Walt Whitman's Impact On The Future Of America

Buddy Reedy English l l l Mrs. Way Period 7 Buddy Reedy’s Essay over Walt Whitman’s Life Walt Whitman lived a life full of change. He often wrote about it through his poems during the Civil war era about how he opposed slavery and would like them to be free, and a huge inspiration for his poems was Abe Lincoln and the idea of reuniting the South with the North again and also how he helped the wounded soldiers at a hospital in the Union Capital in The United States. Walt Whitman was born in West Hills, New York on May 31 1819. He was the second child out of eight siblings. His father's name was Walter Whitman and his mother's name was Lousia Van Velser Whitman.

At the end of the18thcentury, Europe was facing major changes through French Revolution (1789) and Industrial Revolution (1750s-1830). Upon these big historical events, many Europeans became skeptical about how they used to think, which was to focus on intellect, reason and enlightenment of human being. And they started to emphasize more on individual, true emotion and nature. It affected on overall culture such as philosophy, economy and arts. Literary, of course, was one of them. We call this movement of art Romanticism. Romanticism is an artistic, literary, musical movement that originated in Europe from the end of 18th century and lasted about 50years.

Walt Whitman is one of nine children, he grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and Long Island and was faced with many different aspects of society. Growing up he had a great fascination of the atmosphere of Brooklyn which led him to journalism at the age of twenty. In 1855 Walt Whitman self-published a collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass which was expanded and revised through many editions until the ninth “deathbed” edition which was published in 1892. His brother was wounded in Fredericksburg Virginia, shortly after Walt Whitman traveled to see him. Once he saw the aftermath he was compelled to work as a nurse in Washington, D.C. as a volunteer nurse, in this time he wrote many more poems. On March 26,1892 he passed away from pleurisy, his funeral drew thousands and his casket could not even be seen do to the amount of wreaths on it.

On May 31, 1819, Whitman was born in West Hills, New York, to parents Walter and Louisa Whitman . He was brought up in a large family of 9 children. Upon early childhood, he experienced moving from place to place because of unsuitable economic issues. Living up to difficult responsibilities, was a challenge as Whitman took on his first job at the age of eleven. Later he was

Langston Hughes uses images of oppression to reveal a deeper truth about the way minorities have been treated in America. He uses his poems to bring into question some of Walt Whitman’s poems that indirectly state that all things are great, that all persons are one people in America, which Hughes claims is false because of all the racist views and oppression that people face from the people America. This oppression is then used to keep the minorities from

Poetry, perhaps more than other genre of writing, often sparks controversy and discussion. Authors Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes are two authors in American Literature whose poetry is both debated and praised by critics. "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman and "I, Too, Sing America" by Langston Hughes have sparked many discussions on their controversial content. Walt Whitman was the first of the two authors to write, followed by Langston Hughes who was influenced by Whitman's work. While Whitman's poem, "I Hear America Singing" reflects the happiness of the American people, the poem written by Hughes takes a different approach. While the two authors discuss similar subject matter, there are many differences that can be identified between these two literary works.

Poem Analysis Essay Often a classic poem; such as, “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman while be imitated later by other writes; for example, “America, I Sing You Back” by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke. Both poem discuss their thoughts and feeling on America and discuss how citizens feel. Whitman’s poem was written during the eighteen sixties where he expressed as he expressed strong patriotism for his country. Coke’s poem was published in two thousand fourteen the author discusses her dissatisfaction of what America has become over the years.

Numerous famous writers and other well-known individuals read and originate inspiration from Walt Whitman’s poems. Various American poets mention Walt Whitman is an inspiration for their creation, indicating appreciation for his pioneering fundamental originality along with the frequently scandalous themes he focused on.

William McFeely suggests that Frederick Douglass, like Walt Whitman, has written a “Song of Myself” with his slave narrative. Both fairly known in their own time, I am going to look at how they compare and how they are different from each other. Frederick Douglass with his autobiographical slave narrative and Walt Whitman with his poem “Song of Myself”. The question becomes how Douglass creates himself through his narrative and how it compares to Whitman’s self in his poem.

Weak economic situation made Whitman in 1849 to open a small store in Brooklyn that sold miscellaneous items: pens, pencils, paper, musical instruments, and books. Shortly after it was doubled as a print shop, and it was sold three years later. (Reynolds “Walt Whitman, 1812-1892 A Brief Biography” 23-24). “Bitter over the unpopularity of the free-soil cause and at loose ends professionally, Whitman began scribbling vitriolic political poems” (Reynolds Walt Whitman: Lives and Legacies 9).

This poem appears to be in response to Walt Whitman’s poem “I Hear America Singing”. It is evident that the speaker is talking about the African-American population throughout this poem. “They send me to eat in the kitchen/When company comes . . .” (I, Too. Langston, Hughes. 3-4). Here, the speaker is talking about the segregation of the blacks and the whites. Although the speaker has to eat in the kitchen, it does not stop him from having a good time, eating well, and growing strong. There is a day soon approaching, the speaker believes, that he will no longer have to eat in the kitchen. He will be present at the table next time company comes and he will eat and be marry with them. In the last lines, the speaker says that when segregation

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman emphasize the importance of living true to yourself and developing complete self-acceptance. To live true to yourself and completely accept who you are, you must understand your identity and your sense of self. In Self-Reliance, Emerson explains that your identity and your sense of self is spiritual. Whitman argues, in Song of Myself, that your identity and sense of self is based on both your soul and your body. While both Emerson and Whitman allow for intimate connections and friendships, Emerson encourages people to have relationships with a select few, whereas Whitman encourages people to connect with everyone and anyone, due to their different views of self.

Romanticism was a movement in the 18th century that was a response to the Enlightenment, which was the movement that stated that everything should be based on facts and reason. Romanticism stated that feelings and emotions are just as important as reason and logic in understanding everything in the world (Romanticism Movement, n.d.). Romanticism strongly affected the writings of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson and can be seen in the poems “A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim” (Whitman, 1867), “O Me! O Life!” (Whitman, 1867), and “Tell all the truth but tell it Slant” (Dickinson, n.d.).

In Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself’, one can appreciate the poem properly by understanding the poem’s voice, imagery, figures of speech, symbols, word choice, and theme. To understand it though requires a great deal of thought to arrive to the meaning behind the writing. Especially since this poem was written in the nineteenth century and is written in a very loose structure and free verse.

It is common for a person to admire the stars in the sky. Their brightness and arrangement is a fascinating sight, of course. On the other hand, people tend to forget or plainly ignore what is right under their feet. In “Song of Myself,” Walt Whitman focused on what he thought was truly important, details of the green grass. Whitman wrote, “I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars” (663). This explains how he believed that the stars and the grass should be thought of as equal and man should show appreciation for grass as well. Moreover, Whitman implies that because the grass is so close in terms of touch, humans should enjoy it more since stars are completely out of reach. As it is evident that Whitman appreciates