whitman bio ppt
TRANSCRIPT
8/3/2019 Whitman Bio PPT
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With a partner, consider
the following questions« Is poetry important? Why or why
not?
Why might it have been
important in the past?
If you do not think poetry is stillimportant, what do you think has
replaced it in modern culture?
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Old Gray Beard
a.k.a. Walt Whitman
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Walt Whitman
Whitman may have changed the courseof poetry more than any other singleperson.
Almost single handedly, he inventedfree verse, the poetry of no rhythm and
rhyme that had dominated the lastcentury.
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Whitman
Walt Whitman was born in 1819,about half way between the
American Revolution and the
American Civil War. By 1855, when Whitman published his
first edition of poetry, America hadchanged dramatically.
Whitman is the first poet that seemedto speak for all of the new UnitedStates.
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A Growing America
In 1783, the new country was a group of
13 new states clustered along the
Atlantic coastline.
By 1855, America hadgrown to 30 states that
stretched across the
continent and was rapidly moving toward
industrialization and urbanization.
It was a diverse country with people
coming in from all over the world.
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Diversity
It was America¶s diversity that
fascinated Whitman.
He saw America as the greatestnation that ever was, and it was
great because it was a ³melting
pot´ of skilled, hard-working
people.
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What is a ´melting potµ?
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The Young Walt Whitman
Before becoming a poet, Whitmanheld a variety of jobs and lived avagabond lifestyle.
He was very poor as a child andstarted having odd jobs as ateenager and young man.
He was a carpenter, a printer, a journalist, and even was aschoolteacher at age 17 (showshow low he was getting).
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Interested in Everything
Whitman was interested in ancient Egypt. He loved the sea--
And opera.
He was fascinated by astrology andphrenology.
The sights and sounds of everythingaround him fascinated him.
He was interested in politics, and hedelighted in the power of words toexpress one¶s ideas.
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The Poet
When he turned to writing poetry, Whitman
had already lived a fuller life than many
people live in a lifetime.
But his poetry was different²very different He saw poetry as organic²growing
naturally like flowers and other plants
grow. He invented what is now called Free Verse
²poetry that has no rhythm or rhyme.
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Phrenology?
July 16, 1849. Whitman
visits the busy phrenological
emporium of Fowler and
Wells to literally have hishead examined. A
nineteenth-century ³science´
that has long been
discredited, phrenologysought to identify traits of
character by the bumps and
depressions on a human
skull.
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Whitman¶s analysis pleased him so much that
he reprinted parts of it in several editions of
Leaves of Grass: This man has a grandphysical construction. He is undoubtedly
descended from the soundest and hardiest
stock. Size of head large. Leading traits of character appear to be Friendship, Sympathy,
and Self-Esteem, and markedly among his
combinations the dangerous faults of
Indolence, a tendency to the pleasure of Voluptuousness, and a certain reckless swing
of animal will, too unmindful, probably, of the
conviction of others.
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A Little Unusual
Until Whitman, poetry had always
had rhythm and rhyme.
Most people who saw his poetryfound it too weird, and many would
not even consider it poetry.
Whitman needed a boost²a way of
getting his work recognized.
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Leaves of Grass
His first book of poems was entitled³Leaves of Grass.´ (1855)
Whitman paid for it entirely by himself
because, like Dickinson¶s poems,publishers thought they were too oddto take a costly chance on.
As a former printer, he saved moremoney by doing the typesetting.
He sent a free copy to Ralph WaldoEmerson.
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Support from an unusual
source
Emerson was considered America¶s
greatest thinker and was an unlikely person
to back Whitman¶s new style of poetry.
Yet Emerson was entranced by the poems
and responded with a five-page reply.
It became the most famous piece of literary
sponsorship in American history. Emerson¶s support then caused others to
rethink and revisit Whitman¶s poems.
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Emerson¶s reply included the
following lines:
³I greet you at the beginning of a
great career, which yet must have
had a long foreground somewherefor such a start.
Emerson probably didn¶t care
much about knowing about
Whitman¶s long foreground, buthe was right in assuming
Whitman had lived a full and
diverse life.
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Shameless?
Walt Whitman was
perhaps a
shameless self-
promoter. He took excerpts
from Emerson¶s
private letter of
endorsement andpublished them on
his book.
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Free Verse
Free verse is Whitman's expression of
the democratic concepts of a growing
America.
"What we call poems." he wrote, "are
merely pictures."
The "real poems," he insisted, "are
the men and women in all the varietyof human experience."
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Leaves of Grass (again and
again and again)
Nine times, he republished Leaves
of Grass.
Nine times, it grew larger with the
addition of more poems. In many ways, as he put it, "The
United States themselves are
essentially the greatest poem." The volumes are a tribute to thecountry and to its people, especiallythe common working people.
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The Civil War
In December of 1862, Whitman wasfirst exposed to the tragedy of TheCivil War when he traveled toVirginia in search of his brother George who had been wounded inbattle.
Whitman spent several days at
camp hospitals of the Army of thePotomac just after the particularlybloody Battle of Fredericksburg.
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He was so moved by the scene at the
battlefield hospital that he traveled toWashington, D.C, and spent much of the next three years workingoccasionally as an unofficial nurse in
several army hospitals. Whitman made a great effort to get to
know wounded soldiers, bringingthem small gifts and writing letters
for them
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Sex
Now that I have your attention: Whitman, incidentally, virtually invented
sexuality as a subject of American
literature (even though Europeans haddiscovered it centuries earlier).
After Whitman, sex became an acceptablesubject in American literature.
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Abraham Lincoln
Whitman was also a great admirer of Lincoln.
Lincoln's death evoked a strong response
in Whitman who wrote several poems aboutLincoln¶s death.
"O Captain, My Captain" is perhaps the bestknown.
"When Lilacs Last in the DooryardBloom'd," is also a well-known Lincolnmemorial.
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The American Chorus
In the following poem, ³I Hear AmericaSinging,´ Whitman envisions America
as a giant chorus.
Each person is like a soprano, an alto,and tenor, or a bass who is
harmonizing their voice into the giant
American song.
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I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear;
Those of mechanics--each one singing his, as it should be,
blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or
beam,
The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or
leaves off work;
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat²the
deckhand singing on the steamboat deck;
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench--the hatter
singing as he stands;
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The wood-cutter's song--the ploughboy's, on his way in
the morning, or at the noon intermission, or atsundown;
The delicious singing of the mother--or of the young
wife at work²or of the girl sewing or washing²
Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else;
The day what belongs to the day--At night, the party of
young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious
songs.
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Question
How does the poem ³I Hear America
Singing´ reflect Whitman¶s attitude
towards America?
In answering this question, please use
evidence (quotes) from the poem.
You may also reference facts about his
life from today¶s notes.