1. W alt W hitman Transcendentalist poet L eaves of G rass 1855

2. Struggled to make ends meet – gave time and own money to care for Civil War wounded Bridged Transcendentalism and Realism Known as “Poet of the Common Man” – used understandable words; talked with and cherished all kinds of people; open to all religions and sexualities Also called “Poet of Democracy” – discussed politics and human rights in his poems, was anti-slavery, pro- temperance, feminist Was a rebel of his time – rejected poetic conventions, called the “Father of free verse” Traveled around the country

3. Walt Whitman “Song of Myself” Annotation 1.What is the mood of the first two stanzas in particular? What words give you this sense? 2.In section 1, what seems important to the speaker, and what does he enjoy? 3.How does the speaker of the poem feel about schools and other institutions? How do you know? (stanza 4 of section 1) 4.How does the speaker feel about nature, according to the beginning of section 6? Which verses support this? 5.What is grass being used as a metaphor for, as explained throughout section 6? (many things). Why does this matter? 6.How does the poet feel about death? Which verses support this idea? 7.In addition to the metaphors of grass, what other poetic devices or interesting language/structure do you notice? 8.What are some similarities in how Walt Whitman and Chris McCandless felt about life?