Walt Whitman ( ) Student of the World – Typical youth – No college – Journalist & editor The Making of a Masterpiece – Emerson approved called Leaves of Grass “fortifying and encouraging.” – 9 editions; over 36 years – “Camerado, this is no book / Who touches this touches a man.”

In the Crowd, but Not of It – Self-created image – “One would see him afar off…in the crowd but not of it—a large, slow-moving figure, clad in gray, with broad-brimmed hat and gray beard—or, quite as frequently, on the front platform of the street horse-cars with the drive…Whitman was of large mold in ever way, and of bold, far-reaching schemes, and is very sure to fare better at the hands of large men than of small.” Walt Whitman ( )

Everything Under the Sun – Invented a new way of writing that was loose and flexible – Free style of poems allowed him to include catalogs and lists

Walt Whitman ( ) An American Epic – Enlarged the possibilities of poetry – “Leaves of Grass an epic” Hero = poet; not of the past, but the future Role of the American poet = the saving force of man

Graphic Organizer Mnemonic for – Speaker – Occasion – Audience – Purpose – Subject – Tone

On your own paper, create a 2-column chart with 5 rows. Fill in the blanks with key ideas as we analyze the poem. InterpretationSupport (Quotes) Speaker Occasion Audience Purpose Subject Tone

I Hear America Singingp. 352 by Walt Whitman SOAPSTone by Sandra Cook & Sabrina Witt

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 boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck, The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands, The wood-cutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown, The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing, Each singing what belongs to him or 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. p. 352