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Many literary critics and readers alike consider Whitman to be the first “beatnik.”

Many literary critics and readers alike consider Whitman to be the first “beatnik.”. Why???

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Many literary critics and readers alike consider Whitman to be the first “beatnik.”

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  1. Many literary critics and readers alike consider Whitman to be the first “beatnik.” • Why??? • Read Whitman’s biography in the packet and compose a cogent (convincing, logical, well-supported) paragraph that explains why this title may be appropriate. Provide concrete examples as you compare “beat” characteristics and Whitman’s traits. • Due Thursday—every other line—MLA heading--legible—use both sides of paper

  2. Walt Whitman Biography Elements of Style

  3. Walt Whitman (1819-1892) • Family Life • Father’s ancestors- from England; 20 years after Mayflower • Mother’s ancestors – early immigrants from Holland • 8 brothers and sisters (fully American)

  4. America Centre of equal daughters, equal sons, All, all alike endear’d, grown, ungrown, young or old, Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich, Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love, A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother, Chair’d in the adamant of Time.

  5. Education • Went to school until age 11 • Office boy • Printer’s assistant • Grammar school teacher • Never went to college • Journalist (traveled)

  6. Leaves of Grass – 1st Edition • Published 1855 at his expense • bold, new, largely unnoticed • 95 pages • Covered with dark green cloth • No table of contents or titles • Author’s name not on book (only an engraving of a bearded man about age 30)

  7. Self-Promotion • Sent samples of book to important people • Ralph Waldo Emerson praised it: “I greet you at the beginning of a great career.”

  8. Leaves of Grass – 9th Edition • 9th “deathbed” edition was published 36 years after the original • 438 pages

  9. Themes • Democratic theme – strong anti-slavery stand; emphasized equality • Whitman’s brother fought (and was injured) in the Civil War • Whitman assisted at the battlefield • Admired President Lincoln

  10. Free Verse • Free verse – poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme • Poets who write in free verse try to reproduce the natural rhythms of the spoken language (cadence) • Whitman was the first American poet to use free verse (some consider him the first true American author)

  11. Negative Reaction • Some people thought Whitman’s work was trash – not even poetry. • Why might some readers NOT respect poetry written in free verse? • Robert Frost – “Writing poetry in free verse is like playing tennis without a net.”

  12. Cadence • Natural rhythmic rise and fall of language as it is normally spoken

  13. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iazX8nj8YlE When I heard the learned….

  14. Language • + very vivid and exciting • + used the language of the common man (slang) • - some felt it was too common or vulgar

  15. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uBsV8wAEhwlevi’s commercial

  16. Parallelism • Repeated use of phrases, clauses, or sentences similar in structure • “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.” ~Patrick Henry

  17. Catalogs • Piling up of images or concrete details; lists

  18. Onomatopoeia • The use of sounds that echo their sense

  19. Assonance • Repeated vowel sounds in words close together

  20. Alliteration • Repeated consonant sounds at the beginning of words close together • birds skim the summer sky

  21. Imagery • Words that appeal to the five senses • Sight • Smell • Taste • Touch • Hearing

  22. Favorite song • Write down the title of your all-time favorite song(s). Though not necessary, you may also list the band/artist. • Why do you like that song/those songs?

  23. Who is the speaker? • What are his intentions? • How will he compose his “song”?

  24. Song of Myself • The song you picked = “song of myself” • It says something about what you like, who you are, and what you value. • Walt Whitman writes 52 songs of himself. He wants to show you what he is like and what he values. • He saw connections between songs and poetry: rhythm, rhyme, beats, lyrics, sounds, voice, melody, flow, meaning, etc.

  25. Leaves of Grass • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8YYXjFvjkw&feature=related Whitman’s own words “America” • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmXI4qjCpls YouTube (dom)

  26. Song of Myself • Creed—any system, doctrine, or formula of religious belief; any system or code of belief or opinion • Schools—formal education • Abeyance--temporary inactivity, cessation, or suspension

  27. Harbor (v)--to keep or hold in the mind; maintain; entertain: to harbor suspicion. • Loaf (v)--lounge around in an idle way

  28. Simile of the day The lamp just sat there like an inanimate object. The decision was made on Monday, January 30, 2012 to delay the distribution of Secondary Report Cards that was scheduled for Tuesday, January 31, 2012. The new distribution date will be Monday, February 6, 2012.

  29. Coda #52 from Song of Myself • Vocabulary • Write down the following words and definitions.

  30. yawp • A raucous sound—wild, loud, boisterous

  31. scud 1. to run or move quickly or hurriedly. 2. Nautical . to run before a gale with little or no sail set. 3. Archery . (of an arrow) to fly too high and wide of the mark.

  32. 4. clouds, spray, or mist driven by the wind; a driving shower or gust of wind. 5. low-drifting clouds appearing beneath a cloud from which precipitation is falling.

  33. effuse • to pour out or forth; shed; disseminate

  34. eddies • 1. a current at variance with the main current in a stream of liquid or gas, especially one having a rotary or whirling motion. • 2. a small whirlpool.

  35. lacy • of or resembling lace

  36. jag • Sharp, projecting part

  37. bequeath • to hand down; pass on. • Obsolete--Commit, entrust

  38. Coda# 52 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&v=33DWqRyAAUw&NR=1

  39. “If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.”

  40. From On The Road “It Tthwas the night of the Ghof the Susquehanna. “The ghost was a shriveled little old man with a paper satchel…[The Susquehanna] is a terrifying river. It has bushy cliffs on both sides that lean like hairy ghosts over the unknown waters…” (104).

  41. “I thought all the wilderness of America was in the West till the Ghost of the Susquehanna showed me different. No, there was a wilderness in the East…”(106).

  42. Kerouac like Whitman “The sun was going down…All the men were driving home from work, wearing railroad hats, baseball hats, all kinds of hats, just like after work in any town anywhere” (13).

  43. Allen Ginsberg (Carlo Marx) “A Supermarket in California” “What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman, for/I walked won the sidestreets under the trees with a headache/self-conscious looking at the fullmoon./ In my hungry fatigue, and shopping for images, I went into the neon fruit supermarket, dreaming of your enumerations!/

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