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Essay Instructions: Please read the following entry by my classmate and do the following:
1. You should conduct yourself as you would in courteous conversation by responding directly and specifically to what the post communicates.
2. Say what drew you to the post to which you are responding--a particular insight, way of writing, or question being asked.
3. Be generous and name what you find engaging about the post.
4. Ask questions that invite clarification or further discussion.
5. Contribute your own thoughts and experiences where appropriate.
6. Make friends as best you can.



? We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience?


Walt Whitman was a man f wisdom. He reflected his wisdom and philosophy into his poetry. He also was in touch with his spirituality although I don?t think he would call it that. He is another good example of being in touch with his ?Gott-natur? (Groddeck). His ? divine instinctuality? or his ?One with nature? attitude can be seen in ?Song of myself I, II and VI?. He has an ?enlightened? demeanor but also is aware that he too is human and does not know it all; to be great yet common.? How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he. I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven?. He seems that he is proud to be a human, and appreciates the world around him just as an ?enlightened? individual in Buddhism.


? Song of Myself ? seems to focus specifically on himself, as Whitman begins by declaring,? I celebrate myself, and sing myself ?, but America for Whitman is about more than simply the glorification of the individual. He also understands the significance of the nation?s history as he explains, ?My tongue, every atom of my blood, formed from this soil, this air, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same?. Even the length of his lines are linked to the feeling he?s trying to convey. The lack of pause in his poetry gives me the impression that a pause would cause the reader to finish or stray from that idea. It?s each line per idea/moment he?s trying to show the reader. I identify with Whitman with his knowledge of biology; it is integrated into his poetry which gives him a more wise approach instead of the blind belief in god as the average American of his time. I see that the biological knowledge gives peace to Whitman?s mind about those deceased. ?They are alive and well somewhere, The smallest sprout shows there is really no death,? The acceptance of the circle of life was the underlying tone of ?Song of Myself VI?. He took one simple concept ?the grass the boy grabbed? and turned into something else as a philosopher would. Reminds a bit of the ? Symposium? by Plato. This is important because it takes us out of our ?one track? mind; it knocks us out of superficial ways. It is good to take a pause, look around and feel the world around yourself instead of trying to make the world feel you. In our culture we have this obsession with ourselves and are trapped in our own minds. We sometimes fail to look at the world for what it really is, and taking the wholesome approach would just make life a little easier or accept the fact that we actually have no control. Whitman seems to be a self-actualized individual and his poetry reflects those intellectual thoughts and his spiritual feelings.





I have never felt so grand and miniscule at the same time.


The sunshine that?s promised every morning,


The water that flows and hydrates,


the ground I call home and the air that whispers past my ears


Are all vital for my life yet also the recipe to my despair


Hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and solar flares.


I am the result of pushing through it all, I am the product of resilience


The fly that swarmed around your face; is also another product of resilience


The will to survive is in us all, the drive


And ?us?, is all creatures of this harsh yet beautiful earth


Whether it be a blade of grass busting out of a Manhattan sidewalk;


It too is trying to survive and part of others survival


And with this need, I find the beauty and innocence in all creatures,


Even those who are of complete evil,


Because evil too; is just as vital as goodwill.


Without one you cannot appreciate the other; it?s almost as if there was a hidden law of balance


Balance is a form of Mother Nature?s fairness, to keep life going, but the thing is


will she pick me?


I am just one beautiful painting in the gallery of earth


I alone am wondrous but then again so is every other


I have never felt so grand and miniscule at the same time.

Essay Instructions: Using Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself," answer these questions. Hint: each question has the section it corresponds to.

Section 1: What biographical data do we learn about Whitman and what does he lay out as his goal in "Song of Myself"?

Section 16: State the main idea of this section in one well-crafted sentence. How does this section exemplify the notion of paradox?

Section 26: The sounds in this poem tend to fall into categories. Break Whitman's long catalogue of sounds into these categories: sounds of joy, sorrow, work, art, and nature. How do the sounds in the poem reflect Whitman's world?

Section 31: Here, Whitman seems to be presenting an argument. What is that argument?

Section 33: This poem turns on the notion of empathy. List those Whitman says he "understands." Describe each. What has happened at the end of this section?

Sections 35 and 36: Before reading these two sections of "Song of Myself," read the account of the Revolutionary War encounter between the Bonhomme Richard (which means "Good Richard" in French) and the Serapis. HOW are Sections 35 and 36 related/connected? What is the difference between the two Sections?

Section 52: Considering what you know of the work of poets who preceded him, what might Whitman mean when he describes his own poetry as "barbaric yawp"? The first line of "Song of Myself" is "I celebrate myself, and sing myself"; the last line is, "I stop somewhere waiting for you." Taking into account all that you have learned of the poet's character and the range of his poem, tell what you think the last words in the poem reveal about Whitman's overall purpose in writing the poem.

Essay Instructions: One and little page essay on Walt Whitman and Song of Myself sec. 1-8 and 46, 52

Background on Writer
Analysis of story/poem
critics say about him/maybe poem
3 important Quotes no explanation

Essay Instructions: From the Norton Anthology of American Literature complete
a short essay decribing what conflicts in American society is Walt Whitman trying to reconcile in "Song of Myself?"