1. Poetry

2. Mr. Keating’s class – Find your own voice
Oh Captain, My Captain!
What will your verse be?
Mr. Keating’s class – Find your own voice
O Captain, My Captain!
Clips from Dead Poet’s Society.
The head master, Nolan, asks a question – What is poetry? Or more importantly to us; What power does poetry yield?
What do you think poetry meant to these young men?

3. WHAT Poetry Can Do

4. Poetry – Inquiry Questions
Who has more power in the reading-writing partnership – the author or the reader?
Who has the most important role in the creation of meaning – the author or the reader?
How do you write with an audience in mind?

5. Key Ideas Every text is constructed. No text is neutral.
The author makes conscious decisions regarding point of view, word choice, punctuation, details, information, and organization, and all these choices have an impact on the meaning created for the audience.
Authors need to consider the purpose, audience and genre when creating texts.

6. Walt Whitman
Whitman was an American poet. He wrote Oh Captain, My Captain! in 1865.
Abraham Lincoln was a man Walt Whitman deeply admired and is the captain to whom Whitman refers.
It has been said that Whitman hoped for a “Redeemer President of These States,” who would come out of the real West, the log hut, the clearing, the woods, the prairie, the hillside.” to would address the social issues of the time. (Mainly the issues surrounding the American Civil War).
This "Redeemer President" appeared six years later in the form of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln did not disappoint his poet admirer and gained stature as Lincoln's presidency progressed and as the North won the Civil War, preserving the Union.
It was Lincoln's death, however, that affected Whitman the most, who memorialized the greatest president in United States History with "O Captain! My Captain!"

7. Analysis of Oh Captain, My Captain!
Poetic Devices that Whitman Uses
Rhyme Scheme
Meter and Rhythm
Extended Metaphor - The captain is Abraham Lincoln. The fearful trip is the Civil War. The ship is the United States. The prize is the preservation of the union.
Repetition
Word Choice
Rhyme Scheme - aabb xcxc - the opening couplets of the first two stanzas establish a happy mood, which compared with the shortened succeeding lines, brings out the disappointment experienced by the poet over the captain's death.
Meter and Rhythm - there is no fixed meter; there is, however, a pattern of four long lines followed by four short lines in each stanza. The shortened lines emphasize the personal grief experienced by the poet against the backdrop of a broader victory. The poem's rhythm is created by the varying line lengths.
Extended Metaphor - The captain is Abraham Lincoln. The fearful trip is the Civil War. The ship is the United States. The prize is the preservation of the union.
The repetition of "heart" in line 5 emphasizes the poet's grief at the death of his captain. "Fallen cold and dead" is repeated at the end of each stanza to emphasize the poet's deep loss.
Word Choice - words and phrases such as "grim and daring," "weathered every rack," "fearful trip," "flag is flung," "bugle trills," "ribboned wreaths," and "swaying mass" cast a shadow over the celebration, much in the same way the dead cast a shadow over any victory in war celebration.
Apostrophe - an apostrophe is a form of personification in which an individual addresses someone who is dead, someone who is not there, or an inanimate object. "O Captain! My Captain!" at the start of the first two stanzas are examples of apostrophe, as is "Exult O shores, and ring O bells!" in the third stanza.
The poet refers to the fallen captain as "father," representing his deep respect for president Lincoln and Lincoln's role as father of the Union.

8. Back to Key Ideas
Every text is constructed. How is Whitman’s text constructed?
No text is neutral. What position is he taking on Lincoln and the Civil War?
The author makes conscious decisions regarding point of view, word choice, punctuation, details, information, and organization, and all these choices have an impact on the meaning created for the audience. How does Whitman use these devices to create meaning for us?
Authors need to consider the purpose, audience and genre when creating texts. What was his purpose? Who was Whitman’s audience? What genre are we dealing with here, and why is it an effective vehicle for this message?

9. Your First Poem
Write me a poem about someone you admire; someone you would consider a role model or someone you might aspire to be like – in the spirit of Whitman’s Oh Captain, My Captain!
Give that person a title that reflects them – like the Captain in Whitman’s poem. Try to use literary devices, like metaphor, simile, alliteration, repetition, rhyme to add elements of meaning to your poem.