...Walt Whitman once wrote, “The proof of the poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he absorbed it” (Koelsch, Nelson, and Berliner 396). Whitman lived in the mid-1800s while America was growing as a country and in the midst of the Civil War. A patriot and whole-hearted Union supporter, he treasured freedom and democracy (Koelsch, Nelson, and Berliner 397). Influenced by the Transcendentalist movement, he also believed the human spirit was reflected in nature (Koelsch, Nelson, and Berliner 407). Whitman certainly left his mark on America. As written in The Continuity of American Poetry, “the history of American poetry could be written as the continuing discovery and rediscovery of Whitman, an on-going affirmation of his critical...
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...Chapter I The Problem A. INTRODUCTION Having a term paper as a requirement for the graduating students is important. It may be difficult for the students since it is their first time to make this requirement but it is fun to do this, since this is one of knowing the author and the same time develop the researcher’s skill in analyzing and interpreting ideas. In the writing this term paper the researchers gain information and get familiar to the works and life story of the two authors. This term paper focuses the comparative study of William Blake and Walt Whitman. The researchers gather information through research and analyze the data to answer the question stated in the problem. B. BIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM BLAKE¹ William Blake was an English poet, engraver, and a painter. A boldly imaginative rebel in both his through and art, he combined poetic and pictorial genius to explore life. YOUTH William Blake was born in London, England, on November 28, 1757, the second son of a men’s clothing merchant. From his earliest year he saw vision. He would see trees full of angels on similar sights, if this were not true mystical visions; they were the results of the artistic intense spiritual understanding of the world. From his early teens Blake wrote poems, often setting them to melodies of his own composition. At the age of ten, Blake started at the well-known Park’s DrawingSchool, at age of fourteen; he began a seven year apprenticeship to an engraver. It was as an engraver...
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...Biography of Walt Whitman Walter "Walt" was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. His work was very controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality. Born on Long Island, Whitman worked as a journalist, a teacher, a government clerk, and – in addition to publishing his poetry – was a volunteer nurse during the American Civil War. Early in his career, he also produced a temperance novel, Franklin Evans (1842). Whitman's major work, Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own money. The work was an attempt at reaching out to the common person with an American epic. He continued expanding and revising it until his death in 1892. After a stroke towards the end of his life, he moved to Camden, New Jersey, where his health further declined. He died at age 72 and his funeral became a public spectacle. Whitman's sexuality is often discussed alongside his poetry. Though biographers continue to debate his sexuality, he is usually described as either homosexual or bisexual in his feelings and attractions. However, there is disagreement among biographers as to whether Whitman had actual sexual experiences with men. Whitman was concerned with politics throughout...
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...to the person, it will influence his or her life. Similar with every story that is written, the main character will face a conflict in his or her life. A Story like “Aladdin”, a well-known children story, can be interpreted as a part of learning. Whereby we can see that the sultan of Agrabah learned that he could not trust Jafar, his royal vizier anymore. This was because Jafar tried to take over the Sultan’s power of owning Agrabah. If the conflict had not happened, the Sultan would have not learned about Jafar. This kind of conflict can be defined as an experience to the Sultan of Agrabah. In consequence, the Sultan of Agrabah learned to distrust Jafar. This kind of analysis also applies to some stories and poems. As it is mentioned that most stories or creative writings have conflicts of their own, ”A Good Man is Hard to Find”, “When I heard Learn’d Astronomer”, “The Things They Carried” and “The Secretary’s Chant” lifted up their own conflict by the authors. However, they shared the same theme that is possible to engage them together that experiences shape the individual’s belief. People affect each other’s lives that it is possible for the individual to learn under another person’s influence. This causes people’s comments or actions can change the individual’s way of thinking. A story written by Flannery O’Connor is a story of an old woman that found to lift up the problem of racism. However, in the context of the story, she described a ‘good’ man of her own. Although the...
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...as Renaissance humanism. This American nationalism focused on the expression of modernism, technology, and academic classicism. Renaissance technological advancements include wire cables supporting the Brooklyn Bridge in the State of New York, along with cultural advancements found in the Prairie School houses, Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in architecture and sculpture. The political heir of American nationalism evolved with the Gilded Age and New Imperialism school of thought. The American Renaissance produced major influential literary works from some of the most brilliant minds in U.S. history, including Ralph Waldo Emerson's the "Representative Man (1850)", Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlett Letter (1850)" and "The House of Seven Gables (1851)," Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick," Henry David Thoreau's "Walden (1854)," and Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass (1855)." American Renaissance Literary Masterpieces The American Renaissance, a literary and cultural period circa extending from 1820 to the mid-1860s, gained inspiration from the unresolved issues of the American Revolution. The American Renaissance literary style was coined as "Romanticism," an international philosophical movement that redefined the perceptions of Western cultures, and seldom refers to the preconceived notions of love. Some important authors arising out of this era include: James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Jacobs, Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Edgar...
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...How the Civil War Changed American Literature The 1860’s was a time of numerous talented writers: Whitman, Emerson, Hawthorne, and Melville. Major writers experienced the civil war in their day to day lives and this began to change what they believed and subsequently changed what they wrote. The abolitionists Thomas Wentworth Higginson studied Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose essays he explained as “starry with statements of absolute truth.” Emerson’s antislavery ideals helped influence positive war ideals. Emerson had spent decades writing about moral and cultural change and he viewed the war as necessary. However, not every writer was confident about the war like Emerson. For example, Nathaniel Hawthorne admitted in a letter the month after Fort Sumter that “I don’t quite understand what we are fighting for, or what definite result can be expected” (Eiselein 30). This uncertainty about the war was transferred into his writing. He traveled to Washington to write an article for The Atlantic and eventually published the essay “Chiefly about War-Matters,” in which he critiqued everything while also satirizing The Atlantic’s pro-war views (Eiselein 33). Besides Hawthorne, most of the northern writers of the nineteenth century supported the war at the beginning. However, the writer’s attitude towards the war began to shift after the battle of Shiloh and the succeeding horrific battles. The harsh realities of the war began to trouble the writers. For example, while reading Emerson’s...
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...11/17/2015 Big Picture Questions (must be answered to receive full credit): To what extent did individualism, new religious sects, abolitionism, and women’s rights change American culture during the antebellum period (1820-1860)? Chapter 11: Religion and Reform 1800-1860 Individualism: The Ethic of the Middle Class Discuss the differing opinions on the lack of rigid class structures in America: Alexis de Tocqueville: Ralph Waldo Emerson: Transcendentalism: How did Second Great Awakening preachers like Finney adopt portion of Emerson’s philosophies regarding man? How did the main teachings of Transcendentalism differ from the teachings of most Protestant faiths of the time? Emerson’s Literary Influence (For each author describe their main literary focus and delineate between fiction or nonfiction) Henry David Thoreau: Margaret Fuller: Walt Whitman: Nathaniel Hawthorne: Herman Melville: Rural Communalism and Urban Popular Culture Utopias: Communalists: Shakers: marriage? Socialism: property ownership? Humphrey Noyes and Oneida: perfectionism: marriage? Joseph Smith: Mormonism: What was summary of Book of Mormon? How were Mormons accepted by those outside of their faith and what did this lead them to do? Brigham Young: Abolitionism -Skip (We will cover this in class) The Women’s Rights Movement Women became involved in what aspects of public life? What was meant...
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...was a famous poet. Sandburg wrote forty-nine different pieces of poetry. Most of Sandburg’s poems were about human nature. Sandburg had a huge impact on many different peoples lives. Many people influenced Carl Sandburg. As a salesman, Sandburg learned about human nature, which influenced him to start writing. Harriet Monroe, a fellow poet encouraged Carl Sandburg to keep writing, free verse in particular. Poetry connected Sandburg to many different strands of American life. Walt Whitman was a huge inspiration to Sandburg. Once he heard Whitman’s pieces, he instantly was inspired. Carl Sandburg had many different themes of writing. Sandburg’s most common theme was free verse. He had many different pieces that was about him expressing himself and how he feels about different topics. Sandburg’s pieces had a big statement that standed out. Sandburg's poems occasionally sound very blunt and boring but oddly they change your perspective and how you look at things. Carl was such a good example of a great man when it came to his writing. He didn’t care what people thought about him, he just wanted people to understand his point of...
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...of thinking were starting to be considered by American society as the rise of industry and science introduced many modifications in the way people lived. Concerning the field of literature, its origins in the United States were so far inherently related to British history and cultural lore. However, in the early 19th Century, American writers started to express their perceptions, ideas and experiences while being under the influence of fresh feelings of independence which forged the nation’s sense of identity. Therefore, the literature produced in this time was distinctively characterized by emphasizing native scenes and characters. Many authors contributed to this area of art: four authors of very respectable stature appeared. William Cullen Bryant, Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and Edgar Allan Poe initiated a great half century of literary development. The authors who began to come to prominence in the 1830s and were active until about the end of the Civil War—the humorists, the classic New Englanders, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, and others—did their work in a new spirit, and their achievements were of a new sort. In part this was because they were in some way influenced by the broadening democratic concepts that in 1829 triumphed in Andrew Jackson’s inauguration as president. In part it was because, in this Romantic period of emphasis upon native scenes and characters...
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...known for having an extensive amount of symbolism that cuts right to the point. One great poet who was never afraid to say what he felt was Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes was a great African American poet who changed the ways of poetry with his sheer authenticity. Langston Hughes wrote many famous pieces of poetry. Some of his most famous poetic pieces are Not Without Laughter and Modern Black Poets: A Collection of Critical Essays.His first poem was published in 1926. He has also written many pieces of prose. Hughes won the Harmon Gold medal for literature for his first novel in 1930. He wrote two children’s poems that express his style in a format that children can understand and enjoy. His main poet influences as a young man were Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman. He edited two anthologies wrote one, too. He wrote Montage of a Dream Deferred, which is inspired by his love for jazz. This poem is the length of a book. He also wrote wrote The Negro...
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...he was against advocating any implicit or explicit limits to the publishing industry, finding more interest in social knowledge. The majority of his natural life was to adapt to the mass culture, but transferred over to an apocalyptic embrace. John allan did not support him financially, as he did not support poes’ aspirations of being a romanticist author, feeling poe did not appreciate the education he was bestowed. However despite his trials and tribulations, he turned out to be America’s first important writer, through his portrayal of brutality and ignoring the events of american past he was able to attract the attention of all different varieties of consumers/readers. even acclaimed american romanticism author Walt Whitman recognized Poes’...
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...THE BIBLE’S INFLUENCE ON ENGLISH-AMERICAN LITERATURE by Zhang Lanlan June, 2007 Xiaogan University Abstract As the sutra of the Christianity, the Bible has a great influence on both English and American literature and offers an eternal theme of their literary creation .English and American writers use stories of the Bible by three main methods. First, they quote person's names or stories of the Bible as the characters' names or plots of the creations from the Bible directly. Sometimes they make some changes on the original stories. Sometimes they quote stories directly from the Bible as the writing materials. Second, they make use of symbolic meaning of the Bible by some technical such as simile, metaphor and symbolism, so that the stories could exert a great influence on contrasting with the new products. Third, they merge the plots of the Bible to give connotative efforts to the readers. Exploring the methods helps us know the western culture and consciousness, have a good appreciation and study for the English-American literature. key words: English-American literature ; the Bible; methods 《圣经》在英美文学作品中的影响 摘要 作为基督教的经典，《圣经》对英美文化影响深远，为英美文化创作提供了永恒的母题。英美作家化用《圣经》故事的主要方法有：直接引用《圣经》中的人名作为作品的人物名称，或直接引用《圣经》故事或对原型故事进行变形或处理，作为创作素材；通过比喻，隐喻或象征等手法，把《圣经》故事的寓意融汇到作品情节中或人物性格里，使这些故事发挥有力的陪衬作用；使作品中的人物，故事和情节与《圣经》故事大体对应，让《圣经》能穿越时空的限制，从而发挥隐含的参照作用。 探讨英美作家化用《圣经》的方法，有助于我们了解英美文化的思想意识，更好的学习，欣赏乃至研究英美文学作品。 关键词：英美文学；《圣经》；方式 ...
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...shifted from rather an everyday outlet or enjoyment to that of a scholarly, more objectified and purposeless craft. He starts his overview explaining how F.O. Matthiessen is left having “discovered a renaissance for American Literature that did not include poets,” (Harrington P.496) besides a sole exclusion: Walt Whitman. Poetry has always hung on the precipice of whether being literature or not; swayed, back and forth, by the changing movements of the decades. I’ve come to understand after reading Harrington that poetry is constantly being redefined and reorganized by its place in society and its critics. Yet generally over the last several or more decades its’ art has remained secular from what is knows as ‘American Literature’. Harrington believes “the institutional history of poetry in the US suggests both the importance and the genealogy of the literary- critical split between American poetry and American literature,” (Harrington P. 496.). He notes that poetry used to play a crucial role in cultural conflicts and almost digesting the current day-to-day. He then goes on to argue in which I agree, that by now holding aside poetry as something less in turn stripping its influence on us, literature to us is a contradictory thing. Not including poetry in literature for the people reading it is silly for the two are so intertwined. So much fiction has taken from or found inspiration from poetry. Harrington states this notion, “As a social form, poetry is not simply a value-neutral...
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...America in 1942 Initially, the outbreak of World War II did not bring about any large changes in the German economy. Germany had spent six years preparing for war, and a large portion of the economy was already devoted to military production. During the war, as Germany acquired new territories (either by direct annexation or by installing puppet governments in defeated countries), these new territories were forced to sell raw materials and agricultural products to German buyers at extremely low prices. Fiction as Reconstruction of History: Narratives of the Civil War in American Literature by Reinhard Isensee Even after more than 140 years the American Civil War continues to serve as a major source of inspiration for a plethora of literature in various genres. While only amounting to a brief period in American history in terms of years, this war has proved to be one of the central moments for defining the American nation since the second half of the nineteenth century. The facets of the Civil War, its protagonists, places, events, and political, social and cultural underpinnings seem to hold an ongoing fascination for both academic studies and fictional representations. Thus, it has been considered by many the most written-about war in the United States. The War That Never Goes Away: The Significance of the Civil War for the Cultural Imagination in the United States Despite the overwhelming body of academic work on the Civil War produced in the United States (and...
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...English 11 28 March 2014 Steinbeck’s Philosophical Theory and Influences The Grapes of Wrath, a story of the Joads’ journey from Oklahoma to California in search of the American dream during the Great Depression era. Thousands upon thousands of people had to pack up and leave the land that they were born and raised on due to the Dust Bowl and the banks foreclosing on acres and acres of property. Having lived through this time period, John Steinbeck, the author of the novel The Grapes of Wrath is no stranger to the conditions these people lived in. Traveling with migrant farm workers for a few years in Salinas California, John adopted a very specific philosophical theory from the many influences around him. John Steinbeck’s philosophical theory, including transcendentalism and the concept of the oversoul, humanism, earthy democracy, and pragmatism, all play an important role in the development of his characters in The Grapes of Wrath. To begin, one of the most important characters in the novel, Jim Casy, “the preacher”, single-handedly interprets and embodies the philosophy of the author John Steinbeck and the novel itself. Tom Joad and Jim Casy cross paths while Tom was on his way home to find his family after just being released from prison. The two men, having been long time friends, decide to walk together and catch up. Jim vents to Tom, and tells him about not preaching anymore. “I was a preacher,” the man [Jim Casy] said seriously, “but not no more” (Steinbeck 41). Casy...
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