Whitman’s Inspirations

Before Bell:

You have a vocab Unit 4 quiz today!

After Quiz:

Please pick up and begin reading AOW#3. The picture below is of the two girls from your article!

This is due Monday!

“I Hear America Singing”

1.What inspires Whitman here?

2.Are people actually singing? (What does the title really mean?)

3.How does this show an American voice that was not present before?

“Song of Myself”

●Whitman is inspired by nature and Emerson●Recall Transcendentalists like nature and

individuality●Poem first appeared as part of epic work

Leaves of Grass but was eventually published separately

●For 4th edition, Whitman divided it into 52 sections.

An Inspiration ● Have you ever felt a close personal

connection to a leader, celebrity or other public figure?

● Who? And Why do you admire them?

● If they died during your life, how did you feel when it happened? Describe.

● Or, how do you think you would feel if something bad were to happen to them?

Whitman Cont’d

Watch the following videos about Walt Whitman’s famous poem, “Oh Captain! My Captain!”

Robin Williams in Dead Poets SocietyFull House "Educating Jesse“ (16:30)

“O Captain my Captain!”● This poem uses a great deal of apostrophe

● Here’s a famous example:● Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are.Up above the world so high,Like a diamond in the sky.”

● It also uses extended metaphors to compare someone to something over multiple lines!

O Captain My Captain

● Who might be the Captain in this poem? Why is he compared to a captain of a ship?

● Where do you see apostrophe?

● How does Whitman render the loss of ‘the captain’ as a loss personal to the speaker of the poem?

● What are some of the words, phrases and poetic devices that give the reader a feeling of loss and mourning?

● What is the theme of this poem?

Closure:● Create your own dedication Poem…..1. To whom would it be dedicated?2. Utilize Whitman’s style of free verse.3. Utilize cataloguing to list their great

qualities.4. Create a metaphor comparing them to

something (captain of a ship…president leading country!).

5. This poem must be at least 3 stanzas (12 lines).

● This poem needs to be placed in a top hat of your making. It should be ‘wall worthy’!