I began typing up notes from this morning's discussion but then I decided to erase them. Instead I'll hit the ball--tennis? volleyball?--into your court. What questions do you still have about the poem, about what Whitman is saying? What is he saying about the self and the relationship between the self and the body, other people, animals, beliefs, etc.? How does what he is saying overall find expression (and nuance and revision) in individual sections? Post ideas and questions in the comments box. Use the comment box as a class resource.
Here are the revised prompts:
(Post or email one of the two by Monday, August 25. Post or email the other by Tuesday, September 2. Post or email the reflection as soon as you think of it or before Tuesday, September 2.
1. Analyze a section of Song of Myself
Choose one of the numbered sections from Song of Myself that you think is particularly worth analyzing and explaining. Write a response that meticulously explains what Whitman is saying in the section, explains how Whitman's use of language and literary devices contributes to what he is saying, and explains how the section contributes to the meaning of the poem as a whole.
Expectations: I expect you to make strong insightful assertions about the meaning of the section and the meaning of the whole poem; I expect to use (quote, explain, develop) specific evidence from the section (the whole section not just parts of it) to support your assertions. (Please indicate what edition of Song of Myself you are using: 1855, 1882, or another.)
If you have questions please email me. In today's session we practiced relating close reading of a section to the meaning as a whole, but you still might have some questions.
2. Write a Whitmanesque Poem
Write a poem (20+ lines) of your own using Whitman’s work as a guide. First, determine three characteristics of Whitman’s poetry. Then write a poem that emulates those three characteristics. (Think about the long lines, lists, repetitions, parallel structures. Think about Whitman’s assertion of self and the relationship between that self and the things around the self. Think about his observations of other people and other things around.) Be inventive. Have fun with this. Then write a paragraph explaining how your poem uses (and perhaps adapts) at least three characteristics of Whitman’s poem.
3. Reflection on the summer
Instead of writing reflections about your last set of responses, please take a moment to write a reflection about the summer reading, summer writing, and summer sessions.
Self-Reflection on the summer work for AP English
Name:
Assignment: Summer Reading, Summer Writing, Summer Sessions
I had trouble with... (please be specific)
1.
2.
3.
What I like about my summer work (reading, writing, participation in the sessions--please be specific and seek personal insight):
What was most difficult for me (reading, writing, participating in the sessions--please be specific and seek personal insight):
What I learned from the summer sessions:
9 comments:
Sarah Johnson
Assignment: Summer Reading, Summer Writing, Summer Sessions
I had trouble with…
1. Catching up on all of my work after being in the wilderness for a month.
2. Divining meaning from Wide Sargasso Sea after missing the discussion on it, having no one to bounce ideas off of.
3. Writing the play for the Translations response because I always always always hate my plays because they’re so melodramatic and unrealistic, but I can’t seem to stop writing them that way.
What I like about my summer work: I was really pleased with the analytical responses I produced for Translations and Song of Myself, which I’m sure was due to my participation in the group discussions over the summer. I was also happy with the new close-reading techniques I developed and applied as the summer wore on to understand the latter 2 works of literature.
What was most difficult for me: was probably reading and understanding Song of Myself. In all honesty I procrastinated quite a bit and didn’t leave myself enough time to truly understand a large portion of the poem. I did get some parts though, and they were well-reinforced at the discussion which is why I ended up liking the play in the end I believe, and finally understanding at least the main themes.
What I learned from the summer sessions: Having work to do with deadlines over the summer is a very difficult thing to get your head around. But, staying on top of the work and participating in the discussions will most definitely have helped prepare me for the school year. I also honed my reading analysis skills which I’m sure will be beneficial this year as well.
What I will do differently when the school year begins: Read the literature as soon as possible so that I have more time to develop questions and clarify things, and develop my own ideas as I read instead of long after.
Song of Myself - Online Version
Section 7
This section of the poem really caught my attention because of the range in style and content Whitman uses, even though the verse itself is short. The first two lines deal with one of the greatest questions of humanity itself: “Has any one supposed it lucky to be born? / I hasten to inform him or her it is just as lucky to die, and I know it.” Whitman is asserting the truth that although life is the thing we know and respect and love, moving on from this life is just as precious a journey, and something that all living things must do eventually. He recognizes that both birth and death are a part of the cycle, but he, as all people, is not “contain’d between my hat and boots,” which is to say that he is more than the body that grows from birth to death. He is a spirit, and essence and a presence, shaping and being shaped by the world. Not only does he see that his soul is more than material, but he knows that all things, “no two alike and every one good,” are a part of this lifelong (and beyond) journey of spiritual being. Both the earth and the heavens (or rather the known and unknown), are good things, he asserts. Knowing himself, and his place in the greater design, he further enforces his belief that all parts of the individual are holy, and that all people are sacred, saying “I am the mate and companion of people, all just as immortal and fathomless as myself.” This may at first seem a contradiction, since he just spoke about the importance of death and is now embracing the ideal of being immortal; however, this contrast is an important literary technique. By choosing words that contradict each other, Whitman allows the reader to make the unlikely connection between the two, in the thought that to be immortal is to embrace life and death equally. Whitman then uses one of his signature lists, using the repetitive phrase “For me” to introduce each new aspect of life, the physical beings and physical features he identifies with to enforce his idea of being immortal. In this list, each line is again a contradiction: “sweet-heart and the old maid,” “lips that have smiled, eyes that have shed tears,” and “children and the begetters of children”. These contradictions again serve to throw contrast and bring attention to the fact that every aspect of life (and death) are equally important parts of the soul. After this list, Whitman suddenly riles with direct emotion, speaking in first person instead of objectively, issuing a command: “Undrape! You are not guilty to me, nor stale nor discarded, / I see through the broadcloth and gingham whether or no, / And am around, tenacious, acquisitive, tireless, and cannot be shaken away.” Here Whitman is again supporting the overall message of the poem, that every aspect of a person is important and divine, that instead of covering ourselves up and hiding our souls, we should embrace them. And he will tirelessly stay to coax the liveliness out of our closely covered selves, so that we may too occupy more than the space between our heads and our feet.
1. Analyze a section of Song of Myself
Between page 34 lines 4-6 (“I exist as I am, that is enough, if no other in the world be aware I sit content, and if each and all be aware I sit content”), page 40 lines 6-7 (“I am less the reminder of property or qualities, and more the reminder of life”), and page 42 lines 1-3 (“I believe in the flesh and the appetites, seeing hearing and feeling are miracles. And each part of tag of me is a miracle”). On page 34 of the lines I selected I think that Whitman is trying to let us as readers know that acknowledgement, fame, or recognition is not important. “..if no other in the world be aware I sit content, and if each and all be aware I sit content” he is saying that whether or not my existence and all that comes along with it is known to others, he will be unchanged and unaffected because existing at all is his miracle. To me, this connected to the lines I selected on page 40 where Whitman’s explains he is “less the remind of property or qualities, and more the reminder of life” because once again he is breaking it down to what life is, it is existing as he stated before, it is not what others know of you, or the property or qualities of you and others opinions of it, it is that you exist and remind yourself that that itself is living, is life. Along with this on page 42 Whitman now gives examples of what, in a man with his perspective, considers miracles. “I believe in flesh and appetites” here he’s trying to recognize how our flesh itself is a masterpiece, the fact that we need for food is remarkable, and “seeing hearing and feeling are miracles” and that we have these genius eyes to see out of it, these working ears to hear out of, and these hearts to feel, ache, and love out of.
2. Write a Whitmanesque Poem
3 Characteristics of Whitman’s writing:
1) Complexity in simplicity
2) Whitman’s referring to a man, a woman, or a child, but that one is representing all men, women and children
3) His repetition
Whitmanesque Poem
The sound of a child’s little feet running is amusing to my heart
The white of my teeth, the red of my lips
The body is an art, a masterpiece
The yawning from a tired fishermen…because work is what we choose
One can be sad,
One can be happy,
Within our flesh and bones are these emotions to be revealed
Her heart pumps blood within her body,
Where also her wishes, pain, and joy is kept
The teenage girl paints her fingernails pink,
Does she notice the beauty in the color they already are?
The wet of water
The Goosebumps on our skin, because we can recognize cold
The heat of the summer, and the sweat on your skin
Sweet and sour,
Our tongues know both.
The tiny sand particles that fall through our hands,
Our hands that can hold
Our innate ability is a miracle
The nature around is a miracle
3. Reflection on the summer reading
1. I had some trouble adapting to the books because they are drastically different than what I would choose for myself.
2. I had trouble keeping my concentration when reading some of the books because sometimes they were hard to follow, and my mind would just trail off…
3. I had a hard time with some of the responses for Invisible Man, and I think now it was because it was the first book because as the next ones rolled around I found it got easier.
What I like about my summer work: I like that though I wouldn’t have chosen the books myself, that I did read them and regardless if I enjoyed them or not I still got something out of each one.
What was most difficult for me: What was difficult make myself get some of the books done, and finding time to make myself finish. I had to put effort into that only because I didn’t necessarily look forward to the books.
What I learned from the summer sessions: Um, didn’t go to any. =\
What I will do differently when the school year begins: Ask questions, since I’ll actually be there and be able to.
Sarah Johnson
I see light skipping, wave to wave,
I see light spreading down the length of a tree,
I see you. You and I,
My self and yours, bathed in the fresh sunlight of the early dawn.
But the self that is mine wants not for the gentle touch of sunlight,
But wants for the sweep of the wind,
But for the freedom of the soul to slip away.
But the soul of the self that is mine wants only to know the soul that is yours.
The dawn that breaks upon the wailing child,
The dawn that breaks upon the weary mother,
The same dawn that breaks upon my wandering soul,
Casting sunlight to expose all the crags and fissures.
Only these are things I have made, not that have made me, and I know it.
I know the truth, that I am what I wish to be, but nothing less or more.
I know that my adventures are of my own making.
Though my soul has made the decisions to make itself,
It is not without guidance.
To walk in the darkness,
With no faith,
A way to lose oneself,
Better to place hope in one way or another,
Whatever it might be.
Hope, faith, truth.
Words words words!
Full beyond what they hold in one glance.
Words to treat with care.
Words to choose only when concerning my soul.
Words to trust.
Words to match those of any other thought come to disturb my soaring soul.
My poem is basically one big summation of what I felt Whitman was getting at, with a twist of my own. (1)The main “theme” is about the relationship between yourself and everything around you, and I felt that the soul’s relationship with everything is: that you (your soul) make the decision about that relationship. I agree with his thought that every aspect of every living thing is holy, but I also felt like the abiotic factors in my world have a great effect on my as well, so I spoke more about the relationship between the soul and nature. I also had a small testament to the role faith might play into the decisions of the soul, as Whitman also mentions in his poem. (2)I used the list method twice, the first my “But…” verse and then my “Words...” verse (Hamlet much? Sorry. I couldn’t help myself, it seemed appropriate). (3)In my third verse I kind of took some ideas straight from the poem, how he writes to the parallel lives of people that span such great age differences. The thought that all of these people in such different places in their lives experience the same dawn also felt very fitting with my theme. I also used some cool repetition in there with my “w” adjectives. I don’t particularly like my poem, as I’ve found I kind of always hate my poems and plays when I read them, even though I like them when I write them, but I crafted it to the best of my ability, without a doubt.
Hi Mr. Cook,
Here is my Whitmanesque poem. Please read it in Word because the cramped columns of the blog have killed my poem's form. I thought the phrase, "a single sentinel amid an army of green" was my own invention but then I was having doubts because it sounded familiar. If you have heard this phrase before, I hope that you won't think I'm plagarizing because I think it's mine. I'm just not 100% sure.
Thanks,
Allie
My feet plough lines in the sun-warmed soil
My soul is a seed blown on the wind
It will grow in these lines
It will sprout in this soil
It will become a single sentinel
Amid an army of green
No one will notice this leaf of grass
No one will look at it and sigh and say,
“Ah! What a marvelous sheaf!
What an awesome work of art.”
Only you and I will notice
Only we will see the beauty
Of the soldier, the blade
And weep with joy
When the shy deer
Kills the soldier
Life leaving one body to sustain another
Purpose flowing on the wind
Life and death and life
Flickering across the world like dappled sunlight
On a blade of grass
In my poem, I tried to incorporate Whitman’s persona including his beliefs and his language. For that reason, I did not use the phrase “piece of grass” and instead used “leaf of grass” and “sheaf of grass”. I incorporated Whitman’s existentialism and his concept that a small indistinctive thing can hold the meaning of life. I also used his personal “you” and love of using speaking voices. I used anaphora throughout the poem and Whitman’s motif of blades of grass. Last, I tried to use parallel structures. I use the word, “wind”, twice in this poem at the ends of two lines because the meanings and the concepts of the lines are similar. The speaker’s seed at the beginning of the poem is “purpose flowing on the wind.” It extends Whitman’s existentialism and focuses the reader on the importance of the seed in the poem.
Hey guys,
So I don't know if anyone is going to read this, but I'd just like to but it out there that I'm having a really hard time with this poem, and if anybody has any pointers, that would be greatly appreciated. Because I've already spent several hours try to write my analysis, but so far I haven't really got much in the way of interpretation. So, yeah, if there is anyone who thinks they know what they're doing...some help would be nice. Thanks.
Hi Mr.Cook,
I think that I did ok with this essay but I think my ideas on existencialism are a bit off. When I started this paper, I began to realize how little I actually knew about existencialism. I did my best.
Allie
P.S. I didn't read the online version of my section until I was almost done with my essay even though the ideas are really similar.
(1855 version)
In section 6 of Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of Myself”, Whitman uses the motif of grass to explore the meaning of existence and the world. In the first stanza, Whitman says, “A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands; How could I answer the child?....I do not know what it is any more than he.” In the very beginning of this section, Whitman acknowledges how little he actually knows. Philosophers such as Socrates believed that “true knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing” and so Whitman continues his exploration of himself and the world in this vein.
In a style evocative of existentialism, Whitman then goes on to explore or create meanings the grass may have. He says that it might be “the handkerchief of the Lord…Bearing the owner’s name someway in the corners, that we see and remark, and say Whose?” He believes that the grass is evidence of purposefulness in Existence and the existence of a deity.
In stanza five, Whitman uses grass to continue his message of equality among all humans saying, “[the grass] Growing among black folks as among white…I [the grass] give them [humanity] the same, I receive them the same.”
In the end of the section in stanzas seven through thirteen, Whitman discusses death, life and rebirth. He speaks of all the dead people that the grass “transpire[s] from” or grows out of.” He “perceive[s]…so many uttering tongues.” Whitman believes that the grass is “speaking” to him or in other words, he finds so much meaning about death that it seems the grass is talking to him. He then says, “And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths for nothing.” He does not believe that all the dead people have died in vain or that the grass is “speaking” to him for no reason. Whitman says that the dead “are alive and well somewhere; The smallest sprout shows that there is really no death…All goes onward and outward…and nothing collapses, And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.” Whitman uses grass to show that there is life after death and that existence, including death, has meaning.
Section 6 of Song of Myself is a continuation of Whitman’s use of the motif of grass to learn about and explore all of existence. In section 6, Whitman continues his message of equality among all people, purpose in existence, and the importance of the life and death cycle.
Self-Reflection on the summer work for AP English
Name: Allie Lees
Assignment: Summer Reading, Summer Writing, Summer Sessions
I had trouble with... (please be specific)
1. Holding all of my ideas together in my essays. It was hard to follow an idea all the way through for me because some of these ideas were so complex and advanced from what I was used to.
2. Sometimes I was overwhelmed by the complexity of Whitman’s ideas especially in some of the first sections where he speaks in paradoxes.
3. Reading Whitman’s long lists. I understood the purpose of the lists and even agreed with how long they were and the amount of different settings, people, and things they catalogue but that didn’t stop me from getting extremely bored reading them.
What I like about my summer work (reading, writing, participation in the sessions--please be specific and seek personal insight): I was really proud how far my analytical skills have come this summer. I really think that I have come a long way in close reading and connecting different passages and ideas from a work together. I also think I improved in making stronger assertations and getting my work organized and completed on schedule.
What was most difficult for me (reading, writing, participating in the sessions--please be specific and seek personal insight): I think that I was challenged by holding the thesises of my papers together. With the new, more advanced ideas we’ve been talking about this summer, it’s become more difficult to write a cohesive, solid paper.
What I learned from the summer sessions: I learned how to hone my analytical skills and take an idea to the next level. I also practiced writing good analytical papers.
What I will do differently when the school year begins: I think that my work this summer was a success so I don’t think that I will do anything different this school year. I will only continue with the work I’m doing and continue to improve my writing and analytical skills.
Courtland Kelly
Song of Myself Analysis
Section: 32
1855 ed. (I think)
In this section, Whitman calls to attention the beauty and perfection of animals, especially in contrast with major flaws of humanity. He lists these human imperfection in a way characteristic of his style throughout the poem, beginning each line with the same phrase, as if each line is a revision of the one before it. The listing helps to organize his evidence without losing track of what he is describing. The repetition of the initial words also gives the list a rhythm and adds to the musical quality that the poem possesses. This section especially I find to have a very pleasing sound, which emerges from the repetition of words, as well as in the repetition of sounds in the alliterations. The seventh stanza in this section sounds especially musical a beautiful to me, where the repetition is evident: “His nostrils dilate as my heels embrace him, His well-built limbs tremble with pleasure as we race around and return.” Not only is this stanza audibly pleasing, but Whitman’s use of the word “embrace” reflects his fellowship with the animals, and the friendly word shows that he is not riding the stallion, but riding with him. This oneness with nature and his surrounding is an important theme of the poem.
Throughout this section, Whitman reveals both the reverence and the connection he feels with animals, and sometimes the feelings seem contradictory. When listing the human flaws, Whitman explains that animals are free from these flaws. However, then “They bring me tokens of myself, they evince them plainly in their possession,” meaning that the similarities between the “I” in the poem and the animals are clear, and the similarities are obvious. This progression from animals being superior and unflawed, and then being closely related to humans seems to mean that humanity still has a chance to escape from its previously listed flaws and return to the innocent happiness that is now only available to animals.
In the second half of the section, the narrator describes in detail the beauty of the stallion that he chose and rode briefly. Although it is not clear, the narrator then seems to trade the stallion for faster, man-made transportation, asking, “Why do I need your paces when I myself out-gallop them? Even as I stand or sit passing faster than you.” The narrator points out that other modes of transportation are much faster, but this statement last only two lines, whereas his description of the horse spans three stanzas and is filled with emotion, description and passion. This difference in description reveals the narrator’s view of the importance of nature and his distain for technology that may outperform nature, but lacks all the beauty and fellowship that the narrator finds there.
Courtland Kelly
Assignment: Summer Reading, Summer Writing, Summer Sessions
I had trouble with...
1. The Song of Myself reflection. I was unable to go to the session, and I already have trouble with poetry, so this particular assignment was especially difficult.
2. Finding time to do the work with my job and other AP work.
3. Feeling confident in my work when being so independent and not in an academic environment and not easily being able to bounce ideas off my classmates.
What I like about my summer work: I like that I actually made some of the deadlines (at least for the earlier assignments), so right now, at the end of summer, I’m feeling slightly more relaxed than I would have if I was only starting right now.
What was most difficult for me: Dealing with the work and the stress of the work on top of an already stressful summer.
What I learned from the summer sessions: I need to talk to people about my ideas before I can write them down coherently.
What I will do differently when the school year begins: I will be in school mode, and therefore much more focused on my academics.
Whitmanesque Poem
Characteristics:
1) Rhythm, repetitions of sounds/words
2) Train of thought, breathless writing style
3) Vivid descriptions and contradictions
I see the sharp edges of the leaves that cut the varying hues beneath them,
I see the pale velvet sky as it turns into gold tulle,
I see the bright yellow line as it flies along my left,
I am blind.
All around me is oblivious, facing forward.
Except the red eyes.
In front of me, they stare sadly, vacantly, glassy.
I in turn stare at them.
But not really.
I see them getting closer,
Seeing but not seeing.
They stare back, undaunted
Unaffected, oblivious.
Blind.
Why are you looking? they ask,
There is nothing for you here.
Calm, I creep closer,
Curious, I creep closer,
Cold, I creep closer.
Too close, I can see now.
I jerk, my knee hits something hard.
Knee-jerk.
I barely suppress a laugh.
Ha.
Okay, so I know that this is a lot more sarcastic and not really in a Whitman style, but it does adapt some of his techniques, and actually ended up portraying a similar message, which wasn’t really the intention but came to that at the end. The list at the beginning is pretty obvious, and the second to last stanza has the repetition as well, although I recognize that it is a little backwards to the way Whitman does it. The poem does incorporate some alliterations, as well as the italic quotes that came up a few times in Song of Myself. Also in this poem are the vivid descriptions that I enjoy in Whitman’s poem so much, as well as the contradictions. The way the lines are set up are supposed to represent the connected thought process that is evident in Song of Myself, but I must have really jerky thoughts, because obviously my poem didn’t flow as well as Whitman’s did. However, I figured that it was better to make it sporadic and real than force a fake flow. I apologize for that awkward alliteration. And for that one as well. That was odd. Anyway, I kind of like the like of this poem, even if it is pretty different from Whitman, because it points out how technology, especially transportation, tends to make us numb to the world around us, which is connected to section 32 of SOM, which is what I did my analysis on. What a coincidence.
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