Lesson Plan 16 and 17 - Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson.ppt

Walt Whitman 1819-1892 Walt Whitman One of the great innovators in American literature. An author during the transition between Transcendentalism and Realism. His masterpiece is Leaves of Grass (1855), which he spent his entire life writing. A new subject matter and diction Documenting the changing America Creating a more unique, American literary style Deals with social and political aspects Importance of the Human Body: For Whitman, the body is the vessel that enables the soul to experience the world. His writing includes vivid, and often sexual, descriptions of the human body. Influence of the Civil War The civil war had a profound influence on Whitman and other writers at the time. Whitman’s lifetime saw both the Civil War and the rise of the United States as a commercial and political power. He witnessed both the apex and the abolition of slavery. His poetry is thus centered on ideas of democracy, equality, and brotherhood. O Captain! My Captain! – famous poem about Abraham Lincoln Mission of Whitman’s Poetry Democratic Poetry: Whitmans writing reflects his democratic ideals and values In the early 19th century, people still harbored many doubts about whether the United States could survive as a country with Democracy as the political system. To eliminate those fears and to praise democracy, Whitman tried to be democratic in both life and poetry. Whitman envisioned democracy not just as a political system but as a way of experiencing the world. Democratic Poetry He imagined democracy as a way of interpersonal interaction and as a way for individuals to integrate their beliefs into their everyday lives. “Song of Myself” notes that democracy must include all individuals equally, or else it will fail. The stated mission of his poetry was, in his words, to make “an attempt to put a Person, a human being (myself, in the latter half of the 19th century, in America) freely, fully, and truly on record.” Examples of Whitmans Democratic Poetry slang, colloqu