Reference no: EM133521274

Assignment: Walt Whitman & Emily Dickinson

Part 1

Show how Walt Whitman in Song of Myself demonstrates an ability to see the divine not only in nature but in men and women.

Part 2

Emily Dickinson's nature imagery expresses both a delight in nature,suggestive of New England Transcendentalism, and a Calvinistic sense of theevil in nature. Which is more common, the delight or the sense of evil?

Part 3

More critical commentary has been written about "Because I could not stop forDeath" than about any other Dickinson poem, and it has most frequently beenpraised for its uncommon view of death.

a) Is the home-grave symbolism adequately related to the rest of the poem?

b) What are the implications of the words stop and kindly in the first stanza?

c) The events described in the poem suggest a wedding, with death as thebridegroom. Does union with death therefore become in some way desirable, afulfillment?

d) If the poem shows an affable acceptance of death, is the poem thereby themore chilling and terrifying, suggesting that those stricken with the presence ofdeath become unable, even unwilling, to resist their destroyer?

Part 4

What, for Emily Dickinson, constitutes the ultimate threat? Is it thesupernatural? Is it death? Is it a void, the unknowable, a nothingness thatfollows disintegration of the self? Is it separation from friends and familiarobjects?

Part 5

In paragraph two of the 1855 "Preface" to Leaves of Grass, Whitman asserts that the "United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem." Discuss the significance of Whitman's assertion and how his view of the United States as "the greatest poem" controls his choice of poetic subject matter, imagery, and philosophy in Song of Myself.

Part 6

The idea of poet as redeemer is frequently encountered in Whitman's poetry and prose. Discuss the role of the poet as Whitman sets it forth in the 1855"Preface" to Leaves of Grass. For example, explain Whitman's confidentforecast that "There will soon be no more priests," that a "superior breed [poetsand prophets] shall take their place." Use other examples from Song of Myself that express this same belief in the redemptive quality of the poet.

Part 7

Whitman uses catalogs (long lists) to convey the idea of the poet united withnature. Show how that union of poet and nature is presented in Song of Myself.

Part 8

Whitman teaches that humanity is naturally good. Is Whitman too optimistic,too uncritical? Does he simply ignore evil? Does he refuse to recognize viewscontrary to the doctrine that man is a divine creation?

Part 9

Show how Whitman in Song of Myself demonstrates an ability to see thedivine not only in nature but in men and women.