided and showed how e really felt about African Americans. This dismay could have caused him to be called a "nigger lover" by his peers. His thoughts being diminished based on how his peers felt about him may have been what caused him to take advantage of his white privilege and turn the blind eye towards blacks, the ones he once adored and stuck up for. Later on he discovered that that did not solve any problems because he was also confused on how he actually felt himself. That caused his later works to be bright line in which he was helping both races see the sides of their own madness, he too was expressing how he had connected both with the white and the black man. However, some people

Those were hard times for the Whitman’s, having a large family of eight children and sometimes a lack of work. Walt’s father struggled to support his family as a carpenter, a farmer, and even unsuccessfully attempted of a real-estate career. No matter how hard he tried, it was not easy for the elder Whitman to support such a large family. The younger Walt was formally educated up until he turned eleven. It was at that age the he was forced to leave school in order to help his father earn money to support his younger brothers and

In his first edition of the poem, “Song of Myself”, Whitman’s poem takes a bold move when it strictly focuses on the glorification of himself. Whitman’s use of arrogant diction helps convey a condescending tone that suggests the speaker is superior to others. However, this egotistical belief is complicated in his poem when his use of inclusive diction invokes a friendly welcoming environment. Through his Speaker, Whitman uses these shifts of diction to present contradictions which allow the reader to encounter multiple emotions. At the same time, his use of free verse structure invokes a sense of unpredictability that literally allows the reader to encounter the multiplicity of everyday experiences in life. Hence, the text promotes

This can be helpful to a broader spectrum of people. Whitman gave substance for people to evaluate their life to gain a rewarding life verses an insignificant one. He encourages interiority which is

The creation of an acceptable persona is essential to Whitman's poetic program. In "Song of Myself" this is

After the Civil War, Walt Whitman realized that the American people were in need of their own identity. Therefore, he wrote the book “Leaves of Grass” with the goal of creating a literature piece that was authentic and organic to the United States in every sense. Whitman introduced to literature the idea of the “American Dream” and highlighted how important it was for the American people to develop their own identity. Consequently, he rejected the European writing styles and adapted the use of free-verses to his writing, making it a popular writing style in American poetry. Whitman valued of humanity, nature and spirituality. Therefore, he joined the Transcendental literary movement and

In his first anthology of poems entitled “Song of Myself”, Walt Whitman reveals some of his views on democracy through the use of symbolism and free verse poetry. His use of symbolism and free verse poetry creates indeterminacy, giving the reader hints rather than answers about the nature of the poem. In the sixth part of “Song of Myself”, a child asks the narrator of the poem, “What is the grass?” (Whitman). Instead of simply giving an answer, the narrator cannot make up his mind, and stumbles on how to explain the grass to the child. Through the use of specific symbolisms, Whitman, as the narrator, explicates his views while remaining under the façade of explaining grass to the child. The views Whitman conveys remain indeterminate and

There is no question that Walt Whitman had the most significant influence on American literary history. Along with Emily Dickinson, Whitman represented the Romantic literature era of American literature. Whitman is known for his distinctive poetic forms and free verse. Whitman’s most popular work Leaves of Grass influenced many future writers that came after him to follow his writing style. The richness that Leaves of Grass left behind had such a huge impact on American writers of many different backgrounds and cultures. Whitman’s influence can be seen in the works of Ezra Pound, Langston Hughes, and Sharon Olds.

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself / and what I shall assume you shall assume” (Whitman 1-2). These lines not only open up the beginning of one the best poems of the American Romantic period, but they also represent a prominent theme of one of this period’s best poet, Walt Whitman. In Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself, Whitman deals with his time period’s most prominent theme of democracy. Whitman tells readers that they must not only observe the democratic life but they must become one with it. As Whitman states, “For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you” (3). Democracy provides a connection with all people. It is as if Joseph Stella felt this connection and decided to depict it in his collection of paintings entitled “Americans in the Rough.” The individual is of no greater or lesser worth than anyone else. Beatrice Marovich states that, “It is a song for fellow Americans, about the American body politic” (349). An analysis of Song of Myself portrays that understanding and becoming one with democracy through political collectivity essentially sets the stage for the American democratic self. Joseph Stella does a great job of interpreting and depicting Whitman’s ideals of democracy through his illustrations representing every facet of an American democratic life.

In his poems and life, Walt Whitman celebrated the human spirit and the human body. He sang the praises of democracy and marveled at the technological advances of his era. His direct poetic style shocked many of his contemporaries. This style, for which Whitman is famous, is in direct relation to several major American cultural developments. The development of American dictionaries, the growth of baseball, the evolution of Native American policy, and the development of photography all played a part and became essential components of Whitman’s poetry.